LeBron, Cavs hold on to win Game 3 over Golden State

Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) dunks against Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut (12) during the first quarter of game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) dunks the ball against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter in game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova (8) talks with forward LeBron James (23) during the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors in game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Golden State Warriors forward David Lee (10) during the second quarter of game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) handles the ball Golden State Warriors guard Andre Iguodala (9) during the second quarter in game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Jun 7, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) shoots the ball against Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes (40) in game two of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ezra Shaw-Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports

Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) go for rebound in game three of the NBA Finals. at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Larry W. Smith-Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports

Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) shoots the ball over Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes (40) during the third quarter in game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Golden State Warriors center Festus Ezeli (31) reacts after a shot against Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second half of game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Jun 9, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) shoots the ball over Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the fourth quarter in game three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

CLEVELAND — LeBron James turned in another virtuoso playoff performance in leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a thrilling 96-91 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.

James had a game-high 40 points to go along with 12 rebounds and eight assists in front of a raucous crowd of red T-shirt-clad fans, as Cleveland grabbed the upper hand in the championship series against the top-seeded Warriors.

Cleveland led by as many as 20 points late in the third quarter but were put to the test as Golden State clawed back to within a point with under three minutes remaining.

The league’s reigning Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry had a horrible start to the game for Golden State but had a strong fourth quarter to finish with a team-high 27 points.