CLEVELAND -- LeBron James gathered his teammates outside the locker room prior to taking the floor Wednesday night to deliver a simple but poignant message.

"Follow my lead," he told them, "and do your job."

The Cavaliers did. Now they are still alive in the NBA Finals.

James scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Kyrie Irving scored 30 points in the Cavaliers' resounding 120-90 victory against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Cleveland's first win in the series.

The Cavaliers ended a seven-game losing streak to the Warriors that dated back to last year's Finals. Golden State still holds a 2-1 lead in the series with Game 4 on Friday at Quicken Loans Arena.

The 30-point win followed Golden State's 33-point win at home in Game 2.

"It's the NBA. This is how it is," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "If you let your guard down and the other team is angry, then you can see this kind of turnaround. It's happened in every series for us. ... It's the way it goes."

Harrison Barnes scored 18 points for Golden State on a night when the Splash Brothers again struggled. Stephen Curry scored 19 points and Klay Thompson scored 10, but they combined to shoot 4-for-16 from 3-point range.

"It was all me," Curry said. "They were playing aggressive defense, and they came out with a big punch. I didn't do anything about it or play my game, and for me to do what I need to do to help my team, I have to play a hundred times better than that, especially in the first quarter, to kind of control the game, and I didn't do it."

Cavs coach Tyronn Lue started Richard Jefferson at small forward in place of Kevin Love, who sat out due to a concussion. James shifted into Love's spot at power forward, and the Cavs looked like a completely different team than the one that was crushed by a total of 48 points in the first two games in Oakland, Calif.

Cleveland center Tristan Thompson had 14 points and 13 rebounds, including seven offensive boards, while James handled Warriors power forward Draymond Green better than anyone else has in this series.

Curry and Thompson went scoreless in the first quarter as the Warriors fell behind by 20 on another off shooting night from the Golden State backcourt.

"Me and Steph haven't really shot the ball as well as we want to," Thompson said. "That's all right. We're still up 2-1, and law of averages, it will all even out. Just got to keep the confidence high."

James all but guaranteed a victory after calling Wednesday a "must-win" game and a "do-or-die" situation as no NBA team has ever rallied from a 3-0 deficit. Then he went out and played like it.

James bear-crawled across the court chasing after a loose ball, then soared high for a lob dunk when his head was even with the backboard. He even swatted away a Curry shot during a dead ball in the second half to deliver a subtle message to the Warriors.

"I didn't change my approach and I didn't take over this game," James said. "Kyrie pretty much took over the game, especially early and late. He closed the game out. He started the game. I just sprinkled in my production along the whole game."

Irving responded with arguably his best performance of the series. James took over some of the ball-handling, freeing up Irving to focus more on scoring at times, though the point guard still finished with eight assists.

The Cavs were better with two stars instead of three, leaving a dilemma if Love is cleared before Friday. Lue declined to say how he would use Love if indeed the former All-Star is ready for Game 4.

Irving scored 16 points in the first quarter, and the Cavs raced out to a 33-13 lead while Curry's shooting problems continued. Curry is shooting 44 percent in this series, including 10-for-25 from 3-point range.

Klay Thompson played most of the night hobbled on a sore leg. He sustained a thigh contusion in the first quarter after he was hit on a screen from Timofey Mozgov. The Golden State guard retreated to the locker room temporarily before returning.

After rewatching the moment when he got hurt, Klay Thompson called it a dirty play.

"I'm just confused why he's trying to set a screen in the middle of the key when we're both running full speed downhill," Thompson said. "It seemed kind of dirty to me. He stuck his knee out, too. But you know what? That's basketball."

NOTES: This marked the third time in Finals history a 20-point win for one team was followed by a 20-point win for the other, according to Elias Sports Bureau. ... Prior to Wednesday, the Cavs' biggest lead in this series was six points. ... Warriors G Stephen Curry has yet to score at least 20 points in this series, the first time that has happened in three consecutive playoff games in his career. ... The Cavs are 8-0 at home in this postseason. ... Warriors coach Steve Kerr extended his condolences to the family of Sean Rooks, who died Tuesday. Kerr and Rooks were college teammates at Arizona. "He was a gentle giant," Kerr said. "He always had a smile on his face, 6-11, imposing and yet kind of had the heart of a teddy bear. I'm devastated for his family, especially his kids."