CLEVELAND — Before Klay Thompson could grasp a box score inside Quicken Loans Arena, there was Stephen Curry pouring in jumpers and prolonging an inevitable outcome. Thompson dropped, lifted his head and shook it. Too little, too late. The partnership between the Golden State Warriors’ backcourt guards has long been competitive, something of a selfish desire within each to perform better than the other, whether it be on the court or contractually.

The talent and grace of Curry and Thompson flourishes together, and they’re on a journey toward being known as the the greatest ever shooting backcourt. Around them, LeBron James continued to cement an all-time NBA Finals series with a thorough and decisive 40-point, 12-rebound and eight-assist night in the Cavaliers’ 96-91 win in Game 3 on Tuesday. Around them, teammates are waiting for a complete performance from the opening tip to final buzzer.

In each of these Finals games, Curry and Thompson have been left questioning their shot, reassessing the principals of creating space and rising that had such beauty to it over watching James dunk the ball or Tim Duncan work the low post. The tempo has decelerated, open jumpers against the West turned into spirited closeouts.

As James creeped toward his championship in Cleveland and Curry sauntered to a press conference with Nike reps flocking the arena, Thompson made a promise to RealGM late Tuesday.

He and Curry will watch game tape together Wednesday on these Finals. And they must understand a level of attack to place the Warriors in command again — or play the most significant role in the title demise of a deeply talented roster.

“The way me and [Curry] are playing has to be addressed, and it will be, of course,” Thompson told RealGM. “It has nothing to do with our forms, with releasing shots differently or whatever, but the quality of shots we’re getting. We haven't talked about it, but we will. It has to change, and our approach has to be from the start.

“Or else …”

Curry and Thompson haven’t yet discussed these withering starts together, nor is this a mechanical issue that led them to a combined four of 14 shooting in the first half of Game 3. Eventually, Curry found his range, but his team was too far behind and too giving of a 20-point lead in the third quarter.

Why?

“I know, right?” Thompson asked. “We have to find our shots from the open, because our shooting means a lot for the team.”

Yes, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson know: This isn’t competition between one another anymore. That target now is James and his hold on the Finals. The study must be about how these Cavaliers have limited a potent offense to two of their worst three-quarter outputs of the season. For Steve Kerr to find the urgency to rely upon David Lee expresses his current level of confidence in Andrew Bogut.

“They’re going to make shots,” James conceded. “We can only contest them.”

"We’re fine. We’re fine,” Draymond Green said. “Just watch.”

An NBA’s Most Valuable Player cultivates an aura of confidence and elusiveness in his locker room, an assuredness inexplicable to outsiders and so prosperous within, and Curry earned his regular-season award. Now James has captured this Finals MVP so far. He has gripped tightly, remaining defensive toward critiques of his shooting percentages and attempts.

Whatever means necessary, he tells teammates, and then carries the message onto the court. No more unsubstantiated messages out of LeBron James.

James has made all of the Cavaliers desirable to the masses now. He provides the public’s eye to them all and leaves them accountable for their actions, their capitalizing on moments. Dellavedova has been enriched with confidence during this postseason, a year-to-year player in the league who hadn’t considered the potential of a long-term contract to return to the Cavaliers before this run.

Things are moving rapidly for Curry and his ascent as a face of the NBA, and in the next 24 hours, he and Klay Thompson will sit together and watch game film. These slow starts between the two must be sentenced in a coaching room, Thompson says.

LeBron James is coming for the Warriors’ championship now, and the mandate has crystallized through defeat for Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Find our games or pay dearly in having a dream year gone awry.