They haven't changed their name to "the Worriers" yet, although that's coming if they lose Thursday and bring LeBron James that much closer to a title.

But there is a transformation the Warriors and coach Steve Kerr can make, must make and no doubt will make before tipoff of Game 4, and those clues can be found in the way they finished up Game 3.

Play David Lee because he was once an All-Star, you know, and right now he's the only Warriors' big man who isn't coming up shorter than the guy who rode American Pharoah.

Pray that Stephen Curry's strong fourth quarter means his head and jump shot are no longer caught in the same fog that always swallows up the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny San Francisco day.

Stay with a smaller lineup, which means telling Andrew Bogut to take a seat, a decision that if nothing else will help Australians make their mind up which team to root for.

The Warriors have reached a crossroad in the NBA Finals, the point in the series where they must make some tough decisions in order to get their mojo back. They must win a game in Cleveland, and their odds are better in Game 4 than Game 6 (if necessary) when LeBron would just as soon poke his eyes out before he blows a chance to make history at Quicken Loans Arena.

Draymond Green was annoyed with the state of the series, accusing the Cavs of outhustling the Warriors, mentioning "effort" and essentially saying his team needed a gut transplant.

"This isn't the time to be quiet," he explained. "Everybody should speak up. You be quiet now, you'll be home in a few days."

The fourth quarter of Game 3 was like a 15-minute therapy session for a 67-win team that lost its way. In that stretch, the Warriors played for the most part like they had all season, and also against the Grizzlies and Rockets in the postseason. Remember that team? Until that quarter, the Warriors had been outplayed by LeBron and the Pips. So the Warriors are buying The Carryover Effect, where one encouraging and complete stretches leads to another and another. In their worst nightmare, that stretch was just a tease.

"You finally saw the type of basketball we're capable of playing," said Lee, "the player movement, the ball movement and the energy. If we play like that, I think we're the better team in the series."

What makes them believers is that the league MVP was finally the Warriors' best player on the floor. Curry got spicy and stayed that way, nearly turning Game 3 into one of those many Cleveland heartbreaking sports moments. Mostly, that finish likely did wonders for Curry's confidence: even MVPs need reassurance when things go wrong. When Curry's hitting shots from deep, the defense panics and makes changes on the fly and that's what happened to the Cavs.

"It does help to see shots go in, and you start to build a rhythm and momentum," he said. "I think everyone feeds off seeing the ball go in the basket and you start to feel better about yourself."

Curry's job becomes much easier when he has options, which was the case when Kerr dusted off Lee. Suddenly, the Warriors had a scoring option on the front line. Lee's offensive presence forced the Cavs to adjust, especially on the pick-and-roll play with Curry. The Cavs had to suddenly be aware of the shooter (Curry) and the picker (Lee) whereas before, they only needed to swarm the shooter.

That's because Green and Harrison Barnes are ghosts, offensively. Not only has Green (dealing with back issues) hurt the Warriors with shots he's taken and missed, but also shots he passes up. Barnes is doing nothing to squash the perception that he's a mild, complimentary player. They shot a combined 2-for-18 Tuesday.

Lee is the forgotten man, and has been that way ever since he became injured in the first round against the Nuggets two years ago. The Warriors tried to trade him but found nobody willing to take on his $15 million salary, so they just buried him on the bench.

The good news is Lee is a true professional who didn't raise a stink when his minutes were taken by Green and even Marresse Speights. Also, when Kerr turned to Lee on Tuesday, Lee didn't have any rust. He produced immediately, which can only make Kerr's decision in Game 4 so much easier. Lee has a decent mid-range jumper and is aggressive around the rim. The only potential downfall is his defense, but none of the Cavs' big men are scorers so it really doesn't matter.

"I knew if I got the chance to play that good things would happen," he said. "You just stay patient and when your number is called, you do what they expect you to do."

The Warriors can play with Bogut on the bench, because he's not bringing anything offensively and is getting outmuscled on the glass by Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov. When the Warriors go small, Mozgov is exposed and is usually on the bench. Lee is much more active and with him on the floor, the Warriors can speed up the pace a bit more.

"That's something we have to get done," Kerr said.

Besides personnel changes, there's one more adjustment the Warriors must make. Their mental toughness needs to be upgraded. This is a team that didn't face any adversity during the season (whereas the Cavs were 19-20 at one point). They escaped serious injuries. All the shots fell. Curry was MVP. He and Thompson were All-Stars. Kerr was runner-up for Coach of the Year. Even in the playoffs, in the rugged West, the Warriors had only one hiccup, when they fell behind the Grizzlies 2-1. Otherwise, bump-free.

In a sense, they weren't prepared for hardship only because they didn't experience any. Now they find themselves in a tight spot, against the game's greatest player, and need to win at least one game in Cleveland.

"They're playing like a team that's desperate and needs something," Green said. "We're playing like a team that's not desperate and got something."

They're down 2-1 but at least they have the fourth quarter of Game 3. That's something to build on, right? We're about to find out what the Warriors are all about.

Veteran NBA writer Shaun Powell has worked for newspapers and other publications for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here or follow him on Twitter.

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