Warriors blowout Cavaliers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals
Klay Thompson added 17 for the Warriors, who led by eight at the half before turning it into a blowout.
Warriors forward Draymond Green went 5-for-8 from the 3-point line and led all players in scoring Sunday in Game 2. “My team has always been able to recalibrate, look at the mistakes in game one and come up with a better plan in game two”.
Green finished with 28 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and hit 5-of-8 from 3-point range in the Warriors’ 110-77 massacre of the Cavs’ dignity Sunday night.
“It’s a trap to think that we’ve figured things out and that we have the ideal formula to beat Cleveland and they have no chance in the series”, Curry said.
A little drama is unfolding at Oracle Arena. The league said he didn’t exhibit any symptoms before then, even after taking an elbow to the back of the head from Harrison Barnes in the second quarter and going down for several minutes before returning after a timeout. Cavaliers starters outscored their Warriors counterparts 79-59 in Game 1, but Golden State’s reserves dominated the bench play 45-10….
The Cavs need significant contributions from J.R. Smith, Channing Frye, Matthew Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert.
For the second time since 2013, the NBA Finals matchup is a rematch. “At no point in the game did we win anything”. Green shot 11-for-20 overall and Curry 7-for-11, helping Golden State finish at 54.3 percent from the field. In the midst of all this, Cleveland missed eight straight shot attempts.
Yes, of course. All the Warriors have done so far is win the first two games at home, and now they travel to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4. “I just thought when they went to the small lineup, their small lineup was a lot faster than what ours was”.
Curry did, perhaps surprisingly, grab a game-best six rebounds in the quarter.
Noticeably absent in that rundown is any mention of Curry or Thompson, who were both decidedly not good. But Andrew Bogut has. As LeBron James found Tristan Thompson with a great pass on the floor, Bogut gave a major swat to Thompson and it got the Warriors out in transition. His first-quarter steal also moved James past John Stockton (338) at fourth place for career postseason steals.
The referee crew for Game 2 is Scott Foster, Tony Brothers, and James Capers - not a trio the Warriors is especially fond of. A moment of silence was held before the game in honor of Muhammad Ali, who died Friday. So while we can all debate about the best player on the court, the fate of this series may hang on the comparative strength of the team’s worst players - the weak links to be targeted.
“The hardest part of the series is coming up when we go to Cleveland”, Thompson said. Ten consecutive series they have taken control with a big road win.
Since last series, the Warriors have used the pick-and-roll primarily to get Curry onto a big man. But Irving isn’t known as a good defender and Curry could probably get what he wants with Irving on him - and the fellow guard probably wouldn’t be able to get away with the physicality big men are allowed. The Warriors will need to match what should be a better Cavs effort with more discipline and focus of their own. Kerr said he’s not surprised by that.
“It still means as much, if not more, this time around, but you just have a certain sense of comfort knowing you have been through it before and at the end of the day it’s just basketball and going out and having confidence in what you do”.
Curry and Thompson bombed in subsequent 3-pointers to help the Warriors go in front 52-37.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue made his instructions clear. With the Warriors looking to get halfway to clinching a title before leaving the Bay, the stakes were high for the Cavs to figure out a way to make a statement in Game 2, following their 15-point Game 1 loss.
Also, Golden State could become the third team to win 50 home games.
It was during his time with Cleveland at the end of the 2012-13 season that Livingston began to truly trust his body again.