“We had some opportunities”. Barbosa is not some kind of star player who is constantly in the spotlight like Curry, but Barbosa is a proven veteran backup who helped the Warriors take the first game of this championship series.
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Just like previous year, the Cavs trail, 1-0. “We remain having a sense of urgency, and we’re going to fight for everything we get”. Looking to Game 2, history tells us that most likely the Cavaliers will step up their performance, just like LeBron says they will. Don’t look for another weak outing by The Splash Brothers.
James had no explanation for his success in bouncing back from game one defeats. I think defensively we had a game plan and we followed it as much as possible-well, as great as we could for 48 minutes-we had some breakdowns, which we know we can get better with.
The Cavaliers worked feverishly to keep them from getting shots, but Cleveland isn’t capable of contesting Curry and Thompson and the way the Thunder contested the Warrior sharpshooters. After the game, Kerr admitted he did to the clipboard what he could not do to the players. “But one thing we’ve talked about, if we defend and take care of the ball, we’re always going to have somebody score enough points for us to win”.
The Warriors have beaten Cleveland six times in a row, three in last year’s NBA Finals and twice more in the regular season before Thursday’s 104-89 drubbing.
“Don’t matter what you do with Steph and Klay, don’t matter what you do with Draymond (Green)”.
“We’re in a good place psychologically and mentally”, Kevin Love said. “As soon as you do that and let your guard down, it’s a wrap”.
While the Cavs nullified reigning MVP Stephen Curry (11 points) and Klay Thompson (nine points) at Oracle Arena, Cleveland’s bench had no answer to Golden State’s reserves, outscored 45-10.
And most of the venom came from the Warriors’ bench.
Golden State’s depth was on display throughout the first two periods, with Curry and Thompson not among the top scorers.
“We’ll be better next game”, coach Tyronn Lue said. Still, for Cleveland, it might be the only gamble that makes sense.
It’s definitely something we try to live by.
Even with the Warriors winning by 15 points to start the series, there’s a lot of NBA Finals left to be played.
“We have to come out with the same mindset”.
“It’s all a feel”, Livingston said. “We have to be aggressive”.
Cleveland shot just 38% overall (33-84 FG) and 31% from three (7-21).
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In those nine Game 2 victories, James averaged 29 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists, and in the four Finals games he has won after losing the opener, he averaged 30.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists.
