Golden State beat the Cavs 132-113 with strong performances from Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. Cleveland finds themselves in a similar predicament as the 2016 Final, losing games one and two in blowout fashion before heading home.
Advertisement
It’s sort of hard to crystallize a Warriors attack that could only be described as “relentless”-in both games so far, the Cavs have survived for a half, then understandably given way under a barrage that just doesn’t let up, and comes from so many different angles”. By comparison, the first two games of the 2016 NBA Finals averaged a 6.9 in the demo. Cleveland shot 3 of 20 on 3s in the first half and 8 for 29 total. Draymond Green had 12 points, six rebounds and six assists playing all game in foul trouble and Shaun Livingston scored 10 off the bench.
So even though ABC is now on track to put up the biggest NBA Finals deliveries since MJ’s last hurrah, everything depends on Cleveland putting together another rally for the ages – one that would be even more impressive.
He escaped Sacramento and ended up with the Golden State Warriors and at 37, is two wins away from his first NBA Championship.
“Much more physical today than we were in Game One”. But we’ve got to be – we got to play with pace.
They have to do it quickly or Cavs-Warriors III could end up being a much shorter series than the first two editions of the Finals trilogy that the teams split. Naturally, in a critical game, James played like the NBA’s best player, finishing with a triple-double.
“A lot of positives”, Curry said. “And they’re going to make some, but if we just try to make it tough on them, it will be in our favor”.
The Cavs really to need to get a grip on their careless turnovers if they want to stand a chance moving forward.
“We just have to sustain effort over the entire game”.
This time, Curry committed eight turnovers as Cleveland committed to putting more pressure on the ball to keep Durant from driving and dunking untouched as he did so many times in Game 1.
Warriors forward Kevin Durant was once again the best player on the court as he electrified the gold-clad sold-out crowd in Oakland with 33 points and 13 rebounds to go along with five blocks three steals.
“We definitely have a sense of what they’re capable of, and we felt like a lot of times tonight we played better basketball”, Love said.
So while the Cavs cling to hope based on what they did before, the problem is what else do the Cavs have up their sleeves against a team now powered by Durant that has been unbeatable in the playoffs.
On that third-quarter drive, James had little help as Love got there late.
“Well, it got a little out of control towards the end, but we’re not anxious about that”, James said. “That’s what Golden State does. Every mistake you make defensively, they make you pay, and you saw that”, Lue said.
The first two games have shown a stark difference in depth.
The way the Warriors are playing – an National Basketball Association record 14-0 in the playoffs and a 29-1 mark since March 14 – there could be a quick end to the series.
Cleveland has been in this position before obviously, but with Durant playing at such a high level, it appears it will be an even tougher challenge than past year for the Cavs to come back in the series.
Advertisement
“Down 0-2, going home, you have to live with those odds”. “No, it’s not over. It was 2-0 previous year, we lost”. “I’m more of a present guy so we just got to figure out how we can be better in game three”.
