He had only five points and three rebounds in 20 minutes. “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”. “It feels good to come out of a game like that when our stars don’t have it going and we still get the win”.
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Golden State hammered Cleveland by over 30 points, which means there wasn’t much entertainment during the late stages of the game.
“I’m definitely surprised at the margin of victory”, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.
With the Cleveland Cavaliers desperate to avoid heading home in a 2-zip hole in the NBA Finals, their resident superstar figured it was a good time to get creative.
“Obviously, the game ball goes to Shaun Livingston, he came in and gave them a huge spark”.
Leading the charge for Golden State was all-around forward Draymond Green who had 28 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and one steal.
Game 3 is the next step, then if they win that, the Warriors could clinch the championship in Game 4 – once again in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena, which is where they clinched last season’s title in Game 6.
“When you see a guy down, you make sure you pick him up and when you see a guy up make sure you keep him level-headed because, you never know what’s going to be next in this game”, Marreese Speights said Friday.
The Warriors stretched their overall win streak against Cleveland to seven games, including the last three of last year’s finals, two more this season and two more in this championship series. They’ll have to win four of the series’ final five games, something that’s only happened three times in National Basketball Association history, to deliver Cleveland that ever-elusive title.
This was markedly different from a year ago, when Cleveland tied the Warriors after stealing Game 2 here without injured starters Irving and Kevin Love.
The Cavs lost Kevin Love in the second half following a concussion stemming from a blow to the head in the first half, but the game was long decided before he checked himself out of the game with five points in 20 minutes.
James had team-highs with 19 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who were held to 72 points twice in the 2008 playoffs, including in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Boston. The shooters just aren’t open, and there might not be anything coach Tyronn Lue can do about it. The Cavaliers’ best scoring units can’t defend anyone and also can’t score enough to match Golden State. But we’ve got to be tougher. But maybe the most shocking aspect of these last two games is the doubt that they’ve generated about whether LeBron can muster that type of performance against this opponent. “We’ve got to get home and do the same”. The fourth block led to a transition three for Curry, his first of the game.
Meanwhile, center Andrew Bogut blocked five shots, the most in an NBA Finals game in four years.
Golden State, which set an National Basketball Association record with 73 wins this season, matched the combined season and playoff win record of 87 set by the Chicago Bulls, improving to 50-3 overall, including 11-1 in the playoffs.
The Warriors took an ever-important 2-0 lead in the series as Draymond Green led the way for the Dubs with 28 points, including 15 from three-point range.
And nobody is better equipped to start or finish a fast-break game like James.
While the outspoken swingman insists he just wants rings and isn’t yet ready to consider the Warriors among the best of all time, the typically quiet Thompson let loose a little. A fifth game, if needed, will be Monday at Golden State. He had won a road playoff game in 25 straight series, besting Michael Jordan’s previous all-time best mark of 24.
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Backup Richard Jefferson had 12 points and Kyrie Irving, despite 5-for-14 shooting, added 10 for the Cavaliers. Thompson says Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala may follow suit due to concerns over the Zika virus.
