With lights-out shooting, Golden State delivers knockout blow
Curry scores 33, hits Finals-record nine 3-pointers to spark rout
OAKLAND, CALIF — The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t quit, they fought. But in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, it didn’t matter because the Golden State Warriors have one of the greatest 3-pointer shooters in the game and he crushed them over and over again.
Stephen Curry took17 3-pointers and hit an NBA Finals-record nine of them, each dagger cutting at Cleveland’s heart as the Cavaliers head home trailing the best-ofseven series 2-0.
The Warriors beat the Cavaliers, 122-103, burying them with the best shooting Game 3 Wednesday, 9 p.m. TV: Chs. 2, 7 performance they’ve had during their four-year run of dominance. The Warriors made 57.3 percent of their shots and three players eclipsed 20 points. But before removing their starters late in the fourth quarter, they had made more than 60 percent of their shots.
Curry was especially brilliant. After opening the game making only one of five 3s in the first quarter, Curry made eight of 12 from the second quarter through the fourth. He led all scorers with 33 points and added eight rebounds and seven assists.
LeBron James followed a 51-point Game 1 performance with 29 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds. James, whose left eye remained blood red throughout the game after having been poked in it on Thursday, made half of his 20 field-goal attempts. Kevin Love also contributed a double double for the Cavaliers, scoring 22 and grabbing 10 rebounds.
While there was some concern about Klay Thompson’s availability because of a high ankle sprain, Thompson played and
didn’t appear bothered by it. He limped Saturday, but walked sure-footedly Sunday. Thompson scored 20 points on eight of 13 shooting. All five of his misses came from 3-point range.
The crowd at Oracle Arena wouldn’t let J.R. Smith forget his Game 1 blunder that helped Golden State escape with a win. Warriors fans gave him a standing ovation when he was introduced before the game. When he went to the line to shoot free throws, they chanted “M-V-P.”
Smith made two of his first three shots, but missed his next seven. That included an open 3 in the third quarter that would have trimmed the Warriors’ lead to single digits.
Where the Warriors didn’t have a nine-point lead until overtime of Game 1, the led by nine in the first quarter of Game 2. Golden State made its first seven field goals and 65.2 percent of all the shots they took in the first quarter. Still the Cavaliers hung around, trailing by only four heading into the second quarter.
Cleveland shot much worse in the second, making only six of 23 shot attempts while the Warriors finished the half making 59.5 percent of their shots. Normally deadly in the third quarter, in this game, that’s when things began to unravel.
Golden State was outscored 34-31 in the third quarter, a period during which they normally outscore their opponents by nearly 20 points.
It was in the fourth quarter that they did their damage.
Cleveland cut the Warriors’ lead to single digits multiple times, but led by an exhausted James, the Warriors assault became too much for the Cavaliers to overcome. James played every second of the game until being removed with 4:09 left in the fourth quarter.
He got help this time, but the Warriors had so much more.