Curry’s record 3s too much for Cavs
Curry’s 9 threes set Finals record in rout of Cavs
OAKLAND, Calif. — Stephen Curry backpedaled in pure joy. He skipped, hollered and let the ball fly from everywhere with that feeling he gets when there’s no way it will miss.
Curry dazzled Sunday, making an NBA Finals- record nine three- pointers and scoring 33 points to lead the Warriors to a 122- 103 rout Sunday of the Cavaliers in Game 2 that gave them a 2- 0 lead in the series. Game 3 isWednesday in Cleveland.
‘‘ Pretty special night,’’ Curry said. ‘‘ And hopefully some more special things happen and we get two more wins.’’
Kevin Durant found his steady stroke to score 26 points to go with nine rebounds and seven assists. He also handled the defensive load for much of the game against Cavaliers star LeBron James.
Klay Thompson added 20 points despite playing on a tender left leg to put the defending champion Warriors two victories away from a repeat title they have talked about since the season began.
James followed up his 51- point performance in Game 1 with 29 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds in what was a tame sequel — and a much more lopsided one — to the drama- packed opener Thursday.
‘‘ We want to continue to be uncomfortable,’’ James said. ‘‘ Just because we’re going home doesn’t mean we can relax.’’
Kevin Love added 22 points and 10 rebounds for the cold- shooting Cavaliers, who will try to gain some momentum back home.
Curry had the shot of the night with 7: 54 left, making an off- balance swish from several feet behind the three- point arc over Love as the shot clock wound down. He fell into the first row of fans with a baseline three- pointer — again over Love — and four- point playwith 5: 44 to play.
‘‘ He’s a big- shot taker, big- shot maker,’’ Warriors forward Draymond Green said. ‘‘ Tough- shot taker, tough- shot maker.’’
The long shot over Love stood out to Thompson.
‘‘ About seven seconds [ left] on the clock, he just kept going backward,’’ Thompson said. ‘‘ I don’t know why, but he just threw it up, and I didn’t think it had any chance of going in. That was kind of like a dagger shot. It just gave us all the momentum back.’’
Curry shot 11- for- 26 from the field overall but was 9- for- 17 from three- point range. His nine threepointers bettered the previous single- game Finalsmark set by Ray Allen on June 6, 2010, for the Celtics against the Lakers.
James pointed with both hands after his three- pointer with 11: 04 left pulled the Cavaliers to seven. But Curry answered from deep the next two trips down the floor, and theWarriors rolled from there.
‘‘ Those moments when you can come down and answer and keep the momentum on our side, it’s big,’’ Curry said. ‘‘ Just keep the crowd into it.’’