Dubs take Game 2 from Cavs, lead series 2-0
Curry breaks record, Warriors blast Cavaliers to take 2-0 lead in series
OAKLAND – The three Warriors’ stars seemingly can make shots anytime they want. All they have to do is take them.
Yet, charting the Warriors’ 122-103 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday at Oracle Arena involves much more than scanning the box score for Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
The box score shows Curry finished with 33 points, including an NBA Finals record nine 3-pointer. Durant scored 26 points while shooting 10-of-14. Klay Thompson, listed as questionable coming into the game, had 20 points on a 8-of-13 clip from the field and a 3-of-8 mark from the perimeter.
The box score does not fully explain what led to Durant, Curry and Thompson fulfilling their normal job description to ensure a 2-0 series lead with Game 3 on Wednesday in Cleveland.
Curry finished with his 29th career playoff 30-point game and his second this postseason. But he offered much more than those numbers suggested. Though he went only 3-of-8 from the field and 1-of-5 from 3-point range in the first quarter, Curry also had five assists.
Then his shot came back in the second quarter when he went 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Curry also made consecutive 3-pointers that gave the Warriors a 9683 cushion with 10:11 left in the fourth quarter. He later tossed a 29-footer as the shot clock expired, and the shot swished into the net for a 103-89 with 7:54 left. He then converted on a fourpoint play for a 109-93 advantage with 5:44 remaining after draining a 3-pointer and falling down.
Durant shot efficiently from the field after shooting 8-of-22 and 1-of-7 from the perimeter in the Warriors’ Game 1 win. He had spent parts of the postseason struggling with his 3-point shooting against San Antonio (25 percent), New Orleans (32.1) and Games 4 and 6 of the Western Conference Finals against Houston (20 percent).
Klay Thompson shot above 50 percent from the field for the fifth consecutive game and became the sixth player in NBA history to make 300 career 3-pointers in the postseason. His latest efficient shooting night coincided, though, with nursing pain in his
left ankle that left his availability uncertain until he completed a pregame workout.
Add all those contributions up, and it did not matter what Cleveland forward Lebron James did (29 points on 10-of20 shooting, 13 assists, nine rebounds). Those numbers paled to the postseason-high 51 points he posted in Game 1, anyway.
James played 44 minutes after going nearly 48 in Game 1 and totaled 29 points with nine rebounds and 13 assists before departing with 4:09 to play. James made 10-of-20 field goals, including 2-of-4 on 3s, and 7-of-9 from the line, but committed five of the Cavs’ 11 turnovers.
With a 3-pointer over Kevin Durant in the third quarter, James passed Kareem Abdul-jabbar (1,317) for the second-most points in Finals history.
Love added 22 points and 10 rebounds, Hill contributed 15 points and three assists and Tristan Thompson added 11 points and five rebounds. But the Cavs’ top two shooting guards, Smith and Kyle Korver, combined for six points. Smith scored five points in 31 minutes, making 2-of-9 shots, including 1-of-4 on 3s, and Korver made only a technical free throw and went 0-for-3 from the field in 17 minutes.
Warriors four-time All-star guard Klay Thompson scored 20 points, playing 33 minutes on what is reportedly a high left ankle sprain suffered on a steal attempt by Smith in the first quarter of Game 1. The gritty Thompson made 8-of-13 field goals, including 3-of-8 from long range.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 33 points, going 9-of-17 beyond the arc, with seven rebounds and eight assists, and Durant scored 26 points with nine rebounds and seven assists.
But the Cavs were also hurt by Mcgee, who made his first career Finals start, and Livingston. Mcgee made all six of his shots for 12 points, and Livingston scored 10, making all five of his attempts.
Although the Cavs were more competitive in the third quarter, they were doomed by a second quarter in which the Warriors outscored them 27-18.
In that quarter, the Cavs went 5:24 without a field goal to aid an 11-4 Warriors run. Livingston, an ex-cav, and Mcgee scored four points apiece during that surge and Curry added a 3-pointer.
James did not look like himself in the second quarter, when he scored five points on 2-of-7 shooting with three rebounds and three assists. He got little help from Love, who made 2-of-10 shots in the first two quarters, including 0-of-2 from long range.
James and Love combined to shoot 7-of21 in the first half, while the Mcgee and Livingston were 8-for-8.
Smith, who dribbled out the clock in regulation after rebounding Hill’s missed free throw with 4.7 seconds left in Game 1, received a standing ovation from the Warriors crowd during pregame introductions.
Heartily booed was Tristan Thompson, who got into an altercation with Draymond Green with 2.6 seconds in overtime and was fined $25,000 by the league. When Smith went to the freethrow line in the first quarter, chants of “MVP” broke out.
The Warriors started Mcgee at center over Kevon Looney after the 7-foot Mcgee went 2-for-3 from the field and gave the Cavs problems during his six-minute stint in Game 1. Mcgee played just 3:04 in the seven-game series against the Rockets in the West finals.