Cavaliers need to get nasty with Durant, Curry in Game 3

The Cavaliers made adjustments and played better in Game 2 of the NBA Finals but with the same net result. So as they return home down 2-0 to Golden State, it is time to take a page from the old days of hockey:

Pick a player from the end of the bench — Dahntay Jones or James Jones — to be a goon in Game 3 at Quicken Loans Arena on June 7. Knock Steph Curry and Kevin Durant to the floor so the Warriors stars think twice about making uncontested drives to the rim. If it works, keep it up in Game 4 on June 9 at The Q and the rest of the series.

The Cavs could live with either or both Joneses fouling out. They played a total of eight minutes on June 4 in the 132-113 loss in Game 2 in Oracle Arena.

Roughing up Curry and Durant in Quicken Loans Arena would fire up the “Defend the Land” crowd to a fever pitch, throw Curry off his game and set Draymond Green off like a July 4 firecracker. Green, undisciplined in normal circumstances, would draw retaliatory fouls. The Cavaliers definitely win in the exchange if Green and Dahntay Jones, so to speak, go to the penalty box with coincidental minors.

Let the Warriors try the same tactic with LeBron James or Kyrie Irving. James gets mugged every time he drives the lane.

Cavs coach Tyronn Lue after Game 1 bemoaned the fact the Warriors took 20 more shots than the Cavaliers — 106-86 in a 113-91 loss. The Cavs turned that around in Game 2, taking 100 shots compared to 89 by the Warriors.

The net difference was a 39-shot improvement and still the Cavs lost by 19. Curry and Durant combined for 66 points and 18 assists in Game 1, and 65 points and 17 assists in Game 2.

The Cavs are 5-1 in the playoffs at The Q this year after going 31-10 at home in the regular season. That isn’t enough to guarantee success against Warriors. Neither is the fact the Cavs lost the first two games last year in Oakland and then won four of the next five. “As much as the comparison wants to be drawn from last year to this year, this is a totally different (Warriors) team,” Cavs guard Kyrie Irving told reporters in Oakland. “There is no comparison, even though we’re down 0-2 going back home. It’s a different series our third time playing against each other. Going back home, we still have to stay the course.”

Staying the course won’t work. Getting nasty with Durant and Curry, could be the only way to save the series for the Cavaliers.

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS J.R. Smith, right, works for a rebound against the Warriors’ Stephen Curry during the second half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals on June 4 in Oakland, Calif.