Cavs’ 2-0 deficit seems worse
James says Durant’s play negates analogy to last year’s Finals.
OAKLAND, CALIF. — LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are headed home in a familiar spot after the first two games of the NBA Finals.
Rather than reach back to last year’s championship comeback for a confidence boost, James is focused on figuring out what Cleveland must do to change its fortunes against a Warriors team that is fresher and far more dangerous this year, thanks to the addition of Kevin Durant.
“They’re a different team,” James said following a 132113 loss in Game 2 on Sunday night that put Cleveland in an 0-2 hole.
That’s been quite evident through two games. Durant leads all players with 71 points the first two games — six more than the player he replaced in the lineup, Harrison Barnes, scored in seven games a year ago.
Durant’s scoring — he had 33 points in Game 2 — has taken pressure off Stephen Curry and allowed the Warriors to withstand Cleveland runs so well that they haven’t trailed after the first quarter in either game.
A healthy Curry followed up a 28-point Game 1 with his first playoff triple-double on Sunday with 32 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. He looks more like a two-time MVP than the hobbled player he was in last year’s Finals.
Klay Thompson shook off a shooting slump to score 22 points and the Warriors pulled away late for another lopsided win. Game 3 is Wednesday.
“They play well at home,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. “They won their first two games like they’re supposed to. Coming to a tough environment, we knew it was going to be tough, but they won the first two games. We get a chance to go home now to our home crowd where we play well, also.”
The Cavs began to turn things around last year after being outscored by 48 points in the first two losses in Oakland — seven more than this year. They split the two games at home before reeling off three straight wins to become the fourth team to win the title after losing the first two games.
“They’re going to keep coming, man,” Curry said. “There is a lot of work for us left to do. And you got to expect them to play, obviously, better at home. And we’re going to need to play better to win on the road.”
What was so discouraging for the Cavs is that they played better in Game 2 but the result didn’t really change. They went to a smaller lineup that contributed to Golden State’s 20 turnovers after the Warriors tied a Finals record with four in Game 1.
The offense picked up thanks to 27 points from Kevin Love, and the Cavs scored 22 more points than in the opener in a faster-paced game, but that also helped the Warriors improve their shooting from 43 percent to 52 percent as Cleveland used a weaker defensive unit.
“We definitely have a sense of what they’re capable of, and we felt like a lot of times tonight we played better basketball,” Love said. “But they’re a team you cannot — you can’t let them go on runs.”
The key one came late in the third quarter after Cleveland cut the deficit to four points. The Warriors followed with a 16-4 run that included 3-pointers from Curry and Thompson, a three-point play from Durant in transition and four points from Shaun Livingston.
“That’s what they do,” James said. “If you make a mistake — like I said, we had a turnover, it came from me, and then we had a miscue and the floods opened again.”
The first two games have shown a stark difference in depth. James has thrived — he had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists Sunday to tie Magic Johnson’s record with his eighth career Finals triple-double — but hasn’t gotten nearly enough help.
Kyrie Irving scored 24 points in the opener and Love had a big night in Game 2, but starters Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith have been nearly invisible.