WARRIORS ARE LOOKING GOLDEN
Team is still undefeated, and after routing Cavs again, it seems they may stay that way
Home might be all that can save the Cleveland Cavaliers. Even that might not be enough — not the way the Golden State Warriors are operating.
For the second game in a row, albeit a little later than the first game, the Warriors simply ran away from the Cavaliers in what proved to be another demoralizing defeat for the LeBron Jamesled defending champions.
The 132-113 final in Sunday’s Game 2 masks what was a very strong effort for the Cavaliers through most of three quarters. But even with that, the Cavs never had a lead in this one past the first five minutes and while they did get the deficit down to a single point on a couple of occasions as late as the third quarter, it was up to double digits again by the beginning of the fourth and never came down after that.
James was everything and more in this one for three quarters before sitting down with 1:03 to go in that third frame, already with a triple-double but looking absolutely gassed.
All that got him and the Cavs was a 14-point deficit going into the final quarter. James would finish up with 29 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds, tying him with former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson for most triple-doubles in an NBA Finals. But his effort paled in comparison to the Warriors’ dynamic duo of Kevin Durant and Steph Curry.
Curry had 32 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his first ever playoff triple-double.
Durant added his second double-double of this series with 33 points and 13 rebounds to go along with six assists.
It begs the question: How dominant will James have to be when the series shifts back to Cleveland for games 3 and 4 Wednesday and Friday? Seeing that the Warriors are now 14-0 in the post-season, even the prospect of a Game 5 might seem unlikely.
Durant and Curry are showing no signs of letting up and with Klay Thompson doing his normal stellar defensive effort on Kyrie Irving, the Cavs only have Kevin Love, who had an admirable 27 in Game 2 to complement James.
Despite a similar final result to Game 1, the two games were radically different. James was in full attack mode for most of the first 36 minutes of Game 2 and only then did he start to slow down a little. He eventually came out with just over four minutes remaining in the game and things already out of reach.
The first half of Game 2 was far different than what went down in the first meeting. For one thing, the Cavs were much better defending Durant, who basically drove to basket uncontested in the first game with the Cavs focusing on stopping the Warriors from three-point land.
In Game 2, the Cavs made the Warriors earn their points. There were few gimmes. The fact the Cavs made the adjustment and still got throttled only underscores how frustrating it has to be to play a Warriors team operating at near peak capacity.
The Warriors did have some warts in this one. This time it was Golden State struggling to protect the ball, throwing it away 13 times in the first half alone. In Game 1 it was the Cavs with this problem, but with two days of film to watch and surely having had the message hammered home over the interim, the giveaways were held to a minimum — eight for the first half.
By game’s end, the difference was still substantial with Golden State committing 20 turnovers to Cleveland’s nine. Even that didn’t matter.
The Warriors may not have taken care of the basketball they way they did in Game 1, but they did continue to score at a rate most teams can only dream about.
The bad news for the Cavs is the Warriors still weren’t firing on all cylinders. This was not a perfect game for them by any stretch, and it was still more than enough to overcome James at near his best.
There were some improvements on the Warriors’ side as well, none bigger than Thompson, who was a defensive wonder in the first game but dragged an uncharacteristic poor shooting night into Game 2, having gone just three for 16 in the opener.
Thompson found his stroke in Game 2, finishing with 22 points and going a more Klay-like four for seven from beyond the arc. That’s just one more weapon in an embarrassment of riches from which Warriors head coach Steve Kerr can draw.
The Cavaliers are never to be counted out and they are going home, but they are going to have to find another level if they want to make this one a series.
Game 3 is Wednesday in Cleveland.
How dominant will James have to be when the series shifts back to Cleveland? Seeing that the Warriors are now 14-0 in the post-season, even the prospect of a Game 5 might seem unlikely.