The Philippine Star

UNSTOPPABL­E

WARRIORS GO TWO-TO-NIL OVER CAVS

-

OAKLAND , California – Draymond Green emphatical­ly flexed his bulging biceps with big plays on both ends of the floor, and these Golden State Warriors might just be far too strong for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

That repeat title Golden State has spoken of since the very start more than eight months ago is suddenly two wins from reality. It will be the only way the Warriors’ recordsett­ing season ends right. For now, they sure seem unstoppabl­e. Green had 28 points with five 3-pointers, seven rebounds and five assists, while MVP Stephen Curry scored 18 points despite foul trouble, and Golden State thoroughly overwhelme­d Cleveland 110-77 in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night. “There’s no point in celebratin­g or jumping up and down saying, ‘Look at us.’ We’re two games away from winning a championsh­ip, but we still have to go out and get the job done,” Curry said. “It’s a trap to think that we’ve figured things out, that we have the perfect formula to beat Cleveland and they have no chance in the series. That’s not how we’re supposed to think.” The 33- point win was the Warriors’ most lopsided ever in a finals game – and they have won the first two by a combined 48 points. “They just beat us,” LeBron James said. “We didn’t win anything. No points of the game did we beat them in anything.” Once the Splash Brothers found their shooting touch, Cleveland couldn’t keep up. Klay Thompson got hot after halftime to finish with 17 points as Golden State became the first team to go ahead 2-0 in the finals since the Lakers in 2009 against Orlando. Now, the series shifts to Cleveland, and James and the Cavs must show up for Game 3 on Wednesday in front of their title-starved fans down 2-0 to the defending champs and with forward Kevin Love dealing with a head injury.

“We’ve got to be tougher,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said.

The NBA said Love experience­d dizziness early in the second half and left for the locker room to be re-examined, then was placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol. He hadn’t exhibited any symptoms before then, even after taking an elbow to the back of the head from Harrison Barnes in the second quarter and going down for several minutes before returning following a timeout. He immediatel­y made a baseline 3-pointer for the Cavs’ first basket in nearly 5 1-2 minutes.

After a scoreless first quarter when he missed all five shots but had five assists, James scored 14 of his 19 points in the second and also finished with nine assists and eight rebounds, but seven turnovers – and he took the blame. James’ teams had won nine straight postseason Game 2s after losing the series opener dating back to a loss in the 2008 Eastern Conference semifinals to Boston.

“I’m definitely surprised at the margin of victory tonight,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It happens in the NBA, sometimes things get away from you. Sometimes shots go in, sometimes they don’t. ... Everything changes when we go to Cleveland, we know that.”

After Curry and Thompson combined for only 20 points in Thursday’s 104-89 Game 1 win on 8-for-27 shooting and the bench carried the load, they each hit four 3-pointers and went 13 for 24. And Curry got a postgame treat: He exchanged jerseys with Barcelona and Brazil soccer star Neymar.

 ?? AFP ?? Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors reacts after hitting a basket during Game 2 of their NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Oracle Arena in Oakland.
AFP Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors reacts after hitting a basket during Game 2 of their NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Oracle Arena in Oakland.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Philippines