The Cavaliers wanted to create a better, faster pace after Game 1.
They got it in Game 2.
And likely wished they hadn’t.
The Warriors, welcoming Steve Kerr back to the bench, staged a furious up and down, game-long sprint, and the Cavs were playing catchup all night. The Warriors again got all-around efforts everywhere, including a triple-double from Stephen Curry and 33 points from Kevin Durant to overcome the eighth career Finals triple-double by LeBron James and grab a 2-0 lead in the series with Andre Dawson Jersey 132-113 victory at Oracle Arena.
“It’s a wild game,” Kerr said with enormous understatement in the TV interview during the Warriors’ record-setting 14th straight playoffs win this postseason.
Wild would be sort of like describing Kate Upton as kind of attractive.
James was a freight train for much of three quarters. He got the ball and drove and nothing known to the Almighty, man or the Warriors defense could deny him. But ultimately, it didn’t matter as he wore down. And when was the havarriaht... last time a stat line of 29 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds really didn’t matter?
James, who went to the bench with 3:47 left, matched Magic Johnson for eight Finals triple-doubles. The next best total is two.
And James became a footnote because Curry, who went to the line successfully 10 times alone in the first quarter, compiled a 32-point, 11-assist, 10-rebound triple-double. Plus, he was 14-of-14 at the line. Durant, a 38-point scorer in Game 1, was brilliant again, adding 13 rebounds, six assists and five blocks to his 33 points.
“It was just leave everything on the floor,” Curry said.
[img]http://www.authenticnewyorkislanders.com/images/products/nhl_jerseys... did. But the Warriors left a lot more.
Durant had a moment of pure brilliance in the fourth quarter. He blocked Cavs’ 27-point scorer Kevin Love and grabbed the rebound. He then went coast to coast and eventually scored over Love. Jaws dropped, the Warriors led 115-97 and the Cavs headed to a timeout.
“He’s fit right in with our whole offensive concept. And at the end of the day, he still gives us that luxury of having someone who we can throw the ball to and say, ‘Just go get us a bucket,’ ” Draymond Green (12 points in a foul-plagued night) said of Durant.
And Klay Thompson awoke from his shooting funk for Golden State, going 8-for-12 and scoring 22 points.
For the Cavs, Kyrie Irving had 19 points, put he shot just 8-of-23 as Golden State blanketed him in every way.
Curry and Durant either scored or assisted on 13 of 16 points in a 16-6 run that closed the third quarter and put the Warriors up, 102-88, and essentially put the Cavs away.
All night it was two steps forward. Three back. And eventually the Cavs simply stepped off a cliff. They vowed to clear up their Game 1 messes. They did to an extent. They had 20 turnovers in Game 1 — just nine on Sunday. And it was Golden [url=http://www.authenticpittsburghpirates.com/Dave-Parker-Jersey]Dave Parker Jersey State that finished with 20. Did anyone notice?
“Every game’s different. That’s the beauty of The Finals,” Curry said. “It doesn’t matter really what happened in Game 1. It’s a whole other experience that we have to be ready for.”
So things can change from game to game.
And in Curry’s case, from quarter to quarter or minute by minute.
Curry’s shot betrayed him throughout the first half. Then in an electrifying span of 82 seconds in the third quarter he hit a 3-pointer, two free throws and then stunned the sellout gathering with a dribbling display and drive around and past James for a score that brought an 83-73 lead.
At halftime, it was role reversal of sorts from Game 1. The Warriors were the careless, slop-filled team. After tying a Finals record in Game 1 with just four turnovers, the Warriors [url=http://www.authenticpittsburghpirates.com/Dave-Parker-Jersey]http://www.aut... equaled that in a little over four minutes. By halftime, when they led 67-64, the Warriors’ turnover count reached 13.
“We can’t give them easy baskets,” Durant said. “We turned the ball over too much in the first half.”