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N.b.a. finals 2018 warriors roll over cavs in game 2
1. 6/8/2018 N.B.A. Finals 2018: Warriors Roll Over Cavs in Game 2 - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/sports/nba-finals-cavs-warriors-score.html 1/11
https://nyti.ms/2LUwTeJ
SPORTS
N.B.A. Finals 2018: Warriors Roll
Over Cavs in Game 2
By BENJAMIN HOFFMAN and MARC STEIN JUNE 3, 2018
There were no controversial foul reversals, no gaffes and not nearly as much
competitive spirit. This time around, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers
were simply outplayed by Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, with a
huge fourth quarter closing a 122-103 win in Game 2 of the N.B.A. finals Sunday
night at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
Curry was electric, pouring in a finals-record nine 3-pointers as part of a 33-
point effort. The two-time winner of the N.B.A.’s Most Valuable Player Award also
contributed eight assists and seven rebounds.
But unlike James, who has so often had to go it alone, Curry had help from the
entirety of his team’s eight-man rotation, with Kevin Durant contributing 26
points, Klay Thompson having 20 and the team’s surprising choice as a starting
center, JaVale McGee, scoring 12.
Cleveland did everything it could to slow down Golden State’s runs for the
first three quarters. Coach Tyronn Lue snuffed out a few rallies with smart
timeouts, and James tried to keep up with the hot-shooting Warriors. But after the
game entered the fourth quarter still somewhat competitive, Curry put it away
with five of his 3-pointers coming in that final period.
[Get Marc Stein’s N.B.A. insights sent directly to your inbox. Sign up by here.]
The impact of Curry’s explosion in the fourth was so extreme that Cleveland
pulled its starters with more than four minutes remaining and the score well out of
2. 6/8/2018 N.B.A. Finals 2018: Warriors Roll Over Cavs in Game 2 - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/sports/nba-finals-cavs-warriors-score.html 2/11
hand.
In an on-court interview with ABC’s Doris Burke following the game, Curry talked
about what it was like to break the record for 3-pointers in a final game that Ray
Allen had set for the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the 2010 championship series.
“It means a lot,” Curry said. “As I’ve gone through my career I’ve been blessed
to play, Reggie (Miller) and Ray Allen are the two names that always pop up at the
top of all the 3-point shooter lists, so any time you’re mentioned with those type of
names is pretty special.”
James was not quite as dominant as he had been in Game 1, but he once again
stuffed the box score with 29 points, 13 assists and 9 rebounds, playing through an
eye injury he sustained in Game 1 courtesy of a poke by Draymond Green. His
offensive impact was well beyond the 29 points, as he repeatedly set up Kevin Love
(22 points) and George Hill (15) for quality shots. James also had his typical
impact on defense, more than once ripping the ball out of Durant’s hands.
The difference for Golden State was that it got back to its ball-movement
offense, with the team combining for 28 assists and coupling that with a far better
effort on the glass, matching the Cavaliers with 41 rebounds. But Golden State had
a dramatic advantage in field goal percentage (57.3 percent versus 41.6 percent),
which essentially sealed the Cavaliers’ fate.
A big part of the team’s ability to compete on such a high level on both ends of
the court was 34 solid minutes from Klay Thompson, who was questionable
coming into the game with a high-ankle sprain sustained in a collision with J.R.
Smith in Game 1. He received a great deal of treatment on his ankle to deal with
swelling and bruising, but played through the injury just fine, which led to an
amusing exchange between Thompson and Curry at their postgame news
conference.
“I didnt realize how much you use your ankle until I hurt it,” Thompson said.
Curry, who endured chronic ankle problems earlier in his career, brought
down the room by interjecting with “You should’ve asked me.”
Coming into the series, much was made of the talent disparity in the starting
lineups of the two teams. Curry, Durant and Thompson each topped 20 points for
a second consecutive game, but between McGee coming off the bench to have a
3. 6/8/2018 N.B.A. Finals 2018: Warriors Roll Over Cavs in Game 2 - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/sports/nba-finals-cavs-warriors-score.html 3/11
huge impact at center, and the team getting huge minutes from older veterans like
Shaun Livingston and David West, it could be argued that it was the reserves who
made this a blowout just as much as the team’s All-Stars.
Livingston and McGee combined to go a perfect 11 of 11 from the field, which
Lue said they would simply have to put up with if they want to stand a chance in
the series, though he acknowledged he would like to see his team make it a bit
harder.
“I mean, when you’re trying to take away Klay, Steph and Durant, other guys
are going to be open,” Lue said. “So, you’ve got to make those guys beat you, but
they can’t get easy baskets and dunks and things like that.”
The series will now shift to Cleveland for Game 3 on Wednesday, and if
anything, the talent disparity could tip even more in Golden State’s favor with
Andre Iguodala close to returning from a bone bruise in his left knee. Thompson
also will have had a few more days to let his injured ankle recover.
The Warriors are just two wins away from being back-to-back champions, and
the competitive spirit that was so prevalent in Game 1 — from both teams — may
be in danger of breaking. It will require a huge counterpunch from the Cavaliers to
make this a series once again.
Warriors Coach Steve Kerr, who is well aware of his team’s tendency to have a
let-down game following a blowout, seemed happy with the win but was not ready
to declare the series over just yet.
“Yeah, we’re happy with the way we played,” he said. “But we know this is just
getting started.”
Here’s how the Warriors won Game 2:
1st Quarter: JaVale McGee Makes Early
Impact
JaVale McGee easily won the tip and Golden State took a quick 4-0 lead
thanks to two dunks from their new starting center. The move away from Kevon
Looney is working well so far.
4. 6/8/2018 N.B.A. Finals 2018: Warriors Roll Over Cavs in Game 2 - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/sports/nba-finals-cavs-warriors-score.html 4/11
JaVale McGee stuffs it to get the Game 2 action
started in Oakland!#DubNation x
#WhateverItTakes #NBAFinals ➡ #NBAonABC
pic.twitter.com/0WYcQWvd8N
— NBA (@NBA) June 4, 2018
1st Quarter: Warriors Take Early Lead With
Easy Baskets
The Warriors are getting to the basket very easily so far, with Stephen Curry
and Kevin Durant facing almost no resistance on layup attempts to go with JaVale
McGee’s earlier dunks. Golden State’s first 10 points came in the paint which is a
fairly different strategy, but they are playing to the defense. They changed it up on
their sixth shot, with Klay Thompson pulling up from 3-point range and making it
easily.
At the first timeout, Golden State is leading 15-6 and looking far more
energetic than Cleveland on both ends of the court.
Marc Stein: Did someone trick the Warriors into thinking it’s the third
quarter already? The hosts got to the rim so easily on their first five possessions;
Cleveland looking very much like the league’s 29th-ranked defense early. Also: For
all the grief JaVale McGee gets at his shakiest, his presence often (bizarrely)
energizes the Warriors’ stars.
1st Quarter: Cleveland Adjusting to Warriors’
Hot Shooting But Still Trailing
Coach Tyronn Lue showed good instincts with his timeouts in Game 1, with
the Cavaliers often cutting off a potential run once they got back onto the court.
They were clearly more competitive coming out of his first timeout tonight. George
Hill hit a 3-pointer, LeBron James turned around a 3-point play and the Warriors
actually missed a shot for the first time tonight. Even with the decent adjustments,
Cleveland is trailing 19-14 with just over six minutes left in the first quarter.
1st Quarter: J.R. Smith Shrugs Off the Crowd
5. 6/8/2018 N.B.A. Finals 2018: Warriors Roll Over Cavs in Game 2 - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/sports/nba-finals-cavs-warriors-score.html 5/11
J.R. Smith isn’t taking the bait from a crowd at Oracle Arena that has been
mocking him all game. He hit a big 3-pointer on one end of the court and then got
a steal on the other.
As of the Warriors’ first timeout with 4:34 left in the quarter, Cleveland trails
21-17 and is staying in this game even though Golden State is a ridiculous 10 of 12
from the field. If the Cavaliers can maintain this intensity when the Warriors start
missing some shots, the score could turn around quickly.
Marc Stein: J.R. Smith’s short memory isn’t all bad. He clearly forgot the
score at the worse possible time late in regulation in Game 1, but it has to help
when it comes to coping with the aftereffect of that blunder. The crowd here at
Oracle Arena gave Smith a standing ovation during introductions — and just
serenaded him with an M.V.P. chant at the free-throw line — but Smith isn’t
playing timid so far. He’s already gotten one 3 to go down.
End of 1st Quarter: Warriors Lead, 32-28
As the buzzer rang ending the first quarter, the Warriors were leading the
Cavaliers by a score of 32-28, with an offense that featured a lot more ball
movement and a lot less dribbling than they have shown in recent games. Stephen
Curry and Klay Thompson have 7 points each and Kevin Durant has 6, which thus
far is enough to negate another strong effort by LeBron James, who has 10.
Golden State shot 15 of 23 for the quarter and more important, they were not
nearly as beaten up on the boards, with 10 rebounds to Cleveland’s 8. It helps
when you don’t miss your shots.
The fact that Cleveland is still fairly close considering all of that could portend
a tightly-contested game the rest of the way. It feels like the rest of the Cavaliers
are more involved than they were in Game 1, but that’s mostly a mirage. James has
scored or assisted on 22 of Cleveland’s 28 points.
Marc Stein: Have to believe that the Cavaliers are thrilled to be trailing by a
mere 4 points after a quarter when Golden State shot 15-for-23 from the field.
LeBron is comfortably on a triple-double pace already. The King, giving us his best
Scott Skiles, has 5 assists already.
6. 6/8/2018 N.B.A. Finals 2018: Warriors Roll Over Cavs in Game 2 - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/sports/nba-finals-cavs-warriors-score.html 6/11
2nd Quarter: Warriors Go on a Run; Durant
Has 2 Fouls
The second quarter started with a Cleveland miss and a Kevin Durant make
on a midrange jumper. While neither team looked nearly as smooth in the
quarter’s first few minutes, a Klay Thompson 2-pointer with 9:12 left put Golden
State up by 9 points. A timeout is an opportunity for Tyronn Lue to snuff out this
8-2 run, which Cleveland suddenly desperately needs.
Marc Stein: Hard to get too worked up about Kevin Durant’s two early fouls
when he’s made his first five shots from the field and runs a fast break that leads to
a Klay Thompson corner 2-pointer.
2nd Quarter: Old Guys Get it Done for
Golden State
It took less than two minutes of game clock for Cleveland to get the lead back
down 4 points, but a tough offensive rebound by David West helped set up a
midrange jumper by Shaun Livingston, and then the veteran West had a huge
block on defense which was followed by a Livingston layup. The old guys for
Golden State are contributing a lot to this game.
After a Stephen Curry 3-pointer with 6:11 to play in the half, the Warriors
were up to an 11-point lead and Tyronn Lue had to burn another timeout. It is not
that Cleveland hasn’t been resilient tonight, and it’s not that they haven’t made
solid adjustments, but the Warriors are rebounding better, shooting better and are
having a much easier time than they did in Game 1.
2nd Quarter: ‘Wizards Lineup’ Working for
Warriors
JaVale McGee came back on the court and immediately made an impact with
a hook shot for 2 points. A few possessions later, he had a huge dunk following a
Cleveland turnover. The Warriors have their 2011 Wizards lineup on the court,
with both McGee and Nick Young, but the entire team is attacking this game in a
way they haven’t in quite some time and their ball movement has been better than
it has at any point this off-season.
7. 6/8/2018 N.B.A. Finals 2018: Warriors Roll Over Cavs in Game 2 - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/sports/nba-finals-cavs-warriors-score.html 7/11
With just over three minutes remaining, the Warriors have a 13-point lead
and the Cavaliers may be running out of adjustments, especially with LeBron
James not finding it nearly as easy to score.
Marc Stein: We are a spoiled basketball public. LeBron James has 13 points,
7 rebounds and 8 assists — and everyone in the building with a press pass is
wondering: What’s wrong? Is it the eye? Is he gassed? Either alibi would be
understandable, but don’t forget this one: He doesn’t have enough help!
Halftime: LeBron Needs Some Help
At halftime, Golden State is leading 59-46. The key stats for the first half were
the Warriors having 18 assists and 24 rebounds, looking much better on both
offense and defense than they did in Game 1.
Draymond Green is playing remarkable defense regardless of his matchup,
and the Big Three of Warriors scoring (Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin
Durant) has combined for 39 points, with Curry having 16 points, 12 of which
came off 3-pointers.
The decision to start JaVale McGee has paid off with 8 points, Shaun
Livingston has 8 points off the bench and David West looks revitalized in his first
chunk of action in quite some time.
Shaun Livingston with the scoop layup and he's on
a roll right now pic.twitter.com/ceroj6Cd3i
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) June 4, 2018
That teamwide effort to fix the problems of Game 1 has made another terrific
performance by LeBron James (15 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists) mostly irrelevant,
though Cleveland has gotten a very good performance from George Hill, who is
making up for his missed free-throw in Game 1 with 12 first-half points.
If Golden State has one of its signature third quarters locked and loaded, this
could turn into a real blowout.
Marc Stein: Don’t sleep on the very savvy minutes that Golden State got in
the first half from Shaun Livingston and David West. The Warriors, in general, are
8. 6/8/2018 N.B.A. Finals 2018: Warriors Roll Over Cavs in Game 2 - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/sports/nba-finals-cavs-warriors-score.html 8/11
playing their kind of game with 18 assists on 25 made baskets. The hosts are just
getting too many contributions from too many people for LeBron and Co. to keep
up.
[What’s the secret to the Warriors’ third-quarter success? See what they told
us by clicking here.]
3rd Quarter: Can the Cavs Keep Up?
The second half got underway with Tristan Thompson getting a layup almost
immediately. Kevin Love, who had been off in the first half, hit a 3-pointer, and
while Kevin Durant hit a pair of free-throws, a dunk by Thompson had Cleveland
off to a 7-2 run to start the half.
Marc Stein: The Cavaliers have a 15-6 edge in free throw attempts and are
trailing by 13 points entering Golden State’s beloved third quarter. I am not feeling
optimistic about their comeback chances.
3rd Quarter: Love and Hill Heating Up
The Cavaliers have to be excited about Kevin Love’s two 3-pointers early in the
half. George Hill hit another 3-pointer, but after yet another big dunk by JaVale
McGee the Warriors lead is at 10. This definitely isn’t a vintage Warriors third
quarter so far, but they are maintaining a solid lead even as Cleveland shows more
energy.
3rd Quarter: LeBron Closing in on Triple
Double
The Cavaliers are not going away. A 3-pointer in transition by Klay Thompson
got the home crowd fired up (and put the Warriors up by 11), but LeBron James
answered with a 3-pointer of his own. Stephen Curry missed a corner-3 and
Tristan Thompson dunked the ball home, forcing Golden State to take a timeout
with their lead down to 6.
James is picking up the pace, with 20 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds, and
even if Jeff Van Gundy is mocking the stats obsession in the N.B.A. on the ABC
broadcast, the fact that James has been right in that range in nearly every finals
9. 6/8/2018 N.B.A. Finals 2018: Warriors Roll Over Cavs in Game 2 - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/sports/nba-finals-cavs-warriors-score.html 9/11
game for the last two years — he averaged a triple-double for the entire finals last
year — is remarkable.
3rd Quarter: Lue Gets Game’s First Technical
Foul
Cleveland got Golden State’s lead all the way down to 5 points with a Kevin
Love 3-pointer, but after a Jordan Bell free-throw it was back up to 8. Tyronn Lue
picked up a technical after a non-call on what he thought was a foul of LeBron
James by Stephen Curry (Curry gave James no place to land and James fell out of
bounds). Curry sank the one shot afforded by that to stretch the lead to 9. The
Cavaliers truly can’t catch a break in a game where they are doing everything they
can to keep themselves in it.
3rd Quarter: Klay Thompson Surges to 20
Points
There had been fear that even if Klay Thompson started that he would not be
able to play much in Game 2 as he worked back from a high-ankle sprain and some
serious bruising on his left leg, but he has played 26 minutes so far and is tied with
Kevin Durant for a team-high 20 points.
But Thompson’s surge hasn’t been able to give his team any real breathing
room thanks to Kevin Love having really picked things up (he’s up to 20 points on
14 field-goal attempts) and the Cavaliers getting solid scoring contributions from
four players instead of just two.
Golden State’s rebounding advantage in the first half has evaporated. The
Warriors will need to figure out what is going wrong in the quarter when they
normally dominate. Their lead may still be at 8 points, but Cleveland seems to be
getting stronger, at least for the time being.
End of 3rd Quarter: Cavs Keep it Close
Golden State’s ball movement of the first half largely disappeared late in the
third quarter in favor of Kevin Durant isolation plays, but a driving Durant found a
wide-open David West for a 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds remaining in the quarter,
10. 6/8/2018 N.B.A. Finals 2018: Warriors Roll Over Cavs in Game 2 - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/sports/nba-finals-cavs-warriors-score.html 10/11
and the veteran connected, extending Golden State’s lead to 11. It was West’s first
3-pointer of the playoffs.
While the Cavs got a Kyle Korver free-throw courtesy of a bad foul by Jordan
Bell which narrowed it to 10 points, they couldn’t capitalize on maintaining
possession of the ball thanks to a hustle play by Bell.
A double-digit lead at home seems fairly safe for the Warriors, but they
definitely lacked for intensity in the third quarter. With a tireless LeBron James
sure to come at them with everything he has, this game isn’t over yet.
4th Quarter: Curry Time?
LeBron James got the scoring started in the fourth quarter with a wide-open
3-pointer, but Stephen Curry shook Larry Nance’s coverage and immediately
answered with one of his own. Golden State got a stop and Curry hit a corner-3,
pushing the lead to 13 points and forcing Tyronn Lue to take another timeout to
try to slow down the two-time M.V.P. It is Curry getting loose that usually sets off
the Warriors’ big third quarters, so if he is going to start doing that in the fourth,
Lue needs to do anything he can to figure out a way to break the rhythm.
Marc Stein: Kevin Love and George Hill have been functional. LeBron has
been LeBron James. But it’s going to take more than that in this building for the
Cavaliers to win. Golden State has already succeeded in one of Steve Kerr’s main
missions in this Game 2: making LeBron work harder for everything. You can see
the toll it’s taking on him every time they show a shot of James on the bench.
4th Quarter: No Rest for the King
Marc Stein: More problems for the visitors: LeBron James’ next second of
rest in this game will be his first. He hasn’t missed a dribble of game action yet
with 8:11 remaining in regulation. In related news: Cleveland was down to one
timeout remaining with 10:11 to go in regulation. Expect a very weary LeBron
James in his postgame news conference.
4th Quarter: Curry’s 4-Point Play Pushes
Lead to 16