Welcome in to the full recap of game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors where the Cavs come away with an emotional game 2 victory to tie up the series at 1 a piece as the setting of the NBA Finals heads to Cleveland for game 3. The Cavs, despite a meltdown in the late 4th quarter, hold it together and squeak out of Oracle Arena with a 95-93 victory.
My hairs are standing up right now because as an NBA fan, this is a really exciting start to the NBA Finals! The first two games going into OT is just rare and props to both the Cavaliers and the Warriors for having a "never say never" attitude in these first two games. They are fighting tooth and nail out there. The Warriors did so in game 1, but it was the Cavaliers' turn in game 2 and against all odds, they persevered and got the better of a Warriors team that has struggled all game long to find their shot.
Cleveland Cavaliers
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LeBron James, 39 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists, 11-34 shooting. Usually, when LeBron James has a triple-double, most of the time the team would win and that just happened. I said it before, LeBron-led teams in the Finals have a 3 game winning streak when down 1-0 and that streak was kept alive today. A more balanced LeBron leads to more trouble and even though he was missing some shots down the stretch and getting double or triple-teamed, he made some pretty good passes to give James Jones, J.R. Smith, and Iman Shumpert an opportunity. Especially that pass to Shumpert in OT, I thought that was the most critical shot because if that was a two pointer, the game would've been tied up again and Dellavedova's heroics would go unnoticed. It was just another day at office for the King, but he had a more balanced game and it benefited the Cavs big time.
Matthew Dellavedova, 9 points, 3-10 shooting. Dropping elbows, breaking ankles, shutting down the MVPs, Dellavedova has been the Cavs' unsung player throughout these playoffs. He might not "wow" people on the stat sheet, but he makes it up for his hard-nosed defense. When you keep the reigning MVP Steph Curry in check for 5-23 shooting and denying him a potential GW (game winner) in OT, you deserve to be that player that other players on your team love and the Cavs have loved "Delle" for his effort. His other contributions, two beautiful floaters over Andrew Bogut to give Cleveland some needed buckets and of course, his offensive rebound to put himself on the free throw line to give the Cavs the lead in OT.
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J.R. Smith's last 3 fouls. Don't get me wrong, J.R. Smith had a solid game today, complete opposite of his lackluster game 1 performance, but to commit three boneheaded fouls in the fourth and OT is just unacceptable. The Cavs had in the bag the 4th quarter, but J.R. Smith commits a foul on Curry and gives Harrison Barnes an "and 1;" those trigger meltdowns of epic proportions, but Smith got off the hook with the Cavs' win today. His "foul out" foul on Curry in OT could've gone either way, but Smith's two fouls in the 4th exemplify poor decisions.
Golden State Warriors
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Klay Thompson, 34 points, 14-28 shooting. He might've gone cold in the 4th and in OT, but Klay Thompson was alive and well this game. Curry didn't have a good game scoring-wise, so the slack had to be picked up by the other Splash Brother. All game long until the 4th and OT, the Cavs couldn't find a way to stop Klay. Whatever shot he takes, it went in and especially when the Cavs were playing good defense on him, it didn't matter because as mentioned, he was getting shots wherever he shot the ball from. The Warriors need this Klay Thompson night in and night out if they want to have a shot at giving the Cavs a run for their money as the series shifts to Cleveland.
Draymond Green, 10 points, 2-7 shooting, 3 blocks. Another example of not impressive in the stat sheet, but made it up for defense. Draymond Green managed to get a hand on LeBron how many times? Three times? I'm sure Green just only got LeBron in two of those blocks and he almost came up with probably the defensive play of the Finals had Iguodala and Klay Thompson hold on to the ball to clinch the game for the Warriors. Preferably Thompson holds on to it since Iggy is terrible at the free throw line. Green had a block party and he gave LeBron James an invite twice.
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Stephen Curry, 19 points, 5-23 shooting. Stephen Curry, the MVP, on the negative list? Oh my goodness. Yes this is happening. Curry pulled a Kobe Bryant tonight (yes and I'm a Laker fan too), but give 100% credit to the defense of Matthew Dellavedova. The MVP was hounded today defensively. There were a couple shots that Curry usually made without "Delle" in his face, it's just that none of them didn't fall down. In OT, he had chance for the win, but shot an uncharacteristic air ball. The Warriors' three point shooting as a whole was awful, but Curry accounted for 15 of those 35 missed shots from three point land.
Conclusion
Two thrillers in Oakland, let's see if the next two games in Cleveland can follow up with exciting finishes like games 1 and 2. However, the Cavs have the edge because they have been extremely good at home with or without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving in the lineup. If the Warriors want to have a chance to regain home court, Curry has to have a bounce back game and Klay Thompson has to have these kinds of games and the Splash Bros can remind the league why they are a dynamic and deadly back court duo. Also, is David Lee around? The Warriors could use him because their bigs are doing a good job defensively, but they need some scoring as well. I'll see you guys for game 3. A small, but major announcement, I will be collaborating with my friend Stillmattic at bleachzealot.blogspot.com. We have another fight night collaboration in place and it's an anticipated rematch from last year. Not too minor, just announcing that I could be potentially doing "double duty" on my blog and on his blog. Anyway, game 3 on Tuesday, I'll see you guys later.
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