NBA Finals Game 2 report
Final thoughts
This game was why J.R. Smith’s gaffe in Game 1 was inexcusable: The Warriors don’t give teams very many chances to beat them, especially at home. The Cavaliers played a very good game tonight and it didn’t matter in the slightest. Now they’re down 0-2. They’re going to need all the home cooking they can get.
That will do it for our live coverage of Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Hope you’ll join us for further NBA coverage here at the Guardian. Ciao!
Steph Curry
With his nine three-pointers, Steph Curry has set a new record for three-pointers in a NBA Finals game, something which is only shocking because I had just assumed that he had done it before.
The Golden State Warriors have taken a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.
Warriors win!
Cavaliers 103-122 Warriors, FINAL
LeBron James stomps off the court as the clock hits zero. The Golden State Warriors have won Game 2 of the NBA Finals
Updated
Cavaliers 101-122 Warriors, 16.8 seconds, 4th quarter
I start hitting the box score while the B-squad plays some utterly meaningless basketballl. Steph Curry scored 33 points. It feels like they were all in this fourth quarter.
Cavaliers 95-118 Warriors, 2:40, 4th quarter
And both teams empty their benches and I play a little game of “I had no idea this player was on this roster.” Zaza Pachulia gets two free throws for the Warriors for instance. Oh hey Jose Calderon, he can still make layups.
Cavaliers 93-114 Warriors, 3:05, 4th quarter
Steph Curry hits his ninth three-pointer of the game and that will do it for Curry’s night.
Cavaliers 93-111 Warriors, 3:50, 4th quarter
Out of the timeout, James pulls up for a jumper that doesn’t go in. Love manages to steal away a Steph Curry pass but his three-pointer doesn’t go in. This is not going to be his night, or any of his teammates’ night.
Cavaliers 93-111 Warriors, 4:33, 4th quarter
Durant makes a dunk. The Cavaliers take a timeout, but what do you even talk about at this point of the game?
Cavaliers 93-109 Warriors, 5:44, 4th quarter
LeBron gets to the line and makes both free throws. They’re gonna need to exploit the free throw line if they want to…
Nevermind, it may not matter. Curry gets fouled as he makes another crazy-long three-pointer. Of course he makes the “and one:,
Cavaliers 91-105 Warriors, 6:53, 4th quarter
Kevin Durant makes a basket. The Cavaliers need to respond here. Jeff Green makes a basket, which is a start, but they can’t go trading those. Time is running out.
Cavaliers 89-103 Warriors, 7:54, 4th quarter
Out of the timeout, the Warriors show some beautiful ball movement that ends with Curry making a ridiculous three pointer right as the shot clock was about to expire. Holy heck, that might be the defining play of the game.
Cavaliers 89-100 Warriors, 8:11, 4th quarter
LeBron drives to the hoop and makes a layup. Golden State calls a time-out.
Cavaliers 87-100 Warriors, 8:59, 4th quarter
Jeff Green gets to the line, makes two free throws and, as you can probably guess, the Warriors score immediately afterwards, in this case Green tips in a missed Curry layup.
Cavaliers 85-98 Warriors, 9:30, 4th quarter
Kevin Love hits a layup out of the timeout, it quiets the crowd but only very briefly. Livingston gets to the rim with a layup.
Email from “40-Year Old Man”:
I think it’s pretty clear. Look at the statistics and LeBron has more assists than anyone else on in the building. Out of anyone he should be allowed to play more selfishly.
LeBron’s team mates should be the best passers in the league that can bring out his strength. That’s what it takes to beat the Warriors, the full power of LeBron. Not even with LeBron AND Kevin Love, and even with Kyrie Irving too, three aces will never match a team of aces.
LeBron leads in most aspects and he should have team mates that can get rebounds for him so he has more in the tank to score, and can pass so he can pull unbelievable plays and even amazing combo plays with his own passing skills, not be the sole player who can pass and apart from KL, the only one who can rebound. Thank you for your time.
PS: Good work on today’s game, I enjoyed reading your thoughts.
Cavaliers 83-96 Warriors, 10:11, 4th quarter
Oh no. This is the last thing the Cavaliers wanted to see. Curry hits two straight three-pointers. Cleveland, wisely, calls for a timeout right then and there.
Cavaliers 83-90 Warriors, 11:04, 4th quarter
Steph Curry and Kendrick Perkins apparently got into it on the sidelines before in-between quarters. Sounds about right.
After a few fruitless possessions by both sides, LeBron his a three-pointer to start the fourth quarter scoring.
Cavaliers 80-90 Warriors, 12:00, 4th quarter
I have no idea what exactly is going to happen in this fourth quarter, something which has been an all-too-rare experience during these playoffs.
End of the 3rd quarter
Cavaliers 80-90 Warriors, end of the 3rd quarter
And after all of that, David West hits a three-pointer in the game’s last few seconds and it feels like naught.
Oh, hey, Bell gives Cleveland a gift by fouling Kyle Korver, who hits the one free throw he’s awarded. The Warriors have a shot at getting the art shot, but Curry’s three is off-the-mark.
Cavaliers 79-87 Warriors, 55.7, 3rd quarter
Larry Nance is on the line for the Cavaliers, the more they can score and stop the clock at the same time the better things will get for them. Nance hits both of his.
Cavaliers 77-87 Warriors, 2:00, 3rd quarter
This feels less like a game than a type of afterlife torture issued by a jealous Greek deity. The Cavaliers are making play after play and yet it doesn’t seem like that Warriors lead is going down all that much.
And even when they cut it down there comes Kevin Durant to push it right back to where it was before.
Cavaliers 77-85 Warriors, 2:45, 3rd quarter
This is getting into an All-Star Game Pace. After a made free throw for both teams, Love gets a layup off of a Jeff Green pass, LeBron makes a layup, Klay Thompson responds with a much-needed three for the Warriors. Cleveland takes a timeout.
Cavaliers 73-80 Warriors, 4:23, 3rd quarter
Draymond Green gets called for a foul, his first of the game I think? Weird. Love makes his free throws and then we get another stretch of great defense and/or no defense. It feels like the Cavs should be closer than they are.
Cavaliers 68-74 Warriors, 6:28, 3rd quarter
Tristan Thompson dunks, cutting the Warriors lead down to six, but only for a blink of an eye, as Jordan Bell makes a layup.
Updated
Cavaliers 66-72 Warriors, 6:33, 3rd quarter
George Hill knocks down a there-pointer, the Cavaliers could use a few more of those. JaVale makes a dunk, which is amusing, You’d think the Cavaliers would start to get discouraged but they’re answering every basket here, or at least LeBron is. He answers a Klay Thompson with a three-pointer of his own and the Warriors take a timeout.
Cavaliers 56-66 Warriors, 9:37, 3rd quarter
Kevin Durant gets to the line to give the Warriors their first points of the quarter at the free throw line. He knocks down both but the Cavaliers are counterpunching here, after some back and forth, including Durant and Love hitting three-pointers within seconds of each other.
Cavaliers 51-59 Warriors, 11:02, 3rd quarter
Tristan Thompson makes a layup, Kevin Love knocks down a three-pointer and the Cavaliers are coming out swinging.
Cavaliers 46-59 Warriors, 12:00, 3rd quarter
And we’ve entered the second half!
Email from Gokul Kannan:
Hunter,Newbie to NBA. This the fourth full match I am watching. The other three being the last 3 matches. It seems Lebron is in a team of ..Well..What team. There is no team. But if I am not mistaken, Stephen Curry seems to be the guy Warriors rely on the most. His three pointers...Take him out and warriors would be rolled over by Lebron. But please, let Lebron have a decent team. Messi can’t select who are born in Argentina, but Lebron can get decent teammates. I can’t really get over this situation. Probably I should read up some history on
Well, this would look like a genuinely great team had they not traded Kyrie Irving, I believe (although not as great at LeBron’s old Miami Heat teams). As far as getting better teammates? Well, he might be looking into that come free agency.
Halftime Thoughts
Well, the Cavaliers came out strong, which they needed to do. It didn’t look like the Game 1 gaffe was affecting their play. Against another opponent, maybe they have the lead but this is a Warriors team that seems to be working on all cylinders, so they’re down double digits.
End of the first half
Cavaliers 46-59 Warriors, end of the 2nd quarter
LeBron gets a basket and Kevon Looney misses his two free throws, so it’s not all bad for Cleveland, but it definitely feels like the Warriors are still heating up here and they have a 13 point lead to work with.
Cavaliers 44-59 Warriors, 1:05, 2nd quarter
Durant gets to line, going 2-for-2, and Curry hits his fourth three-pointer of the game. If he has that shot going, the Warriors are quite literally unbeatable.
Cavaliers 44-54 Warriors, 2:04, 2nd quarter
George Hill hits both free throws and the makes a layup on the next Cavaliers possession. LeBron makes a layup himself and it looks like the Cavaliers are going to cut the lead down to…
Oh never mind, Curry hits a ridiculous three to end the Cleveland run.
Cavaliers 38-51 Warriors, 3:13, 2nd quarter
MCGEE WITH A DUNK!
That was fun. Less fun, and more expected, Nick Young committing a foul, this one on George Hill. Warriors take a timeut.
Cavaliers 38-49 Warriors, 4:20, 2nd quarter
JaVale is in the game again and he scores, he’s up to six points now (yes, I’m definitely keeping track of this) and then he fouls LeBron (I’m also keeping track of that). LeBron hits one of his two free throws.
Cavaliers 37-47 Warriors, 4:51, 2nd quarter
So that’s a 7-0 run and the crowd is getting loud. The Cavaliers starters are now all back in the game, Tyronn Lue knows how big this moment will be for the Cavaliers. They need to be able to fight back.
The Cavaliers can’t land a shot, but Tristan Thompson does draw the foul, the third one, on Klay Thompson. Tristan makes one of two free throws.
Cavaliers 36-47 Warriors, 6:11, 2nd quarter
So it looks like the Cavaliers have the momentum on their side now, so you know what that inevitably means, right? Yep. Time for a Warriors run. Livingston scores on two straight possessions, Curry hits a trademark three and Cleveland uses a timeout.
Cavaliers 36-40 Warriors, 7:49, 2nd quarter
Klay Thompson gets to line, makes one of two free throws. Love answers for Cleveland, with a basket of his own plus a free throw. Cleveland creeping back in.
Cavaliers 33-39 Warriors, 8:14, 2nd quarter
The Cavaliers come out, only to be challenged by the Warriors defense every step of the way until they run out of time and commit the shot clock violation.
But that defense goes to waste as on the very next play George Hill steals the ball and hits a three-pointer.
Cavaliers 30-39 Warriors, 9:12, 2nd quarter
Remember how there was all that discussion about whether Klay Thompson would play tonight or not? Well, the Cavaliers are probably wishing that he took this one off. He hits his second three of the game… but doesn’t really though, the call is changed to a 2 pointer but it’s still enough to force the Cavs into taking a timeout.
Cavaliers 30-37 Warriors, 10:02, 2nd quarter
The little-loved Jordan Clarkson makes a layup, a lot of action around the basket in this game.
Well, not for Durant though, he hits a ridiculously long three pointer that gets the fans to cheer and extends the Golden State lead.
Cavaliers 28-34 Warriors, 11:17, 2nd quarter
There’s a bit of back-and-forth before we get the first scoring of the second, it’s Durant with a mid-range jumper.
2nd quarter begins
Cavaliers 28-32 Warriors, 12:00, 2nd quarter
Alright, let’s keep this going. This has been fun.
End of the 1st quarter
Cavaliers 28-32 Warriors, end of the 1st quarter
The Warriors put LeBron on the line where he makes both of his free throws. And now we’re in the “bench-warmers get theirs” portion of the quarter. Livingston scores for the Warriors, while Jeff Green scores for Cleveland. Klay Thompson has got a good look for a three at the buzzer, but it’s a bit off.
Cavaliers 24-30 Warriors, 1:40, 1st quarter
And LeBron hits a layup. Warriors need to respond here, and they do, both Curry and Shaun Livingston score.
Cavaliers 22-26 Warriors, 2:53, 1st quarter
And as soon as I say that this looks like a fun, well-played game, the free throws begin. Durant fouls LeBron, who gets one of two, Next time around, it’s Love’s turn. He hits both of his free throws, This is not what the Warriors should be doing with a lead.
Cavaliers 19-26 Warriors, 3:32, 1st quarter
Okay this is officially a fun, well-played basketball game. It feels like ages since I last could say that. LeBron finds Kevin Love for a jumper. On the Golden State side of things, Jordan Bell (in for JaVale) alley-oops a Draymond pass.
Cavaliers 17-24 Warriors, 4:05, 1st quarter
This game is going to end up being J.R. Smith vs JaVale McGee duel and it’s going to be the most hilarious Finals game in NBA history.
Curry misses a three pointer. He misses, but he gets another shot at it in the next possession. He drills it.
Cavaliers 17-21 Warriors, 4:34, 1st quarter
Klay Thompson’s looking healthy enough, he gets off a long-range jumper that J.R. Smith immediately answers with a three. Golden State takes a timeout, their lead cut to four points.
Cavaliers 14-19 Warriors, 6:00, 1st quarter
Durant scores to extend the Golden State lead but Cleveland is starting to chip away. LeBron gets fouled making a layup. He gets to the line to complete an old fashioned three-pointer. Durant answers and J.R. Smith, working for redemption, hits a jumper that cuts the Warriors lead down to five points.
Cavaliers 9-15 Warriors, 7:22, 1st quarter
Cavaliers go 7-for-7. Is that good? Out of the timeout, Hill makes a three pointer and man did Cleveland need that.
Cavaliers 6-15 Warriors, 8:14, 1st quarter
Durant makes a layup, George Hill responds with one of his own. And it’s mostly All Warriors from thereon out, with the exception of a Tristan Thompson dunk. Everyone in the starting lineup is scoring and Cleveland can’t figure out a way to slow them down. They have to take a timeout early.
Cavaliers 2-4 Warriors, 10:41, 1st quarter
And JaVale giveth away, a goal-tend against him gives 2 points to LeBron, and the first points for the Cavaliers.
Cavaliers 0-4 Warriors, 11:18, 1st quarter
JaVale McGee gets two straight dunks to start the scoring. So Kerr’s lineup is already paying dividends.
Opening tip
Cavaliers 0-0 Warriors, 12:00, 1st quarter
And we’re off!
I’m still laughing at the cheers for J.R.
Warriors starters: Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, JaVale McGee, Klay Thompson, Steph Cury.
Introductions
Cavaliers starters: LeBron James, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith (he gets ironic cheers from the Warriors fans), George Hill.
National anthem
My take on Santana’s “Star Spangled Banner?” It’s a hot one.
It’s 8pm EST, which means that we’re going to get actual basketball shortly. I gotta think the Cavaliers are happier than anybody else on the planet.
My number one rule when it comes to getting performers for the national anthem at a sporting event: unless you can bring Whitney Houston or Marvin Gaye back into the world of the living, just have someone to an instrumental version. So I’m psyched about this:
10 Grammy Awards & a 🔥 outfit to match!@SantanaCarlos will be performing the National Anthem at tonight’s #NBAFinals Game 2! pic.twitter.com/pR42qIsT9h
— NBA (@NBA) June 3, 2018
My favorite prediction so far
My predictions for Game 2:
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger_sherman) June 3, 2018
—LeBron has 71 points
—Jordan Clarkson -11 in 48 seconds of playing time
—J.R. Smith accidentally creates a black hole using the Large Hadron Collider
Predictions
I’m saying: this is exactly what’s going to happen. LeBron will get his numbers but I don’t trust anyone else on this team. The Warriors are winning by double-digits tonight and the series very well might never return to Oracle.
But that’s just a shot in the dark from me. What do you think? Feel free to send your predictions here either via email (hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com) or via Twitter (to @HunterFelt).
The fact that JaVale McGee is in the starting lineup for the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of the NBA Finals should be all you needed know about the foolishness of attempting to predict anything that happens in sports. Like ever.
With that in mind, I think it’s pretty safe to say that if the Cavaliers want to have any hope of tying up the series before heading home, they’re going to have to have a great start. If they come unfocused or second guessing themselves, the Warriors are going to blow them out and this will be over a few minutes into the third quarter.
Golden State Warriors starters
Klay Thompson isn’t a 100% but he is in the starting lineup for the Warriors as is… (wait for it) JaVale McGee, who had one of his randomly great games back on Thursday. He’ll be starting over Kevon Looney. Andre Iguodala is officially out.
In case you need reminding, or are a Warriors fan who delights in schadenfreude, here’s the end of Game 1:
Note LeBron James’s expression: a mixture of shock and justified exacerbation. Yes, yes that has launched a million memes.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to Game 2 of the 2018 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. While there’s plenty of things to talk about, there’s one topic that completely overshadows everything else: J.R. Smith’s gaffe during the final few seconds of regulation. With time expiring, Smith held onto the ball, apparently briefly unaware that the game remained tied, rather than attempting a shot that could have given the Cavaliers a lead. The Warriors ended up winning in overtime, taking a 1-0 lead in the series.
It’s a rough loss to take, it’s likely that the Cavaliers will never have a better chance to pull off a road victory in this series, something that they will have to do at some point. Meanwhile, the Warriors know that they dodged a number of bullets back on Thursday and will be better prepared today. The Warriors are never more dangerous than when they have a chance to make adjustments, it’s the reason why they have had so many big third quarters.
So this is going to be the key game of the series. Can the Cavaliers put Game 1 in the rear view mirror? Can the Warriors avoid being complacent after being gifted a Game 1 victory? It’s going to be fascinating.
As always, we’re looking for your commentary throughout these liveblogs, you can email your thoughts to hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com or tweet them to @HunterFelt. It’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Cavaliers and the Warriors at Oracle Arena. Opening tip is set sometime after 8:00pm EST, but we’ll be back well before then.
Hunter will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how the teams are preparing for tonight’s game:
All the chatter is that Cleveland could be deflated after they blew a golden chance to win Game 1 of the NBA finals. But LeBron James, at least, has found motivation.
“It’s one of the toughest losses I’ve had in my career,” James acknowledged on Saturday, “because of everything that kind of went on with the game and the way we played. Obviously, we all know what happened in the game.”
There were miscues aplenty, most notably when JR Smith failed to go for what would have been a winning basket in the final seconds with the game tied because he appeared to think the Cavaliers were winning. The decision baffled a frustrated and stunned James. Smith initially denied he had got the score wrong but on Saturday walked that back. “After thinking about it a lot after the last 24 hours and however long it’s been since the game was over, I can’t say I was sure of anything at that point,” Smith said.
You can read the full report here:
