Final thoughts
The Cavs have stolen home court advantage despite the fact that J.R. Smith was trying his best to give this game away. Maybe their championship hopes aren’t quite dead after all.
Me? I’m just glad that this series is going at least five games and we’ll be liveblogging every single one here at the Guardian. Thanks everyone for following along with us for this exciting game 2, especially everyone who contributed their emails and tweets. I think JK Natto deserves to have the final word tonight:
My faith for Cavs will win in OT and they did it and what are joy here in sunny Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. It’s holiday though! Go Cavs!
Cavaliers have tied the NBA Finals at 1-1
I thought the Cavaliers had zero chance once overtime started. The play of the game is definitely Dellavedova’s improbable rebound. Australia should start plans on that statue immediately.
Cavaliers win!
Cavaliers 95-93 Warriors, OT
Warriors take a 20 second timeout. Steph Curry… lets loose with an air ball! James gets the rebound and gets fouled.
He makes one of two! And that…. that’s going to do it! The Cavaliers win!
Cavaliers 94-93 Warriors, 10.1 seconds, OT
Green blocks LeBron James. Wow. That’s a beauty. James Jones attempts a three… It’s no good, but Delly gets the rebound and GETS FOULED! AND MAKES BOTH FREE THROWS! CAVS LEAD!
Cavaliers 92-93 Warriors, :29, OT
J.R. Smith fouls Steph Curry, fouling out in the process. Good riddance. Curry makes both free throws and the Warriors have the lead!
Cleveland timeout.
Cavaliers 92-91 Warriors, 1:05, OT
Dellavedova is still in the game... And he makes a steal!
But the possession ends up in a jumped ball. Which goes to Golden State.
JK Natto keeps the faith:
I am so saddened with Cavs not finishing it off but they will win the OT this time. I am having the faith of winning now from Port Moresby, PNG.
Cavaliers 92-91 Warriors, 1:10, OT
Draymond Green forces a shot clock violation. Golden State ball. Shumpert makes the steal…but Klay Thompson blocks his rebound attempt. Iguodala gets the rebound. The Warriors call timeout.
Cavaliers 92-91 Warriors, 1:53, OT
Green cuts it down to a one-point lead and the Cavaliers call a timeout after they notice that Dellavedova is clearly cramping up. This should feel depressingly familiar for Cleveland fans.
Cavaliers 92-89 Warriors, 2:39, OT
Green tips in a Curry layup.
Cavaliers 92-87 Warriors, 3:16, OT
LeBron makes the second.
Cavaliers 91-87 Warriors, 3:16, OT
Green fouls LeBron who makes his first free throw... and the Warriors call timeout.
Cavaliers 90-87 Warriors, 3:47, OT
Green steals the opening tip, but the Warriors can’t do anything with it. JR Smith with the rebound, but the Cavs can’t do anything either.
After another empty Golden State possession, Shumpert gets 3 points, one more than the Cavs scored all last overtime.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have zero chance of winning this game. Or any other game in this series. They simply cannot win basketball games like this.
Overime again!
Cavaliers 87-87 Warriors, end of the 4th
James misses! Thompson’s tip in doesn’t go. The clock hits zero! We’re going to overtime!
Golden State ties!
Cavaliers 87-87 Warriors, :07, 4th quarter
Iman Shumpert misses a three. Green gets the rebound. Curry makes the layup! Tie game!
Cavaliers 87-85 Warriors, :38, 4th quarter
LeBron misses a three. Thompson misses the tying basket. Barnes misses, Dellavedova gets the rebound and Cleveland calls timeout.
Cavaliers 87-85 Warriors, :59, 4th quarter
J.R. Smith fouls Barnes, oh man, it’s a make and Smith just gave him an “and one” for free. He hits the free throw and it’s a two point game.
Cavaliers 87-82 Warriors, 1:34, 4th quarter
LeBron James gets on the foul line, makes two.
Cavaliers 85-82 Warriors, 2:00, 4th quarter
Cavs take a timeout, but it doesn’t help. LeBron misses out of the break, Thompson cuts the lead down to 3 with a make. The Cavs are wavering.
Cavaliers 85-80 Warriors, 2:34, 4th quarter
HORRIFIC foul given by J.R. Smith to stop the clock and put Curry on the line. He makes both. Holy hell, if the Warriors come back to win this one, that’s going to be on J.R.
Cavaliers 85-78 Warriors, 2:36, 4th quarter
Curry hits a three! Golden State isn’t done yet. They foul Tristan Thompson again. He again makes one of two.
Cavaliers 84-75 Warriors, 2:57, 4th quarter
Iguodala hits a three that his team desperately needed. Golden State immediately fouls Tristan Thompson. Oh we’re doing this now are we? Fun.
He makes one of two.
Prediction from Gustavo Ibarra around 54 minutes ago:
Cleveland is going to win this one.
That seems prescient right now.
Cavaliers 83-72 Warriors, 3:13, 4th quarter
Iguodala fouls LeBron. LeBron only makes one of two. The Warriors miss another three-pointer, it’s Barnes, and the Cavaliers DON’T.
LeBron James, of course, makes a three pointer and that might be it for Golden State. They take a timeout.
Cavaliers 79-72 Warriors, 4:11, 4th quarter
Warriors finally got on a run. Barnes takes and makes a shot, Green gets fouled by Tristan Thompson and makes two free throws.
Cavaliers 79-68 Warriors, 4:39, 4th quarter
Klay Thompson gets fouled and makes both free throws which gives Golden Sta-
Oh hell, Dellavedova hits a three pointer. That’s one that will be in the box score.
Cavaliers 76-66 Warriors, 5:28, 4th quarter
J.R. Smith makes the first free throw but misses the second, but Tristan Thompson is there for the offensive rebound. Jones gets the ball back to Smith who nails a three-pointer. Double digit Cavs lead.
Cavaliers 72-66 Warriors, 5:47, 4th quarter
Warriors take a timeout.
@HunterFelt Loving dellavedova effort. Doesn't have kyrie talent, but does have an intimidating swagger thats getting to these GSW youth
— Aram Mushegian (@arammush) June 8, 2015
He’s doing those “things that don’t show up on the scoreboard,” as the announcer cliche goes.
Cavaliers 72-66 Warriors, 5:47, 4th quarter
Wow. A Steph Curry three, one that always seems to go in for him, just refuses to fall. That’s the story of this game for Golden State.
Cavaliers 72-66 Warriors, 6:24, 4th quarter
Iguodala with a steal... which he can’t corral. Possession goes back to Cleveland. Jones misses with a three, which is a shot clock violation.
Cavaliers 72-66 Warriors, 6:50, 4th quarter
James misses the first free throw but makes the second.
Cavaliers 71-66 Warriors, 7:18, 4th quarter
While the officials go over that, here’s an email from Mila Balquin
Thanks for your live NBA blog, my only way to follow NBA finals here in the outskirts of Manila.
Thanks. And yes this will just be a standard foul on Green. Two free throws for LeBron.
Cavaliers 71-66 Warriors, 7:18, 4th quarter
Green and LeBron James collide hard, looks like the face. He’s slow to get up. The officials are going to look at this to see if it’s flagrant on Green. Have to think it’s just a common one.
Cavaliers 71-66 Warriors, 7:18, 4th quarter
Barnes inspires some noise with a dunk. Warriors need that.
Cavaliers 71-64 Warriors, 8:21, 4th quarter
Long jumper from J.R. Smith increases the Cleveland lead.
Official timeout. Chantilly asks:
How many points for Le Bron?
Good question. LeBron James has 29 and is an assist away from a triple-double:
29 Pts, 12 Reb, 9 Ast
Cavaliers 69-64 Warriors, 8:44, 4th quarter
Klay Thompson is single-handedly keeping his team in this one. He makes a long two to cut the deficit to two. Unfortunately, that LeBron guy hits a three immediately afterwards. The Cavs have 69 and I’m sure all of Weird Twitter just giggled at that.
Cavaliers 66-62 Warriors, 10:45, 4th quarter
Delly very much hasn’t been replacing Kyrie’s offense, until now. He makes back-to-back baskets to give the Cavs a four point lead.
Cavaliers 62-62 Warriors, 11:37, 4th quarter
Four point play opportunity! Thompson hits a three and is fouled by J.R. Smith. But he can’t make the free throw. Tied game though.
And Michelle Beritzhoff checks in:
California native in New Zealand thanks you!!!
Keep up the great live coverage - although my nails are doing so well.Cheers,Michelle
Email from Antonio Villanueva III
Good Morning,
From the Philippines. Thank you for your live blog. I’m at work right now with my officemates in my back. lol!
Email from Rudell O’Neal:
Sitting at Capital Jazz Fest listening to Kenny G and following your blog. Does it get any better? Yeah, when we WIN! Rudell
I’m more of a Chuck Mangione guy myself.
Cavaliers 62-59 Warriors, end of the 3rd quarter
Marreese Speights is in the game for a cameo. He misses, of course. Then the Cavaliers get hit for a shot clock violation.
Warriors need to end the quarter on a good note: And they almost get one. Klay hits a jumper to cut into the lead but...
Oh dear, Speights misses a dunk. Wow. Just wow.
Cavaliers 62-57 Warriors, 1:50, 3rd quarter
Mike Miller fouls Shaun Livingston who goes to the line. He makes one of 2 FTs.
Official timeout time. Getting a lot more emails from pretty much everywhere! Nobody can tell me that this isn’t a global sport.
From Marnie Rock:
Thanks so much for your live blog. At work in Australia Monday morning and so annoyed to be missing the game but this makes it a lot easier!! Loving the updates, cheers guys! All in Cleveland!!!
From JK Natto:
It’s Monday here in Papua New Guinea but thanks Guys for the instant updates n hope Cavs wins!
From Carlos Almeida:
It’s a public holiday in Sydney Australia. But I drew the short straw & had to come in to work. Pretty lonely here but your live blog is pretty sweet. I know how I’ll be following games 3 & 4
Cavaliers 62-56 Warriors, 2:14, 3rd quarter
J.R. Smith fouls Green, who makes two free throws.
Then. Ugh. Double technicals, my least favorite officiating decision. That’s one for Green and one for Smith.
Oh and Smith hits a three-pointer. The last thing the Warriors need is Smith getting hot.
Cavaliers 59-54 Warriors, 3:13, 3rd quarter
No momentum for Golden State. Green gets called for an illegal screen. LeBron makes a layup.
Cavaliers 57-54 Warriors, 3:54, 3rd quarter
The Warriors desperately need to actually connect on a three-pointer, which they do. No points in guessing that it’s Klay Thompson.
Cavaliers 57-51 Warriors, 4:35, 3rd quarter
Klay Thompson fouls LeBron. Oh hey, here’s Mike Miller, coming in for Delly. We were just talking about you.
James makes both free throws.
Cavaliers 55-51 Warriors, 5:37, 3rd quarter
Backup center Festus Ezeli makes his first appearance in the scoring column to halt the Cavs run.
Cavaliers 55-49 Warriors, 5:54, 3rd quarter
And we’ve hit a patch of free throw shooting. Fun. Bogut was fouled by Jones, and misses both. Bogut then fouls Mozgov, who hits both of his.
And then Bogut fouls Mozgov again. He makes both again. Bogut should probably stop doing that.
Warriors call a timeout. Meanwhile, readers continue to check in from around the world.
Email from Gilad Gershoni:
I’m up 30,000ft in the air on AA and getting my updates from you. Thanks for the live blog.
Email from Repeka Varasikete:
Reading your updates at work. This way i can get updates of the game here in Fiji!!! Thanks for the updates guys!! Great Job
Cavaliers 51-49 Warriors, 6:52, 3rd quarter
Crowd starts to get into Golden State’s defensive efforts with the classic “DE-FENSE” chants which, of course, immediately jinxs the home team and leads to the Cavs breaking the tie as Mozgov makes a jumper.
Updated
Cavaliers 49-49 Warriors, 7:46, 3rd quarter
Wow. LeBron gets rejected not once, but twice by Bogut and then Green.
Cavaliers 49-49 Warriors, 8:53, 3rd quarter
Barnes bricks a three. Man, I never expected the Warriors to go this cold from the three point line. Somewhere Phil Jackson is smirking.
Curry does tie the ball with an old-fashioned two pointer.
Cavaliers 49-47 Warriors, 11:11, 3rd quarter
Curry gets to Barnes for a jumper. Neither side’s wasting time here.
The second half begins!
Cavaliers 49-45 Warriors, 11:51, 3rd quarter
LeBron hits a jumper right out of the gate.
From Muhammad Usman Haider
What a game. To be Honest i was not expecting this after Irving’s injury. Go cavaliers.
Me either. I was expecting the Warriors to come out big.
From Adrian Haughey:
Subject: Need the cavs to win
Driving back from the seaside to Melbourne have a bet with an Aussie drongo on the cavs to win this,loser making a delicious cheesecake,serious hassle so hoping Le bron has a big night
That is a hassle. This is why I only bet money. Er, if gambling were legal here.
And, of course, you can contribute via Twitter by tweeting at @HunterFelt.
@HunterFelt LeBron's shoulders must be creaking carrying this lot. Incredible
— Mr Levity (@Levity63) June 8, 2015
He’s doing a great job of finding his teammates, which I think makes this an even better performance than his 40+ point game on Thursday.
We are getting updates from around the world. Thanks to everyone reading wherever you are.
From fontanillasam46:
This is the only way we can be updated down here in the middle of Atlantic Ocean on-board an Ocean Going Tanker Vessel. Thanks for the live update.
From Jim Piper:
Watching your updates from Bangkok, Thailand, GO CAVS!
From Quentin Bertram:
Im sitting on our own version of a bullet train down here in Auckland New Zealand, watching this blog and this enthralling series unfold. If a train down here manages to do more than 35km, then that’s classed as fast!!
Cmon the Cav’s. Key trade in the off season………big Stevie Adams. Dah man.
Loving the commentary though, keep it up!!
Not one of Steph Curry’s greatest games, but he’s still pulling off tricks like this:
Steph Curry is doing ridiculous things. http://t.co/WuxGBuo9Vd https://t.co/XyPudnFMyY
— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) June 8, 2015
UPDATE: Cavaliers 47-45 Warriors, end of the 1st half
Upon further review Klay Thompson’s three has been downgraded to a two.
Email from Jonathan Lee:
The atmosphere is absolutely electric. Warriors need to get the offensive boards to win this. It’ll be won that way, oh and Klay is on fire so there’s that too.
This is definitely Klay’s game. A reminder that I’m taking your emails here throughout the liveblog. You can send them to Hunter.Felt@theguardian.com.
Updated
Cavaliers 47 - 46 Warriors, end of the 1st half
Warriors take a 20 second timeout. Mozgov makes one of two free throws after the last foul of the half, which gives them a one point lead. We have halftime folks, this one looks like a good one.
Cavaliers 46 - 46 Warriors, :43, 2nd quarter
James gets back on the line two make one of two free throws. Thompson continues his torrid shooting with a long distance dedication that ties this baby up.
I don’t know why I’m suddenly talking like a 70’s disc jockey.
Cavaliers 45 - 43 Warriors, 1:21, 2nd quarter
LeBron to Mozgov, who very much looks worth two first round picks this game. Harrison Barnes, having a very quiet game, makes some noise with a jumper and
Cavaliers 43 - 41 Warriors, 1:53, 2nd quarter
Mozgov gets one out of two free throws, again. Then Iggy makes a basket AND draws a foul on LeBron.
He can’t convert the “and one” though.
Cavaliers 42 -39 Warriors, 2:04, 2nd quarter
Jones fouls Steph Curry who goes to the line and makes only one of two. I pretty much never expect him to miss anything...
Like that three-pointer that he makes after the Warriors recover a J.R. miss.
Email from Briana Hynson:
You’re the man! I’m sitting in a JR Bullet Train passing Osaka, Japan and my only means of following the game is by your Live Blog! Thank you! #cheeringfrom5180milesaway
You’re welcome. Also: if I were on a bullet train in Osaka I would definitely mention it as often as possible. It’s one of the top 5 coolest places to email from.
Cavaliers 42 -35 Warriors, 2:49, 2nd quarter
And LeBron again with the assist to a now on fire Mozgov for a layup. And then Delly picks up a momentum killing foul.
Cleveland timeout.
Cavaliers 40 -35 Warriors, 3:21, 2nd quarter
Mozgov then goes to the line to make one of two free throws. The Warriors need something here badly.
And they get something, Iggy with a basket that gets Oracle roaring again.
Cavaliers 39 -33 Warriors, 3:58, 2nd quarter
LeBron is in distribute mode, which normally doesn’t work when he’s giving up shots to give Jones and Mozgov looks. But it’s working here. Mozgov hits a three-footer and LeBron makes two free throws after Barnes fouls him.
Cavaliers 35 -33 Warriors, 5:01, 2nd quarter
JAMES JONES PODIUM GAME? Now that’s more like it, Jones hits a three-pointer to give Cleveland the lead.
Cavaliers 32 -33 Warriors, 5:26, 2nd quarter
Klay Thompson will never miss again. A long-two briefly extends the Warrior lead to 3 before Jones hits a... not three pointer? That’s weird.
Cavaliers 30 -31 Warriors, 6:24, 2nd quarter
Iguodala fouls LeBron, who makes both free throws. Warriors are playing better, but the Cavaliers are only down one.
Time out time? Time out time.
Cavaliers 28 -31 Warriors, 6:24, 2nd quarter
Andrew Bogut, fouled by James Jones before the timeout, makes his two free throws but Jones gets the points right back, plus one, with one of this patented three-pointers.
Maybe my snarkiness motivated him.
Email from worsnope thirteenube:
I know Cavaliers lose Kyrie Irving because of his injury but other guys could step up like JR Smith and the rest of the guys in Cavs team aside from LeBron James. As long as they work hard in their defensive strategy and the rest of the guys will step up in their offensive strategy, they could beat Warriors to win game 2. #All In One (A n’ 1)Cleveland Cavaliers
This is what you have to believe as a Cavaliers fan. The Warriors do look very vulnerable here so far.
Cavaliers 25 -29 Warriors, 7:10, 2nd quarter
This is Klay Thompson’s night. Iguodala-to-Thompson-for-two expands the Warriors lead to 4 points, and gives Thompson 16 points in the game, and we have a timeout so everyone can catch their breath. LeBron James especially.
Cavaliers 25 -27 Warriors, 8:38, 2nd quarter
And Thompson and Livingston increase the Warriors lead on back-to-back baskets before LeBron quiets the crowd with a three-pointer.
Cavaliers 22 -23 Warriors, 9:49, 2nd quarter
And that didn’t last long. Klay Thompson with a three.
Updated
Cavaliers 22 -20 Warriors, 10:55, 2nd quarter
And more ineffective offense to start the 2nd. After like a half-dozen turnovers, LeBron makes a layup for the night’s first Cavs lead.
Updated
@VirginAmerica I love your airline but am bummed you don't have @ABC to watch the #Warriors tonight. Thank goodness @HunterFelt liveblogs!
— Sarah Smith (@sasmith4) June 8, 2015
Happy to help. I can tell you that you really didn’t miss much in this first quarter, if it makes you feel better.
@HunterFelt rather see Mike Miller in for James Jones, we've all seen how he can step up in the Finals before with bron setting him up
— Aram Mushegian (@arammush) June 8, 2015
At this point I’d even rather see Shane Battier, and he actually is legitimately retired.
Cavaliers and Warriors tied after the 1st quarter
Cavaliers 20 -20 Warriors, end of the 1st quarter
And neither team can convert anything on the offensive end before the quarter come to an end. Both of these teams kinda need to get their heads straight.
Cavaliers 20 -20 Warriors, :23, 1st quarter
David Blatt just accidentally called for a 20 second timeout. SERIOUSLY? Haven’t you learned anything about not calling timeouts when you really can’t afford to?
Cavaliers 20 -20 Warriors, :52, 1st quarter
Mozgov gets to the free throw line thanks to a foul call in Cleveland’s favor. He misses both. Without Irving, the Cavaliers can’t afford to put up 0-fers at the free throw line.
Cavaliers 20 -20 Warriors, 1:03, 1st quarter
Nevermind. Now it’s tied courtesy of a J.R. Smith layup.
Cavaliers 18 -20 Warriors, 1:53, 1st quarter
Timofey Mozgov makes his first shot of the game and LeBron follows that up and the Cavs get this down to a two-point game.
Cavaliers 14 -20 Warriors, 2:43, 1st quarter
Driving layup by LeBron out of the timeout. He’s going to need to do things like this just to keep his team afloat.
Cavaliers 12 -20 Warriors, 3:12, 1st quarter
That’s how dangerous this bench is: even Barbosa is stepping up. Meanwhile, James Jones is in for Cleveland. Yes he’s not retired.
@HunterFelt glad to see you back doing liveblogs hunter. you will be wrong about the cavs though ;)
— Aram Mushegian (@arammush) June 8, 2015
I hope you’re right, selfishly, the longer this series goes on the more of these liveblogs I can do.
Cavaliers 12 -20 Warriors, 3:12, 1st quarter
And Leandro Barbosa makes the Warriors’ second three-pointer. And, yeah, that’s a sign that Cleveland needs to take a timeout.
Cavaliers 12 -17 Warriors, 3:24, 1st quarter
Green misses a layup coming out of the timeout and then... there’s a lot more missing. Maybe slow this thing down a bit? The Warriors are 1-8 from three-point lead, the Cavaliers have to take advantage of this.
Oh never mind, Bogut finds Curry who throws up a wild one that, of course, goes in. First field goal of the game for Steph.
Cavaliers 12 -15 Warriors, 5:39, 1st quarter
Lots and lots of jump shots this game, as fits the makeup of these teams. Only one made three-pointer though, which is a bit unusual.
Cavaliers 12 -15 Warriors, 5:39, 1st quarter
Current J.R. Smith status: actually hitting the basket, although this one was just a few feet away and not somewhere around Mars like usual. That’s enough for Golden State to take their first timeout of the game. Fast-paced start for this one.
Cavaliers 10 -15 Warriors, 6:33, 1st quarter
Tristan Thompson fouls Curry, who makes his free throws and Leandro Barbosa adds to the Warriors lead. If Barbosa is scoring, that’s a sign it’s going to be a long, long night for Cleveland.
Cavaliers 10 -11 Warriors, 7:01, 1st quarter
And Klay Thompson gets a basket that LeBron answers. Thompson’s obviously started hot for the Warriors, which makes it a problem that he has already picked up two fouls early. Shumpert goes to the line and makes his two free throws.
Cavaliers 6-9 Warriors, 7:54, 1st quarter
LeBron James gets involved in the scoring for the first time with a two-pointer, but Klay Thompson makes the game’s first three pointer. Most likely won’t be the last, I’m guessing.
Cavaliers 4-6 Warriors, 8:41, 1st quarter
Draymond Green gets fouled by Delly (which is what I’m going to call him for typo-avoiding reasons). Green makes both of his free throws.
Cavaliers 4-4 Warriors, 9:14, 1st quarter
Thompson hits the next shot, but Iman Shumpert responds with the first made basket for the Warriors and LeBron James ties it up.
Cavaliers 0-2 Warriors, 10:22, 1st quarter
Klay Thompson scores first after a minute or so of feeling ou.
We’re off!
Warriors player intro
In contrast, the announcer is going through the Warriors starters introduction like this game is being played with monster trucks.
Cavaliers player intro
The Oracle Arena announcer zooms through the Cavaliers starters in roughly four seconds. Not even a “booing” pause for LeBron.
Anthem grade: 9/10
I automatically give all instrumental versions of “The Star Spangled Banner” at least an 8/10 for sparing us those hideous, hideous lyrics.
National anthem
Carlos Santana plays the “Star Spangled Banner,” here’s what it sounded like during pre-game practice:
Updated
The ads during this NBA postseason has taught me one thing: If one of your loved ones decides to go see this “Pixels” movie, you are justified in writing them out of your will. They cannot spend money wisely.
@ablade @HunterFelt @Busfield How much do we adjust our expectations? Can dellavedova step in for Kyrie ? Will JR start making buckets?
— Aram Mushegian (@arammush) June 7, 2015
Could Dellavedova step in for Irving? Maybe for a game. That can happen in basketball. For the remainder of the season? No and it’s not that I don’t like him, it’s more than Kyrie Irving is a special offensive player who probably, if anything, is still underrated.
Can J.R. Smith start making buckets? I could absolutely see him having a hot streak for a series. Or he could go 3-for-10 on the three point line and hand the Finals to the Warriors.
Email from M.E. Lawrence
Subject: Our favorite newspaper in the world live-blogging the Warriors?!
This is a wonderful idea. Allez, Draymond and Hunter!
Thanks, best wishes,
Melanie and John
Berkeley, California
Your welcome. A reminder that we’ll be liveblogging every game of the NBA Finals here at the Guardian.
Warriors starting lineup
G - Steph Curry
G - Klay Thompson
F - Harrison Barnes
F - Draymond Green
C - Andrew Bogut
One of the few bright sides of Irving being out of the game is that we have both Bogut and Dellavedova in the starting lineups in a NBA Finals game. Not a bad day for Australian basketball.
Cavaliers starting lineup
As everyone predicted, Australia’s own Matthew Dellavedova is starting in place of Kyrie Irving. No pressure right, it’s just game 2 of the NBA Finals?
G - Matthew Dellavedova
G - Iman Shumpert
F - LeBron James
F - Tristan Thompson
C - Timofey Mozgov
Not that anyone can really take Steph Curry’s place. The man, as this clip shows, is basically a one man Harlem Globetrotters.
Steph Curry was looking sharp during warmups earlier this afternoon. #Warriors #DubNation #NBAFinals #DubsOn7 pic.twitter.com/dsSNwMTgRW
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsBayArea) June 7, 2015
@HunterFelt do the Warriors have a competent guy to fill the Vasilevskiy role if Curry needs to use the bathroom?
— Shane Bua (@ThatShaneBua) June 7, 2015
Shane here is banking on the fact that I haven’t been paying attention to the NHL playoffs. He, of course, is quite right about that.
The Warriors’ depth is such that their bench probably was better than the starting lineups of some of the Eastern Conference playoff teams. That’s why Curry has been able to take off entire fourth quarters during the regular season.
I don’t see that happening in the Finals, of course.
Predictions
I really do believe that LeBron James is going to win one of these games all by his lonesome. However, I don’t think it’s going to be at the deafening nightmare which is Oracle Arena. I’m seeing the Warriors win this one fairly easily. Possibly by double-digits.
But that’s just me. I want to hear what you think will happen to tonight, you can email them to Hunter.Felt@theguardian.com or tweet them to @HunterFelt and we’ll use them here.
IMPORTANT PROGRAMMING NOTE: Carlos Santana will be performing the National Anthem tonight. This is why it’s awesome when Bay Area teams make the postseason.
🚨CARLOS SANTANA IS WEARING A DENIM JACKET WITH HIS AUTOGRAPH EMBROIDERED ON IT🚨 pic.twitter.com/md0AJZcUlH
— Becca Laurie, PI (@imbeccable) June 7, 2015
And I’m here, welcome to the liveblog all.
At this moment, it’s hard not to look at the series this Finals could have been. If the Cleveland Cavaliers had a healthy Kevin Love and Kyire Irving, we would be looking at a series that was relatively balanced. With Love out with a shoulder injury and Irving now out with a fractured kneecap, it’s basically LeBron James and a ragtag group of role players trying to bring down a stacked Golden State Warriors team that’s probably one of the best NBA teams of the last decade.
Oh yeah, and they’re already down one game after Thursday’s Game 1 loss.
Without Irving, we probably should scale back our expectations for the Cavaliers. The question no longer is “can the Cavaliers somehow take this series?” it’s now “can the Cavaliers manage to win at least a game?” If the Cavs are able to pull off a victory tonight they could steal away home court advantage and maybe then we’re looking at a potentially competitive NBA Finals.
If not, well… This could end up being over before it ever truly began.
We’ll find out shortly. If you want to join in the conversation in tonight’s liveblog, you can email your thoughts, concerns and questions to Hunter.Felt@theguardian.com or tweet them to @HunterFelt. Opening tip is around 8:00 EST/1:00 BST, but I’ll be back before that with starting lineups, predictions and hopefully, mostly on-topic rambling.
Updated
Hunter will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s an extract from his article on Kyrie Irving’s injury:
On Thursday night, hopes that Cleveland’s long-running championship drought would soon come to an end were all but extinguished in a matter of minutes. For the first 48 minutes of game one of the finals, the Cavaliers played the heavily favored Golden State Warriors to a 98-98 draw and looked poised to take control of the series. Five minutes of overtime later, the Cavaliers had lost the game, and their second most valuable player.
Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving hurt his knee on a non-contact play roughly two minutes into overtime. Without their secondary offensive option, the Cavs managed to score a paltry two points after the end of regulation in what ended up being a 108-100 Warriors win. This setback was compounded by Friday’s news that Irving had a fractured kneecap, which requires surgery that will sideline him for up to four months.
