Final thoughts
Well, the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to have to have the game of their lives in Game 3 on Wednesday. It will help that they’re going to be at home, but right now it’s looking like the answer to the question “How do you beat the Warriors?” might simply be “you don’t.”
That will do it for tonight’s NBA liveblog, thanks for following along and get ready for more on Game 2 of the NBA Finals from us here at the Guardian! Ciao!
Warriors take Game 2
Cavaliers 113-132 Warriors, FINAL
Ian Clark hits a three-pointer at the buzzer and that’s the end of that. The Cavaliers kept it close for much of the game but the end result was the same.
Cavaliers 110-129 Warriors, :37, 4th quarter
I am not play-by-playing this. Sorry, Derrick Williams fans.
Cavaliers 106-127 Warriors, 2:50, 4th quarter
And Steve Kerr is pulling the starters. Hey James McAdoo. Hey Matt Barnes, why are you still in the league despite everything?
Arielle:
People are streaming out of the game already, with 3 minutes left to go. Kind of sad!
Updated
Cavaliers 106-127 Warriors, 3;29, 4th quarter
Oh hey, Durant’s attempt at a 6th block doesn’t pan out, maybe now things are looking up for the Cavaliers.
Just kidding they’re emptying the bench. Hey Dahtay Jones, hey the Williamsses.
Cavaliers 104-125 Warriors, 4:41, 4th quarter
Tristan Thompson misses the easiest jumper ever on one end. Andre Iguodala with a layup.
Oh hey Richard Jefferson is getting free throws! And he misses both! Goodnight Cavaliers.
Cavaliers 104-121 Warriors, 5:35, 4th quarter
Kevin Love hits a three-pointer and Kerr immediately takes a time out which almost feels insulting. “We don’t really need to take one of these, but we have one to play with so….”
Cavaliers 101-121 Warriors, 5:58, 4th quarter
Yeah it’s looking like Durant is in the lead for the MVP of the Finals. My god.
Tristan Thompson hits a floater and HOW DID DURANT HIT ANOTHER THREE. And Curry gets a rebound for a triple-double and HE MAKES A THREE and we are done here.
Cavaliers 97-115 Warriors, 7:16, 4th quarter
Kyrie with a three pointer. Klay with a three pointer. Hope is a thing with spikes for Cavaliers fans right now.
Curry and Thompson with a layup and a 16 point lead AND Kevin Durant makes an incredible block on Kevin Love, scores on the other end and forces the Cavaliers to take a timeout.
This game isn’t over but it’s oh oh so close.
Cavaliers 94-108 Warriors, 9:07, 4th quarter
It is now. Durant with a toe-on-the-line long two.
Cavaliers 94-106 Warriors, 9:22, 4th quarter
Irving with a layup. The Warriors take a timeout. It feels like the lead should be larger than 12 here.
Cavaliers 92-106 Warriors, 9:52, 4th quarter
Tristan Thompson and David West get into and get called for a double technical, which feels like it should have been a prop bet.
LeBron makes his first appearance of the fourth and, shockingly, immediately scores for Cleveland. A jumper.
But a goaltend gives two points to Ian Clark and the Warriors. The clock is starting to be Golden State’s friend.
Cavaliers 90-104 Warriors, 11:37, 4th quarter
Ian Clark with a layup, Korver with a… three? Two. They’re saying two. I just assume the triple with Korver. Well fast start here as far as fourth quarter scoring.
Cavaliers 88-102 Warriors, end of the 3rd quarter
Richard Jefferson cuts into the Golden State lead with two free throws but it’s gonna be a tough hole for the Cavs to climb out of here in the fourth.
Cavaliers 86-102 Warriors, :28, 3rd quarter
Love makes a shot for Cleveland, but Curry hits a three right after.
Some good news for the Cavaliers as Green picks up his fifth personal foul on Kevin Love. That may factor into the fourth.
Cavaliers 84-99 Warriors, 1:06, 3rd quarter
Both teams go cold at the end of the 3rd quarter, which Golden State is perfectly okay with. It even effects the free throw shooting, Green hits only one of two after getting fouled. Biggest Warriors lead so far.
Cavaliers 84-98 Warriors, 2:36, 3rd quarter
Curry gets fouled. He improves to 14-for-14 on the line. Green’s back in the game, despite being in foul trouble.
Cavaliers 84-96 Warriors, 3:12, 3rd quarter
Cavaliers take a timeout. Every time they make it close, every time. James makes a long two, Klay makes a three pointer. One must imagine Sisyphus as unhappy.
Cavaliers 82-93 Warriors, 4:48, 3rd quarter
After a Warriors timeout, Livingston draws a foul on LeBron. He makes both (I have that phrase copied now.) And Shumpert fouls Durant in the process of making a shot. He hits his free throw. Irving attempts a layup, Curry gets the ball throws a no-look pass to Livingston and hey they have a 11 point lead now. Holy heck!
Cavaliers 82-86 Warriors, 5:41, 3rd quarter
And LeBron keeps on, rebounding a missed Iguodala three pinter and converting it on his end and then assisting Irving on a layup that cuts the lead back down to 4 points and things are a tad bit quieter now here.
Cavaliers 78-86 Warriors, 6;48, 3rd quarter
Man, the Cavaliers can not seem to get a defensive rebound, giving Thompson a three point opportunity. Cavaliers feel like they’re on the ropes.
So LeBron does what he has to do here, responding with a three of his own.
Cavaliers 75-83 Warriors, 7:35, 3rd quarter
Curry making LeBron look like a fool has absolutely enlivened an already boisterous crowd.
Curry dances his way for two to extend the @warriors lead!#NBAFinals on #NBAonABC pic.twitter.com/HsLU8Wmvcl
— NBA (@NBA) June 5, 2017
Durant blocks Shumpert’s three attempt, but Love manages to tip it in. Great effort though.
Cavaliers 73-83 Warriors, 8:53, 3rd quarter
Curry hits a three pointer. JR Smith misses a three-pointer. JR Smith fouls Curry, Curry hits two free throws. JR Smith having a JR Smith Game at the exact worst time.
And things get worse for Cleveland. Love makes a three pointer, which Green promptly answers. Then Love makes a bad pass, Green picks it off, and Curry makes a layup, discombobulating LeBron in the process, and Tyronn Lue calls a timeout. Brutal sequence there.
Cavaliers 70-73 Warriors, 10:26, 3rd quarter
Ouch. Tristan Thompson makes a layup and then the Cavaliers allow a four-point play on the other end, with JR Smith (of course) fouling Durant as he drains a three pinter. He makes the free throw because nobody is mission those tonight.
And LeBron gets fouled and (spoiler) he makes both. Cavaliers within 3 again.
Second half begins!
Cavaliers 66-69 Warriors, 11:30, 3rd quarter
Kevin Love makes a layup to get Cleveland on the verge, Kevin Durant scores on the other end. Yep the start of the second quarter is this game in miniature.
Updated
When we last left the Cavaliers and Warriors...
Float like a Kyrie, sting like a bee pic.twitter.com/a0X0nWKJHV
— Legends (@LegendsofCH) June 5, 2017
Obligatory “Holy Crap, LeBron Is Amazing” Stat Of The Day
LeBron James had 18 pts, 6 reb, 10 ast in the first half. Over the past 20 Finals, only 5 other players have done that in an entire game.
— Adam Reisinger (@AdamReisinger) June 5, 2017
Honestly, all the Warriors need to do to win this game, win comfortably, is to take care of the ball. It feels like they’re trying a bit too hard to play faster than Cleveland, to score quickly, and on one hand it’s working: they’re able to keep pace by responding to every Cavs score but, the Cavs are getting a lot of those chances because the Warriors are handing them extra chances.
Halftime
Wow, this is looking a LOT different from Game 1. We have a one-possession game at the half!
Cavaliers 64-67 Warriors, end of the first half
Klay Thompson makes 1 of 2 free throws. With 7 seconds left to go Durant hits jumper but, as time expires, LeBron finds Irving for a floater that makes this a three point ballgame at the half! Wow!
Cavaliers 62-64 Warriors, 1:05, 2nd quarter
Shumpert makes both free throws, but… every time the Cavaliers get close, the Warriors immediately score. Andre Iguodala with a three pointer.
But LeBron James makes a driving layup buuuut JR makes a silly foul. One step forward, two steps back.
Cavaliers 58-61 Warriors, 1:40, 2nd quarter
Draymond misses a good look at three. Shumpert with a rebound. Kyrie Irving with the ball and his shot is good! One point game!
For like five seconds. Livingston scores on the other end. Irving and Smith both attempt threes, neither go in. Durant has the ball… but he turns it over, Shumpert with a steal and Livingston fouls him.
This is… this is a game?
Cavaliers 56-59 Warriors, 3:05, 2nd quarter
LeBron is keeping this close for Cleveland. He scores after rebounding a Durant miss and the Warriors take 20 seconds.
Updated
Cavaliers 54-59 Warriors, 4:03, 2nd quarter
Another Curry turnover. Irving takes away another Curry throwaway. LeBron James deposits it into the basket.
And Curry loses the ball on the very next possession! Luckily for Golden State, Love misses on a fairly clean look at a three point shot and Livingston can make a shot on their end. They’re giving Cleveland chances here.
Cavaliers 52-57 Warriors, 5:18, 2nd quarter
Solid run from Cleveland. Love, Irving and LeBron all score, with only a single Green make in-between. They get the lead down to three but a Kevin Durant dunk almost instantly sucks away all of their good vibes.
They take a 20 second timeout.
Cavaliers 46-53 Warriors, 7:03, 2nd quarter
There’s already been 9 turnovers for the Warriors, so far. BRING BACk MIKE BROWN. (No, not really.)
(Unless.)
Shumpert hits his second free throw and then he steals the ball from Curry, who fouls him. Kevin Love makes a shot and the Cavaliers get it within….
Nah, never mind, the Warriors (as always) have a response. Durant draws a foul on a shot that goes in. He makes the free throw too.
Cavaliers 43-50 Warriors, 7:33, 2nd quarter
Love hits a jumper, Shumpert draws a foul. After he makes his first free throw, nobody seems to be missing theirs today, the Warriors call their first timeout of the quarter.
Cavaliers 40-50 Warriors, 9:07, 2nd quarter
Korver does what Korver does, making a three pointer right out of that timeout.
Unfortunately for Cleveland, Ian Clark does likewise.
And hey, Iman Shumpert sighting, he makes a jumper. Cavaliers staying at arm’s length.
Cavaliers 35-47 Warriors, 9:56, 2nd quarter
And the Warriors then score 7 straight points. After a Klay Thompson three-pointer, the Cavaliers quickly take a timeout.
Arielle on Klay’s reception:
The crowd is going nuts whenever Klay scores, trying to boost his confidence and get him out of this slump.
Cavaliers 35-40 Warriors, 11:49, 2nd quarter
And Green starts off the second by picking up a foul. That puts Kyrie Irving on the line, where he hits one of two.
Another standing ovation for Steve Kerr. Everyone's very glad to see him back and healthy #NBAFinals2017 pic.twitter.com/zQeFBmO9Po
— Arielle Retting (@aretting) June 5, 2017
Cavaliers 34-40 Warriors, end of the first quarter
Kyle Korver gets fouled by Green on a three, although Green passionately denies the case. Korver makes all three free throws. Durant ends the first quarter scoring with a three-pointer that the Cavaliers can’t counter after JR Smith turns it over. That’s 74 points total and we’re just a quarter into this game. Strap yourselves in.
Cavaliers 31-37 Warriors, :46, 1st quarter
Curry seems to have spent a lifetime on the free throw lines. He remains perfect after getting fouled by Deron Williams (hi Deron). Oh hey, Shaun Livingston gets into the scoring action, an alley-oop dunk assisted by Andre Iguodala.
Jefferson is still in the game and still has some offense left in him, getting a layup under the basket.
Cavaliers 27-31 Warriors, 1:30, 1st quarter
Curry draws a foul and makes two free throws.
Channing Frye, who is in the game, knocks down a jumper and the Warriors lead is just 4.
Cavaliers 27-31 Warriors, 2:20, 1st quarter
Richard Jefferson then makes a three and Curry throws the ball away. Not the best series of events for the Warriors and LeBron makes them pay, getting fouled on his way to the basket. He makes the layup and the free throw.
Cavaliers 21-31 Warriors, 3:19, 1st quarter
LeBron gets a shot off. Oh hey Richard Jefferson is in the game for Love… and he gets called for a foul that gives Curry three free throws. He makes them all.
Cavaliers 19-28 Warriors, 3:42, 1st quarter
Cavaliers needed this. Kyrie Irving with a three and Pachulia is called for a foul. He then gets replaced by JaVale McGee, doubly embarrassing.
AND THEN MCGEE THROWS IT DOWN. NEVER MIND THEN. JaVale McVP.
Cavaliers 16-26 Warriors, 4:52, 1st quarter
Durant blocks Irving’s jumper, Curry grabs the rebound and Durant hits a three on the other end. A good start has unraveled here rather quickly.
Cavaliers 16-23 Warriors, 5:18, 1st quarter
Tristan Thompson misses a jumper, the Warriors recover, Green makes a three pointer. The home crowd starts to get loud.
Tristan Thompson dunks on the other end, that’s a good sign for Cleveland, but Zaza Pachulia makes a layup, Klay Thompson steals the ball from Kyre Irving and Curry scores.
That’s a series of increasingly bad signs for Cleveland, who take their first timeout.
Cavaliers 14-16 Warriors, 6:47, 1st quarter
Well that worked. Right out of the timeout, Draymond Green finds Steph Curry who drains a three. Welcome back Steve Kerr.
Cavaliers 14-13 Warriors, 7:47, 1st quarter
And Cleveland responds. Irving gets the ball to Kevin Love for a two-pointer. Durant re-ties it with a layup.
And Green turns it over, Klay Thompson fouls LeBron. I could go worse for Golden State, he his only one of his two free throws, but the Warriors call a timeout.
Yes, Golden State calls the first timeout of Game 2.
Cavaliers 11-11 Warriors, 9:06, 1st quarter
This is uh, not going to be a low-scoring affair it seems. Love makes another shot. Then Klay Thompson rebounds his own miss and scores, and then follows it up with a layup, AND he gets fouled and he ties it up on the free throw line.
Cavaliers 9-6 Warriors, 10:11, 1st quarter
LeBron and Love make back-to-back layups. That’s a solid offensive start for Cleveland but JR Smith fouls Steph Curry outside the three-point line and, oh yeah no doubt, he hits all three free throws.
Cavaliers 4-3 Warriors, 11:11, 1st quarter
And Draymond Green responds with a three pointer. On the other end, Kevin Love gets a shot off and gets fouled. He makes the free throw and Cleveland regains an early lead.
Opening tip
Cavaliers 2-0 Warriors, 11:22, 1st quarter
Warriors control the tip, but don’t convert. LeBron James lays it in for the first score of the game.
Carlos Santana just did an outstanding instrumental rendition of the national anthem, which is better than a vocal version like 99% of the time. And now the Warriors are going to be introduced and it’s uh... a tad more high energy.
Steve Kerr gets a standing ovation as he returns to the sidelines #NBAFinals2017 pic.twitter.com/8qzW9nxJE4
— Arielle Retting (@aretting) June 5, 2017
Huge ovation for Steve Kerr. Nice to see Kerr well enough to be back on the court, he has gone through hell over the past few months dealing with back pain.
Cavaliers starters
They have to hope to get some actual points out of Thompson to have a shot tonight, one would think.
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: JR Smith
SF: LeBron James
PF: Kevin Love
C: Tristan Thompson
Warriors starters
Not a lot of shockers here.
PG: Steph Curry
SG: Klay Thompson
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Draymond Green
C: Zazu Pachulia
Prediction
I’m going to say the Warriors win, in a much tighter game, but I’m not ready to fully give up on Cleveland. I’m going to throw in a bonus prediction here: the Cavaliers are going to win their first game at home. I can’t say that I’m 100% sold on them making this a series but they’re not going to be swept.
Although, assuming the Warriors do win Game 2, we’re going to have to think about the possibility of them sweeping through the postseason. If they do that, well, we’re going to have to start talking about them as potentially the best NBA team of all time. (Considering what LeBron James did last year, he would probably really, really, really like if we started up that discussion again.)
Steve Kerr said he hasn't informed the team he's coaching yet: "But they probably already know since they're always on their phones."
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) June 4, 2017
And if it’s not unfair enough already for Cleveland, the Warriors have made a significant upgrade, with Steve Kerr replacing Mike Brown at the head coaching position. Now I’m rooting for the Warriors tonight just to avoid the “they should have kept Brown as head coach” takes.
Preamble
Welcome to Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. Okay, okay, I’ll start things off by admitting that Game 1 didn’t really ease the concerns of those who thought this series was a done deal. The Cavaliers looked completely overmatched by Kevin Durant & The Basketball Death Stars last game and it’s easy to imagine this not changing for the remainder of the series.
I will readily admit, early returns on my predictions have not been good. I predicted that neither team would win by more than 10 points at any point this series, and the Warriors won Game 1 by the final score of 113-91. So that’s right out, immediately. I predicted that this would be a 7 game series, right now it feels like it will be shocking if it lasts beyond 5. I predicted Klay Thompson would end up being Finals MVP and he’s the only star player from Golden State NOT hitting shots.
So, uh, take all of my prediction’s for tonight’s action with a grain of salt.
As you’ve seen, once again we have Arielle Retting is at Oracle Arena to provide color/commentary on tonight’s basketball action. Want to contribute to tonight’s liveblog as well? Email your comments/questions/jokes/predictions to hunter.felt.freelance@theguardian.com or tweet them to @HunterFelt and we’ll try to fit them in here. It’s the Cavaliers vs the Warriors at Oracle Arena! The game is scheduled to tip off at 8pm EST, but I’ll be back before then to ramble at you some more! (It’s partly a promise, partly a threat, it’s a thremise!)
Updated
Steve Kerr said he wouldn’t go into detail about his health issues but confirmed that he would be coaching, likely for the rest of the postseason.
“I’m feeling better. I’m feeling more like I did at the end of the regular season,” he said. “I wouldn’t be in this if I was thinking just one game and then – no, I’m in it for the rest of the way, and that’s the intention.”
“It’s always good to have your leader back, and I’m happy to see Steve Kerr back and healthy,” Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue said at a pre-game press conference.
Steve Kerr will coach the Warriors tonight
After sitting out for weeks with a back injury, head coach Steve Kerr will return to the floor to coach the Golden State Warriors tonight from the bench.
After missing most of the #NBAPlayoffs, @warriors' Steve Kerr will resume his HC duties tonight in Game 2.
— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 4, 2017
His talk with @daldridgetnt. pic.twitter.com/mpNyv4XlDH
Kerr was at Oracle Arena for game 1 of the finals but wasn’t on the floor. Mike Brown has taken over coaching duties for most of the playoffs, but Kerr has been involved in the locker room and at practices, often watching game tape with the team.
Updated
Hunter will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s Les Carpenter’s thoughts on Game 1:
