The 33-point win was the Warriors' most lopsided ever in a finals game - and they have won the first two by a combined 48 points (NBA). It took a little while for the Splash brothers to find their groove, but once they did Cleveland had a lot of trouble trying to keep up and they were totally outplayed the rest of the night. Cleveland took a two point lead at the end of the opening quarter, which made you think if the Cavs may have the gumption to take this game and send the series. Lebron had another solid game finishing with 19 points, which snapped the streak he had of 25 straight playoff games with 20 or more points. While Lebron had trouble finding his handle in this game, Klay Thompson eventually found his. Thompson got hot after halftime to finish with 17 points as Golden State became the first team to go ahead 2-0 in the finals since the Lakers in 2009 against Orlando (NBA).
One of the bigger storylines was the injury to Kevin Love, who got hurt in the 3rd quarter and left the game with concussion like symptoms. He went up for a rebound got smacked in the head and went down in a heap. He left the game and did not return. Cleveland had a lot of trouble trying to rebound for the loss of Kevin Love in the ball game, really showing no life after he got hurt. Now I give Kevin Love credit for trying to gut it out, he did drill a big three pointer on his next possession after he got hit, but that was all he was really able to do. If Love has to miss significant time here in the finals, Channning Frye is the Cavs only option at the Forward/Center position at the moment, which could spell a little bit of trouble for the Cavs.
Love getting hurt last year and missing the finals could be viewed as a reason why Cleveland lost in last years finals. Now he's out again and it may start to creep back into the minds of Cavs fans that this could happen again this year. Lebron was getting smothered late in the ball game and was not really getting good looks all night. He did score 14 of his 19 points in the 2nd quarter but that was about it. What Cleveland couldn't do that Golden State did, was they really moved the ball around well. I've never really seen a team move the ball around the perimeter any better then what I saw the Warriors do on Sunday night. Don't believe me, here's a small sample of that sick ball movement:
That is really what separates the Warriors for the Cavaliers. Cleveland really relied on Lebron and small ball when Love left the game, which is something that wasn't really working. Cleveland isn't really built to be that kinda team, where as the Warriors are. Golden State is a fast paced basketball team, one that plays its best game when they're moving the ball well and finding the open man to hit their shots. That's what great teams do, they find the open guy who has the best angle to shoot at. Cleveland has trouble doing that.
With the series returning to Cleveland for the next two games, the Cavaliers have a lot of defensive problems and rotation issues to sort out if they want to keep their Finals hopes alive. Game 3 will be played at Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday, June 8.
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