The Golden State Warriors had their way with the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2. In every aspect of the game, the Warriors were able to outplay the Cavaliers, giving Golden State a 33-point victory and a comfortable 2-0 series lead in the NBA Finals.
It was clear that things were going to go well for the Warriors when their emotional leader, Draymond Green, was able to get going on offense. He had 28 points to lead all scorers in the game, while adding seven rebounds and five assists. Green also had one of his more composed games, with just one turnover. When Green is on for the Warriors, they are a tough team to beat. It also helps when he outshoots the two best shooters in the league from three-point range.
The defensive efforts of Andrew Bogut in the paint set the tone for the Warriors early in the game. He had four blocks in the first quarter, further energizing the Warriors and their home crowd. Bogut wasn’t able to play much in last year’s NBA Finals, but has definitely made his mark in the first two games of this series.
Along with Bogut, the Warriors’ defense was great once again. Their off-ball defense has been sharp, and they’re almost always on point with their help defense, especially on the perimeter. That’s been a big key thus far in the series, especially when you consider how the Cavaliers shot the Hawks and the Raptors out of the gym, sometimes at a historic clip.
Steph Curry and Klay Thompson didn’t have huge games for the Warriors, and that’s fine. Thompson brought in 17 points for the Warriors, while Curry had 18 points, nine rebounds, and four assists in just 24 minutes of play. Curry didn’t put up the biggest numbers, but that’s pretty good for your MVP to only need to play 24 minutes of an NBA Finals game.
Similar to Game 1, the Cavaliers stuck with a lot of isolation on offense, and looked lost many times on defense, whether it be on switches or assignments in transition. Just as they did in the first game, they clearly had a focus on denying Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, and making their shots as difficult as possible. Bad rotations, along with weak contesting of shots by role players led to easier baskets for the Warriors.
Kyrie Irving didn’t have a great game. He had just 10 points, on 5-of-14 shooting from the field, along with a trio of turnovers and just one assist. Richard Jefferson would outscore Irving in the game with 12 points of his own. If the Cavaliers hope to make this a series, that simply can’t happen. Your star point guard has to be a star point guard when you don’t have the bench depth to make up for it, as the Warriors do.
Tristan Thompson also came up small for the Cavaliers, with just five rebounds. Thompson got caught sleeping on several occasions, allowing the opposition to get rebounds they probably shouldn’t have gotten. Here, a Curry miss turns into a Festus Ezeli putback because he fails to box out, despite having position:
The Cavaliers need Thompson to give them double-digit boards almost every night, otherwise he becomes nearly useless on the offensive end of the floor. Thompson isn’t going to give you good production in terms of points, but if he isn’t giving the Cavaliers’ more prolific scorers second chances with his offensive boards, he simply doesn’t do you much good.
For Game 3 in Cleveland, you should expect to see the LeBron James on the offensive end of the floor that we saw in last year’s NBA Finals. As Game 2 progressed, he started settling for jumpers, which is the last thing James needs to be doing. Throughout the playoffs, James had been able to have highly productive games in the paint, after struggling with his jumper most of the year. There has never been quite the force that James is in NBA history, and he will need to get back to playing in the paint, forcing his will against the Golden State defenders when he can. It could help create open looks for his teammates, similar to what he did in the Atlanta and Toronto series.
These have been two poor losses for the Cavaliers, and they don’t appear to have any answers for what the Warriors have thrown at them. If James is going to go out again in the NBA Finals, he’s going to make sure the box score shows that he did his part. There are no excuses this time around for the Cavaliers, who are fully staffed and healthy. Tyronn Lue and staff will certainly take a hard look at film, and perhaps make more dramatic adjustments going into Cleveland.
One thing they will try to take advantage of is points off of turnovers. The Warriors had 20 turnovers in the game, but the Cavaliers weren’t able to really make them pay for it. That might be a good starting point for a team that’s looking for anything right now.
The Warriors haven’t shown any signs of slowing down, and if the Cavaliers aren’t able to make some adjustments, this series could be over much quicker than many initially expected.
