Green carries Warriors to 2-0 NBA Finals lead over Cavs
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) shoots in front of Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith. AP
OAKLAND, California — Golden State ran away in the second half to beat Cleveland 110-77 on Sunday (Monday Manila time) take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.
Draymond Green scored 28 points and Stephen Curry added 18 for the Warriors, who led by eight at halftime before turning it into a blowout.
Of the previous 31 teams to lead the title series 2-0, 28 went on to win the title.
Cleveland lost Kevin Love in the third quarter to a concussion, putting him in doubt for Game 3 on Wednesday (Thursday Manila time) at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
LeBron James had a team-best 19 points for the Cavaliers, who have now lost seven consecutive games to the Warriors. It’s the first time James has ever lost seven straight to the same opponent.
The 33-point win was the Warriors’ most lopsided ever in a Finals game, and they are now two wins away from back-to-back championships.
“I’m definitely surprised at the margin of victory tonight,” coach Steve Kerr said. “It happens in the NBA, sometimes things get away from you. Sometimes shots go in, sometimes they don’t. Everything changes when we go to Cleveland, we know that.”
Klay Thompson got hot after halftime to finish with 17 points and five assists as Golden State became the first team to go ahead 2-0 in the finals since the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 against Orlando.
“What we’ve done the last few years, everybody, every night has an impact,” Curry said. “You don’t know where it’s going to come from any given night. We’ve got to keep our focus and our edge and hopefully get two more.”
The NBA said Love experienced dizziness early in the second half and left for the locker room to be re-examined, then was placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol. The league said he didn’t exhibit any symptoms before then, even after taking an elbow to the back of the head from Harrison Barnes in the second quarter and going down for several minutes before returning following a timeout. He made a baseline 3-pointer for the Cavs’ first basket in nearly 5-1/2 minutes.
After a scoreless first quarter when he missed all five shots but had five assists, James scored 14 of his 19 points in the second and also finished with nine assists and eight rebounds, but seven turnovers. James’ teams had won nine straight postseason Game 2s after losing the series opener dating back to 2008.
Curry and Thompson combined for only 20 points in Thursday’s 104-89 Game 1 win on 8-for-27 shooting and the bench carried the load, but this time they each hit four 3-pointers and went 13 for 24.
Leandro Barbosa had three straight transition layups in the third quarter and scored 10 points for his first back-to-back postseason games in double figures since 2008.
The Warriors now have 87 victories this season — 73 in the regular season and 14 in the playoffs — to match the record set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.
Andrew Bogut had four of his five blocks — Golden State had nine overall — in the first 7:15 and received a standing ovation when he came out at 3:50 in the first then went to the locker room late in the quarter. He hit his hand on the rim early and grimaced in pain.
