Blogs > Cleveland Cavaliers Blog

Find out the scoop on the CAVS from award-winning sports writer Bob Finnan.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Game 2: Cavs at Warriors

GAME 2
NBA FINALS
CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (1-1) 95, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (1-1) 93, OT
Oracle Arena
Sunday
Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7
TV: ABC

1. There's not much analysis needed for this game. The Cavs were desperate for a victory. Some didn't agree with me that this was a must-win. Try going down 0-2 to a talented team like Golden State and see where it gets you. The Cavs are one LeBron James/Iman Shumpert jumper away from being up 2-0 in this series. Of course, Golden State feels the same way.

2. This was the Cavs' first ever win in the NBA Finals. They were swept in the Finals in 2007 by San Antonio. Now, the Cavs are coming home to The Q. James wants the Cleveland fans to be louder than they've ever been. He credited Golden State with having a great home crowd, but he wants The Q to be even better. It's going to be a wild ride in this series. The fans can help the Cavs win a couple games in the Finals.

3. The Cavs will be playing without point guard Kyrie Irving for the rest of the series. He had surgery on Saturday to repair his broken knee cap. The injury happened in overtime when he bumped knees with Klay Thompson. As quickly as that, their chances of winning the series decreased dramatically. Just don't tell that to the Cavs. They don't believe it. Whenever they hear it, they get more fired up.

4. As long as James keeps playing the way he has, they are going to be hard to beat. They have to keep getting contributions from role players like J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Timofey Mozgov, James Jones and Matthew Dellavedova. The season is actually hanging in the balance with that group of players. 

5. Delly, of course, is the Cavs' new starting point guard. He was getting shredded by Klay Thompson early in the game. He shifted over to MVP Stephen Curry, and helped shut him down. This is the league's premiere backcourt. They can get their shots off so quickly. You really have to crowd them at the 3-point line and hope they don't drive to the basket. Curry had 19 points, but had a terrible night shooting. He was 5 of 23 from the field, 2 of 15 from the 3-point line. He said it won't happen again.

6. The Cavs are confident they can win the series. They almost have to win both games in Cleveland to do it. They are capable of doing that, too, especially with the crazy fans.

7. This marks the first time in NBA Finals history the first two games of the series went into overtime.

8. The Cavs led by 11 points, 83-72, with 3:14 left in the fourth quarter. The Warriors were back in the game at a snap of a finger. They are so explosive.

9. It was the fifth triple-double of James' NBA Finals career. He has 13 in the playoffs in his career. 

10. The Warriors scored 14 points in the third quarter, their lowest output in a quarter in the playoffs this year.

UP NEXT: Game 3, at Cleveland, NBA Finals, June 9, 9 p.m.

STARTERS
SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Harrison Barnes (6-8, 225)
PF Tristan Thompson (6-10, 238) vs. Draymond Green (6-7, 230)
C Timofey Mozgov (7-1, 250) vs. Andrew Bogut (7-0, 260)
SG Iman Shumpert (6-5, 220) vs. Klay Thompson (6-7, 215)
PG Matthew Dellavedova (6-4, 200) vs. Stephen Curry (6-3, 190)
INACTIVE LIST
Cavs - C Anderson Varejao, F Kevin Love
Warriors - C Ognjen Kuzmic, G Brandon Rush
OFFICIALS
Scott Foster, Tony Brothers, Zach Zarba


0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home