Briefly, the Golden State Warriors had an eight-point lead in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. At that moment, you’d probably believe they were playing pretty well. They weren’t. The only reason they had that lead, and now, the only reason they’re within striking distance of the Cleveland Cavaliers at half is Klay Thompson and his 20 first-half points.
With Steph Curry just 2-9, the Warriors needed another of their myriad offensive threats to step up. This time, it was Klay, who shook off a poor Game 1 performance and came out on fire in the first half of Game 2. He hit two threes, and was very aggressive taking guys off the dribble. Since Kyrie Irving is out for the remainder of the series, Klay doesn’t haven’t to expend much energy on defense, given that he’s guarding the likes of Iman Shumpert or J.R. Smith (who is so far 2-7 from the field). That frees him up to be more active offensively, cutting hard off the ball, using screens to get open, or driving into the teeth of the defense.
Klay’s been superb so far, and the Warriors will need him to carry his strong first half into the second if they want to take a commanding 2-0 series lead on the Cavs.
