The Warriors Collective Absolutely Dominated The Cavs To Take A Commanding 2-0 Lead

One of the big talking points going into Sunday’s showdown was the fact that, since 2009, LeBron James hadn’t lost in Game 2 of the NBA Finals after dropping Game 1. He’d won his last nine Game 2 match-ups and was 10-1 all-time in Game 2 of the Finals up to that point. That ended up just being the latest record the Warriors have shattered this season as they dominated the Cavs to the tune of 110-77 to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.

For the second game in a row, the Splash Brothers took a backseat as Draymond Green led the way for the Warriors with 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting — including 5 of 8 from deep — to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson did, however, bounce back from a quiet Game 1 to score 18 and 17 points, respectively, on 50 percent shooting from downtown.

It was a slow start all-around for everyone involved, but the Cavs were never quite able to recover from poor shooting and sloppy play to keep this game competitive.

LeBron James was held scoreless in the first quarter for the first time in his career on 0 of 5 shooting, but had five assists. Kyrie Irving was aggressive early and made his first two shots of the game but didn’t score again for the entire first half and finished with just 10 points. Kevin Love, likewise, had a difficult night, but for different reasons. After taking an elbow to the back of the head in the first half, he never looked quite right, and at one point appeared to be disoriented before heading back to the locker room during a timeout. Team officials insisted that he didn’t show any signs of a concussion, but his night was cut short regardless.

Green was the story for the Warriors in the first half as he went off for 18 points and shot 3 of 6 from downtown to lead a 22-9 Golden State run to start the second quarter.

The Cavs, however, would go on a 7-0 run of their own to end the half and cut the deficit to 52-44 behind 14 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and four steals from LeBron. But one of the Cavs’ biggest problems was their inability to finish around the rim as they were just 11-for-30 inside the paint in the first half.

And just as they’ve done so often this season coming out of the break, the Warriors proceeded to break their opponents’ spirits in the third quarter with suffocating defense and lights-out shooting to take a 20-point lead into the final period. But they didn’t stop there. They quickly pushed the lead to 27 at the start of the fourth, forcing Tyronn Lue to take a quick timeout, but the game had already essentially been decided by that point.

The series now shifts back to Cleveland for Game 3 on Wednesday where the Cavs will try desperately to get back in this series. Tip-off is at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

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