10 Takeaways from Warriors vs. Cavaliers NBA Finals Game 2
For the second consecutive year, the Golden State Warriors have taken a 2-0 NBA Finals lead on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Warriors raced to a 132-113 victory on Sunday behind a combined 87 points and 12 triples from All-Stars Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. They now head to Cleveland on the heels of two straight double-digit wins, just as they did this time last year.
Both offenses looked crisper in Game 2, as Cleveland shot 45.0 percent overall and Golden State hit at a 51.7 percent clip. Rims were rocked, ankles were broken and highlight reels found no shortage of footage. Lessons were also learned about the state of this series and where it could head next.
The 10 biggest takeaways from Game 2 are all captured here.
Welcome Back, Coach Kerr
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It's hard to tell how much the Warriors missed head coach Steve Kerr during his six-week hiatus due to lingering complications from back surgery two years ago. That's a testament both to assistant coach Mike Brown and the team-first system Kerr has helped create.
But the significance of seeing Kerr back on the sideline extended well beyond basketball. Health is more important than a game, and it was encouraging to see the coach finally catch a bit of a break with his.
"I'm feeling better," Kerr said pregame, per Janie McCauley of the Associated Press (h/t NBA.com). "I'm feeling more like I did at the end of the regular season. ... The intention is to go the rest of the series."
Warm fuzzies aside, the Warriors will welcome having Kerr's basketball mind back in the driver's seat. As good as Brown fared in the interim, Kerr is still the architect of the franchise's three-year run of dominance. Assuming he's back for good, Golden State just added yet another lethal weapon to its arsenal.
KD Is Finals MVP Favorite
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Don't let Durant's comfort on this stage fool you—the four-time scoring champ went five long years between NBA Finals appearances.
Maybe that made him cherish the opportunity more. Or maybe he's just reaping the rewards of being an all-time great plugged into a better system with superior talent now around him.
Either way, he's threatening to run away with Finals MVP honors—an absurd feat given the production level of the two other former regular-season MVPs in this series.
He tallied 38 points on 26 shots, eight assists (no turnovers) and nine rebounds in Game 1. For his encore, he again led all scorers with 33 points, shooting 13-of-22 overall and 4-of-8 outside. He also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, dished out six assists, blocked five shots and swiped three steals. He's only the fourth player ever with a 30-point, five-block Finals game, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Remember when we all had Durant on James' heels for the distinction of best player on the planet a few years back? Well, that Durant is dazzling us again.
To the 3rd-Quarter Victor Go the Spoils
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Four halves of the 2017 finals are in the books, and only two have been competitive. That's a better success rate than the first two rounds delivered, but still not what we were hoping to see as the best player squared off against the best team.
If you want to blame anything, point fingers at the 12 minutes after intermission. The two third quarters have opened with scoring differences of eight and three points. By the time those periods have closed, the leads have ballooned to 21 and 14 points, respectively.
Frankly, this is how the Warriors do business. They bulldozed opponents with a league-best 22.8 points per 100 possessions in the third frame during the regular season, per NBA.com. The quarter has proved particularly kind to Curry, who already has 26 third-quarter points this series after averaging 9.0 in the period during the 82-game campaign (third-highest in the league).
This is one of the biggest trends the Cavs must buck, though it's hard to see how. While they're built to run, they don't have as many speedsters as their counterparts. When Golden State steps on the gas out of halftime, it's rare to see anyone keep up.
LeBron Isn't Human
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This is Finals No. 8 for James and the 32-year-old's seventh in a row. While both of those numbers are known, they still bear repeating given what we're witnessing.
"I think he's playing better than he's ever played," Kerr said, via Bay Area News Group's Anthony Slater. "You kind of know that he's going to dominate the game."
If it's possible to dominate in a loss, that's what James did Sunday. He led a focused attack on Golden State's interior, turning the tide in paint points—from a 56-30 deficit in Game 1 to a 60-40 advantage—and hammering home the early favorite for dunk of the Finals. He missed just six shots en route to team highs of 29 points, 14 assists, 11 rebounds, three steals (tied for lead) and one block.
There's an obvious and glaring concern over whether Cleveland is asking him for too much and failing to provide sufficient support. While that could determine the outcome of this series, James isn't letting it diminish his impact.
Klay Timed His (Modest) Breakout Perfectly
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Klay Thompson's shooting woes have shared an interesting relationship with the Warriors' success. On one hand, they're halfway swept under the rug since this juggernaut keeps reeling off wins. But since there are no other discernible weaknesses, Thompson's troubles still found their way under the microscope and possibly inside his head.
"You watch how he plays—he doesn't think. That's when he's at his best," a team source told Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle. "The more he thinks, the worse he is. And he's not even close when he shoots right now."
But everything about Game 2 was different.
Thompson wasn't an offensive luxury. As LeBron James steamrolled from the start and Stephen Curry stumbled out of the gate (2-of-8 shooting, six turnovers in the first half), Golden State needed more than shadow defense from Thompson. The three-time All-Star delivered 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting (4-of-7 outside), only the second time this postseason he's had 20-plus points on 50-plus percent shooting.
It's tough to call 22 points a breakout when that was his regular-season average and his campaign high was a 60-point outburst. That said, this was more than a welcome sight. If his stroke is really back, the Warriors might want to throw a few brooms in their luggage for the trip to Cleveland.
We're Still in the Year of the Triple-Double
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Who says you need Russell Westbrook to make triple-double history?
James and Curry combined to put the stat du jour back in the record books. This was only the second time ever that playoff opponents messed around and triple-dipped in the same game, per the NBA on ESPN, and the first time that it happened in the Finals, per NBA.com's John Schuhmann.
Both were incredible for their own reasons. James was forced to revert to the one-man show he's had to be often in these matchups, and he still at times toyed with the Association's second-best defense. Curry proved his own worst enemy with awful decisions and forced shots, yet he wound up with 32 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds over his 36 minutes.
James' effort moved him into a tie with Magic Johnson for the most Finals triple-doubles with eight, per ESPN Stats & Info. But Curry claimed the night's bragging rights not only for the win, but also for a delicious serious of dribble moves that wiggled him past the King and into a third-quarter layup.
Cleveland Might Want to Rethink Running
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It sounded crazy as soon as Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said it. After his team looked a few steps too slow in the series opener, the skipper said he hoped to increase the tempo.
"We have to play with pace," Lue told reporters. "We've got to play in transition."
On some level, Cleveland accomplished its mission. The pace picked up from 102.52 in Game 1 to 108.46 on Sunday, and the Cavs nearly matched the Warriors' transition points (31-30) after losing the category by a wide margin the first time around (27-9).
But all this changed was losing by 19 instead of 22. James looked winded by the fourth quarter, as did Kevin Love, by far Cleveland's second-best player on the night. Once the Warriors tasted blood, they went into the type of frenzied attacks that leave their opponents gasping for air behind them.
The Cavs haven't proved they can defend well enough to make this a grind-it-out series, but it's worth exploring whether a slower pace would help improve their rebounding and 48-minute defensive effort.
No Bigs Allowed
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Say goodbye to the big man. This pace-and-space series has seen a smattering of centers pass through the action, but these are blink-and-you-might-miss-them kinds of appearances.
No regular center logged more minutes in Game 2 than Tristan Thompson with 21, a troublingly low number given his on-paper importance but lack of production in this series (eight points, eight rebounds so far). His counterpart, Zaza Pachulia, played only 13. The Cavs also brought Channing Frye out of hiding for 11 minutes, while the Dubs split 14 minutes between David West (11) and JaVale McGee (three).
But for significant stretches of the game, there were five perimeter players both ways. The Cavs wanted the spacing to let James attack. The Warriors were glad to downsize to minimize Cleveland's assumed advantage on the glass (Golden State won the rebounding battle 53-41).
It feels like the only way this changes dramatically is if Thompson remembers he's good at basketball and has been good against this opponent before. His length, athleticism and activity on the offensive glass could become assets, but they haven't to this point. Until that happens, this should continue being a small-ball battle.
Kevin Love Left His Imprint
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Most of Kevin Love's counting categories trended the wrong way in Game 2. Outside of a 12-point scoring jump, he backtracked in rebounds, blocks and assists.
But this felt like a much better showing. He got back to what he does best, forcing and exploiting mismatches as an inside-out scorer. It wasn't just the leap from 15 points to 27—it was recovering from a dismal 4-of-13 effort to shred the nets at a 12-of-23 clip.
The Cavs entrenched Love in their game plan. He was an active screener early on, which often drew switches from Golden State. Cleveland fed him early and often when that happened, and he proved that back-to-the-basket skills aren't obsolete.
He still got skewered on defense a few times, but that's going to happen in this matchup. If the Cavs are going to give him major minutes—as long as Thompson struggles, they don't have a choice—they must maximize his offensive gifts to offset those defensive shortcomings. This could have been a start, though he might benefit as much as anyone from a slower style.
Cleveland's Defense May Not Have Any Answers
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Credit James for being good enough to make this appear a competitive game fairly deep into the second half. But Cleveland's offense-driven success always felt a little like fool's gold. It wasn't at the same level as Golden State's, nor was it accompanied by defensive competence.
Remember, the Warriors missed a ton of bunnies, got next to nothing from Klay Thompson (3-of-16) or Draymond Green (3-of-12) and shot just 42.5 percent as a team in Game 1—and still scored 113 points. They got back to their record-setting ways Sunday, posting the new high mark for Finals threes with 18 and posting the championship round's highest point total in 30 years with 132, per ESPN Stats & Info.
For the record, this wasn't even the Warriors' knockout punch. While their shooting doesn't have a ton of room for growth following the .517/.419/.917 showing, their efficiency could easily soar with better ball control (20 turnovers, up from four in Game 1).
Is there anything the Cavs can do to contain this? Their regular-season ranking of 22nd in defensive efficiency says no. And their roster offers no real stopping solutions.
But outscoring the Warriors isn't going to work. Not four times in five games, at least, which is what the Cavs now have to win to repeat as champions. For Cleveland to claw back and make this a series, it must uncover a better strategy to contain this fiery attack.
Statistics used courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball Reference.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @ZachBuckleyNBA.
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