Another game, another blowout. On Sunday night, the Warriors extended their winning streak to five on the road while snapping up a 2-0 lead over LeBron James and Co. The Warriors’ 110-77 win puts the Cavs in a tricky situation from which only a few have crawled out of, as they will now attempt to become just the fourth team in the history to win the Finals after falling behind 2-0.
The overall playoff history is even more daunting, as 244 of 261 teams that trailed 2-0 in a seven-game series have gone on to lose. Though the series is far from over and there will be notable reinforcements on both sides.
Here are five things we learned after game 2 of the 2016 NBA Finals.
🏈 Get in the game with our NFL Playoff Predictor. Blend games & predictions, shape playoff outcomes! 🏆
1) It’s not all about the Splash Brothers
The Cavaliers are down 0-2 despite keeping Warriors' sharpshooters Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in check so far. The Warriors got just 20 points from the duo in Game 1, but the Splash Brothers matched that figure by the end of the first half.
Thompson finished with 17 and Curry with 18, but game 2 belonged to another player who has been killing it on both ends of the floor - Draymond Green. Green was absurd, putting up 28 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Green was 11 of 20 from the field and 5 of 8 from behind the 3-point line. Too soon to be considering him for the finals MVP award, but with numbers like that, he’s certainly helping his cause.
2) A different James = a different Cavs
A year ago, Cleveland piled pressure on Golden State because James was posting unrealistic stats (leading in points, rebounds and assists for the Finals). This year he is yet to ‘show up’ and stamp his authority, and evidently it reflects on the Cavs’ performance.
The Warriors have been extremely versatile in their approach and game play. Their ability to quickly switch defence to offence and vice-versa in no time and offering matchups to every offensive formation of the Cavs is proving to be quite a challenge. But if the Cavs wish to turn things around they need their players to help James.
Kyrie Irving struggled in Game 2, posting just 10 points. He hit the first two baskets of the game but then went missing for rest of it. Outside of Richard Jefferson's 12 points off the bench, the Cavs didn't provide much help. The Cavs’ need to up the ante in Game 3 and the fans would be expecting LeBron to dunk in some big numbers in Cleveland.
3) No more Love?
Kevin Love’s participation looks to be in jeopardy, as a result of an inadvertent elbow he took to the back of the head from Warriors’ Harrison Barnes in the second quarter of the game. His determination to continue was cut short early into the third quarter, forcing him into an early retirement putting a huge question mark on his availability for the rest of the finals.
His early exit means he is now on the NBA's concussion protocol, which means passing several medical, mental and physical thresholds before he can be officially cleared to return to action. The Cavs need Love, now more so than ever.
4) The Iguodala effect
During Game 2, Andre Iguodala was LeBron’s final defender on 17 plays, resulting in James going 1/3 with just seven turnovers. In the previous ten regular season and playoff meetings between Golden State and Cleveland, James has shot 32-of-91 (35%) with Iguodala as his primary defender.
In that span, James has yet to solve Iguodala’s combination of speed, savvy and well-timed swipe downs. Let’s see the stats on James’ performance with Iguodala on/off court. (Stats courtesy NBA.com)
Stat | On | Off |
Min. PG | 28.4 | 8.9 |
PPG | 17.0 | 4.0 |
FG% | 40 | 50 |
+/- | -41 | +12 |
5) Extra break day
Under the long used prior NBA Finals format, Game 3 of this Golden State-Cleveland matchup would have been played Tuesday night. But not this year! The new format makes way for an extra rest day, before Game 3 in Cleveland. This comes as a huge sigh of relief to the Cavs’, who not only await Love’s medical reports but also gain some time off to regroup and re-strategize.
Golden State won Game 1 by 15 points, then pounded the Cavs’ by 33 in Game 2 on Sunday night. That +48 combined margin adds up to the most one-sided first two games of the finals ever. The Cavs’ need to turn up with some real magic and tremendous energy to overturn the deficit.
Game 3 of the NBA Finals is scheduled to take place on June 9th in Cleveland at 9 PM Eastern Time (June 10th 6:30 AM IST).
