Game 2 of the NBA Finals is in the books and the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves down 2-0 as the series shifts to the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland for games 3 and 4. Game 3 will be played on Wednesday night and is scheduled to begin at 9 PM. ET.
After a disappointing game 1 performance, many people believed the Cavs would bounce back with an inspired performance in game 2, but the exact opposite happened.
Cleveland suffered an embarrassing 33 point defeat at the hands of the Warriors, and looked lost for most of the night. LeBron James, who singlehandedly willed his team to wins in games 2 and 3 last year, was held in check by the Warriors on Sunday night.
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James finished the game with 19 points on 7 of 17 shooting, he also had 9 assists, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals. Unfortunately for the Cavs, James also had a game high 7 turnovers, which didn’t help Cleveland’s cause.
The Cavs will have to slow down the Splash Bros if they hope to win this game at home.
Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, who were supposed to make a difference after missing the finals last year, still haven’t made a difference in this series. Love finished with 5 points and 3 rebounds, but he left the game in the third quarter after suffering a concussion from an elbow to the head by Harrison Barnes while he was going for a rebound.
Irving has struggled with his shooting so far, and finished with 10 points on 5 of 14 shooting. Tristan Thompson, who was a rebounding machine in the finals last season, finished with 8 points and 5 rebounds.
The Golden State Warriors didn’t get 40 points from their bench like they did on game 1, but they didn’t need to because they were seemingly scoring at will against Cleveland.
Draymond Green had another big game and was the leading scorer for the Warriors with 28 points. Green also had 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
After having a bad shooting night in game 1, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson bounced back with good shooting performances, but they weren’t needed to carry the offensive load. Curry finished with 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Thompson finished with 17 points on 6 or 13 shooting 5 assists, and 2 steals.
With the series shifting on the road for Golden State, expect to see Curry and Thompson score more as they try to help their team take a 3-0 lead.
The Cavaliers might be shorthanded in game 3 because Kevin Love entered the NBA’s concussion protocol and might not be available to play on Wednesday. When asked about Love’s availability, head coach Tyronn Lue said he won’t know if Love can play until Wednesday.
Despite being down 2-0, the Cavaliers still have a chance to win the series, but they have to do what the Warriors did in Oakland, which is to take advantage of their home court advantage and head back to the Oracle Arena tied 2-2. Will they be able to do that? We will find out soon enough.
Cavs vs Warriors Game 3 Odds
BetOnline.ag has the Warriors favored to win this game by 1 point. The over/under on total points scored is 206. The money line is -105 for Cleveland and -115 for Golden State. Here’s a BetOnline review.
My Pick
The Cavs have too much at stake because a loss puts them in a 3-0 hole which essentially means the series is over because no team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs. With so much to play for, the Cavs will find a way to pull it off. Smart money is on Cleveland to win this game.
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