Golden State Warriors Lose Overtime Thriller in Game 2

For the first time in NBA Finals history, Games 1 and 2 went into overtime. This time, though, it was the Cleveland Cavaliers who prevailed over the Golden State Warriors 95-93.

More from Warriors News

Klay Thompson and the Warriors got off to an early lead, going up on the Cavs 20-12 with a little over 3 minutes left in the first quarter. Thompson, the only Warrior making shots, picked up two fouls. Cleveland responded and ended the quarter on an 8-0 run tying the game.

The Warriors outplayed the Cavaliers early in the quarter, but Cleveland rebuilt that first quarter momentum into the second quarter as they extended the lead to as much as 7. Cleveland center Timofey Mozgov was too much for Golden State as he finished the game with 17 points and 11 rebounds–most of which was in the first half.

The Warriors picked up the energy in the third quarter getting big defensive stops. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get into a flow offensively. Golden State managed to get itself some good looks to start the third, but nothing would stay down for them. A couple tough calls went against the Warriors, including the basketball interference call on Shaun Livingston’s tip-in dunk, but Golden State couldn’t capitalize on a staggering Cavs team. In what turned out to be a game-changing play, Andre Iguodala stole the ball from LeBron James and passed it to Marreese Speights who slowed down and missed the wide open dunk.

The fourth quarter was about runs. The Cavs took over and pushed the lead up to 11 off a deep James three with 3:14 left. The Warriors rallied back behind defense and rebounding to get the lead down to 2 with 15.4 left. Golden State pushed the ball up eventually getting it to Stephen Curry who split the two defenders in the pick and roll and finger rolled it in. On the other end, Iguodala forced a James miss at the rim and Tristan Thompson missed the tip-in at the buzzer.

The Cavaliers got off to an early overtime lead, but the Warriors fought back once again. Draymond Green scored his only two field goals of the game on back to back possessions. The Warriors still couldn’t find the range. With a little over 20 seconds left, the Warriors forced a James miss but Iguodala turned it over. On the next Cavaliers possession, both teams were scrapping for the rebound. With bodies flying around, Matthew Dellavadova crashed the boards and drew the foul on Harrison Barnes. He knocked down two free throws with 10.1 left. On the other end, the Warriors ran a play for Curry to go one-on-one with the Aussie guard, but he couldn’t get the separation he needed in traffic and shot an air ball.

The two superstars, James and Curry, had completely opposite games. James finished with a triple double (39 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists) and one of the best postseason games of his career. Curry, on the other hand, couldn’t hit anything. He had one of his worst shooting performances of his young career scoring 19 points on 5-23 shooting and 2-15 from beyond the arc.

Aside from the poor Golden State shooting display, the Cavaliers used their size and energy to completely own the glass tonight out rebounding the Dubs 55-45.

Tale of the Tape

Warriors

Field-goal percentage: 39.8% (33-83)
Three-point percentage: 22.9% (8-35)
Rebounds: 45
Assists: 16
Turnovers: 18

Cavaliers

Field-goal percentage: 32.2% (29-90)
Three-point percentage: 33.3% (9-27)
Rebounds: 55
Assists: 14
Turnovers: 13

Good to Know

Klay Thompson scored 34 points on 14-28 shooting.

What’s on Tap

Game 3 will be on Tuesday in Cleveland.

Home/Warriors News