The Golden State Warriors will try to take a 2-0 series lead in the 2017 NBA Finals when they host the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 at Oracle Arena on Sunday night.
Warriors forward Kevin Durant stole the show in his team’s series-opening win with a game-high 38 points, many of which came on easy dunks. LeBron James led the Cavs with a near triple-double, but turnovers and poor defense doomed Cleveland as Golden State broke open a huge second-half lead.
The Warriors earned a 2-0 series edge with a pair of convincing wins on home court to begin last season’s NBA Finals. Will history repeat itself?
Keep it right here with our Game 2 live blog for score updates, analysis, stats and highlights.
FINAL, 132-113 Warriors
The Warriors, just like last season’s NBA Finals, have taken a 2-0 series lead heading to Cleveland for Game 3. Kevin Durant and Steph Curry scored 33 and 32 points, respectively, to lead Golden State. LeBron James led the Cavs with 29 points.
Warriors remain unbeaten (14-0) in postseason, set NBA record for most consecutive playoff wins #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/2yOjOhNpAC
— NBA.com (@NBAcom) June 5, 2017
Fourth quarter, 3:29, 127-106 Warriors: LeBron James has gone to the Cavs bench and likely won’t come back. Cleveland is emptying its bench for the last few minutes.
James has 29 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists in 39 minutes. He also shot 12-for-18 from the floor. It was a great performance, but not enough against this high-powered Warriors machine.
Fourth quarter, 4:46, 123-104 Warriors: Stephen Curry now has a triple-double with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Fourth quarter, 5:43, 121-104 Warriors: This kind of shooting is almost impossible to defend.
Fourth quarter, 7:26, 115-97 Warriors: Kevin Durant is blocking shots and scoring points at will right now. The Warriors forward is dominating at both ends of the floor with 28 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks.
End of Third Quarter, 102-88 Warriors
The Cavs have 88 points through 36 minutes, which is really good and just three less than what they scored in all of Game 1. Cleveland’s defense has been worse, though, allowing Golden State to shoot 50 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from beyond the arc.
Stephen Curry and LeBron James each have 27 points to lead all scorers. Golden State has a 40-32 edge in rebounding and a 26-19 advantage in assists, too.
Third quarter, 1:10, 102-84 Warriors: LeBron James now has his eighth career triple-double in the NBA Finals, which ties Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson for the most all-time. James has 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
Meanwhile, the Warriors offense still is on fire and the Cavs haven’t scored in more than two minutes.
Third quarter, 3:20, 96-84 Warriors: Gambling for a steal isn’t a good idea when Klay Thompson is the guy about to shoot a 3-pointer.
Third quarter, 4:48, 93-82 Warriors: A quick 7-0 run by Golden State has Cleveland searching for answers again. How many more body blows can the Cavs take before they are too worn down to come back?
Third quarter, 5:46, 86-82 Warriors: The Cavs are back within four after another good response to a Warriors run. But can Cleveland actually push through and take a lead? They haven’t led since early in the first quarter.
Third quarter, 6:17, 83-78 Warriors: A couple of offensive rebounds led to a Klay Thompson 3-point shot.
Third quarter, 9:07, 83-73 Warriors: Just like that, the Dubs are back up by 10. This impressive Stephen Curry drive and finish on LeBron James forced a Cavs timeout.
It must be tiring trying to defend all of that dribbling.
Third quarter, 10:26, 73-68 Warriors: Kevin Durant converted a 4-point play early in the quarter. Kyrie Irving had one in Game 1, too.
Halftime, 67-64 Warriors
Kyrie Irving’s buzzer-beating floater gives the Cavs a little boost entering halftime. It ended the highest-scoring first half of an NBA Finals since 1987.
LeBron James is attacking the rim with great success, as his shot chart illustrates.
Second quarter, 0:32, 65-62 Warriors: This guy’s floor side is impressive.
Second quarter, 1:42, 61-58 Warriors: LeBron James is having a fantastic game. He and Kevin Love are the only reasons why the Cavs have a chance to take a lead at halftime.
Not to be outdone, Kevin Durant is stuffing the stat sheet as well.
Second quarter, 4:13, 57-54 Warriors: Stephen Curry has six of Golden State’s 12 turnovers so far. He’s also 1-for-6 from 3-point range.
Second quarter, 5:10, 57-52 Warriors: Turnovers often prove costly against the Warriors.
Second quarter, 6:00, 55-52 Warriors: LeBron James has nine assists, and this strong move to the basket cut the Warriors’ edge to three. Kevin Love has continued his hot shooting from the first frame and now is up to 15 points on 7-for-10 from the floor.
Second quarter, 7:23, 50-46 Warriors: An alley-oop from LeBron James to Kevin Love has trimmed the Warriors’ lead to four. Cleveland has responded well to Golden State’s run to begin the quarter.
Second quarter, 10:03, 47-35 Warriors: Great defense and a resurgence from Klay Thompson have built the Warriors’ largest lead of the game to start the second quarter. Thompson already has eight points on 3-for-4 shooting. He scored six in Game 1.
The Cavs need to respond quick or this game could get away from them before halftime.
End of First Quarter, 40-34 Warriors
A late 3-point shot by Kevin Durant has given the Dubs a six-point first-quarter lead. Curry leads all scorers with 15 points, while James is pacing the Cavs with 10.
Golden State also owns a 13-8 edge in rebounds.
First quarter, 0:40, 35-29 Warriors: Cleveland is playing better defensively and has forced eight turnovers. But Golden State still has 40 points on 54.5 percent shooting.
First quarter, 1:20, 35-29 Warriors: Stephen Curry already has taken 10 free throws in the first quarter, and a lot of these fouls have been unneeded ones by the Cavs. Curry is 10-for-1o from the line.
First quarter, 2:24, 30-24 Warriors: An alley-oop to JaVale McGee and a devastatingly powerful dunk by LeBron James at the other end. It’s been a fast-paced, exciting start to Game 2.
Kevin Love’s reaction to the alley-oop was pretty funny.
And here’s James’ mammoth slam.
First quarter, 5:24, 23-16 Warriors: Back-to-back 3-point shots by Stephen Curry and Draymond Green have propelled Golden State’s first big run and largest lead of the game.
First quarter, 7:54, 14-13 Cavs: The early pace of this game favors the Warriors, but it’s the Cavs with the lead. LeBron James and Kevin Love have all of Cleveland’s points.
First quarter, 10:18, 9-3 Cavs: The Cavs are playing aggressive offensively and have hit their first four shots to open a quick lead. Kevin Love already has five points.
First quarter, 12:00, 0-0: The Warriors have won the tip and Game 2 is underway.
7:57 p.m.: Former Boston Celtics legend and 2008 NBA Finals MVP Paul Pierce declared Game 2 a must-win for the Cavs during ABC’s pregame show.
7:55 p.m.: Here are the starting lineups for both teams.
Warriors
PG: Steph Curry
SG: Klay Thompson
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Draymond Green
C: Zaza Pachulia
Cavs
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: J.R. Smith
SF: LeBron James
PF: Kevin Love
C: Tristan Thompson
7:05 p.m.: Cleveland’s best bet might be to slow the series down with a methodical halfcourt game plan on offense.
Here’s why:
7 p.m. ET: Warriors head coach Steve Kerr will return to the bench for the first time since Game 2 of his team’s first-round NBA playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers. For more details, click here.
Thumbnail photo via Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports Images
