With a 132 to 113 win tonight, the Golden State Warriors have taken a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals on the Cleveland Cavaliers. The triple-double from LeBron James (29 points, 14 assists, 11 rebounds) wasn’t enough to keep the Cavs from once again dropping the first two games in the series.
The Warriors also had a 2-0 lead in last year’s finals, but Cleveland’s hoping that things ultimately go in their favor when the dust settles on the series. The 2016 Finals saw Cleveland win Game 3 and then drop to 3-1 before winning the next three games to win the title. James and company will have to at least force the series to 6 games.
If they want to get there, they might want to consider:
- Stopping Kevin Durant from getting 11 Defensive Rebounds
- Keep Curry and Thompson from combining for 50+ points
- Not send Curry to the free throw line, where he went a perfect 14 of 14 in Game 2
- Get Kyrie Irving to the free throw line more, as he only got 2 shots from there in Game 2
- Find a way to help Kyrie get comfortable so he shoots better, because he can’t shoot 35% while taking more shots than LeBron. He had 40 points in Game 3 a year ago
- Keep LeBron from committing a huge amount of turnovers like he did in Game 1, which he looks to have rectified quite a bit by cutting that in half for Game 2
This isn’t just about LeBron vs Durant. Although if it were, the Warriors would still be winning, because Durant is out-scoring LeBron.
Cleveland fans, at least it’s time for some home cookin’, and history IS on your side. Though, the Warriors are 6-0 on the road this post season, so I’m not sure they care where they play.
