2015 NBA Finals: Game 2 Recap

With Kyrie Irving sidelined by a knee injury, the Golden State Warriors had the perfect opportunity to put their foot on the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ throats and step on it in Game 2 of the 2015 NBA Finals.

Even after a stunning late fourth quarter rally sent the game to overtime, they completely let that opportunity slip through their fingers.

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LeBron James carried the Cavs to a stunning 95-93 Game 2 victory with a monster 39-16-11 triple-double. He only went 11-for-34 from the floor, but he completely dictated the tempo of the game and singlehandedly carried Cleveland in quite possibly the best game of his Finals career. It was also the first NBA Finals win in franchise history for the Cavaliers.

Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 34 points on 14-of-28 shooting, but MVP Stephen Curry couldn’t get in a rhythm all night, finishing with 19 points on an uncharacteristic 5-of-23 shooting night (2-for-15 from three-point range). The Warriors had their chances despite everyone but Thompson having an off shooting night, but just couldn’t take advantage in the end.

In the first quarter, Klay Thompson got off to a hot start, scoring nine of the first 11 Warriors points. But he picked up his second foul contesting an Iman Shumpert layup five minutes into the game and had to sit for the rest of the quarter.

The Dubs watched a 20-12 lead shrivel up as the Cavs closed the period on an 8-0 run to tie the game heading into the second period, mostly due to Curry’s 1-for-6 start and the Warriors’ 2-for-10 shooting from three-point range. In fact, the only shot Curry made in the first quarter was a ridiculous circus shot he flipped over his head that rattled in off the backboard.

LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 10 first quarter points.

Bridging the first and second quarters, the Warriors went four and a half minutes without scoring. But Thompson was still feeling it when he checked back in, knocking down a three-pointer to end the drought and give the Warriors a 23-22 lead. He scored 16 of Golden State’s first 29 points on 7-for-10 shooting, with the rest of his teammates going a combined 4-for-16.

But even with Thompson’s hot shooting, the Dubs couldn’t create any kind of separation. LeBron James did a little bit of everything to keep Cleveland in the game, while James Jones stepped up with eight points in his first 10 minutes to help the Cavs build a 40-33 lead.

After starting 1-for-8 from the field (0-for-5 from downtown), Curry finally got a triple to fall, pulling Golden State within three points as soon as Matthew Dellavedova went to the bench with his second foul. Thompson continued his hot shooting, leading the Dubs with 20 first half points on 9-of-13 shooting, but the Cavs still held a 47-45 advantage at the break.

King James led Cleveland with 20 points, six rebounds and six assists at the half, while Timofey Mozgov chipped in 11 points and six boards. The Warriors shot 4-for-17 from beyond the arc, while the Cavs shot an ugly 41 percent from the field.

In the third quarter, the ugly play outside of LeBron and Thompson continued, with both team shooting 25 percent or worse from three-point territory. But the ugly, grinding kind of game favored the Cavs, who held onto a three-point lead heading into the fourth quarter thanks to Curry’s off night and a blown dunk by Marreese Speights right before the break that would’ve cut the lead to one.

But Cleveland’s 62-59 lead didn’t last long, as Thompson had an opportunity at a four-point play to open the fourth. He missed the free throw, but the shot tied the game and woke Oracle Arena up.

Unfortunately for the Dubs, they couldn’t buy a bucket. Both defenses stifled their opposing offense, but the Warriors were an abysmal 8-for-35 from three-point range on the night. The Cavs opened up an 11-point lead with five minutes to play and the Dubs eventually cut it to seven.

A LeBron James dagger three extended it back to 11 with 3:13 to play, but the Dubs weren’t done yet, going on an 8-2 run in about 50 seconds to make it a five-point game with two and a half minutes to play. After LeBron missed a stepback jumper, Klay Thompson made a layup over Delly at the basket to cut it to three.

A foul on Curry sent LeBron to the line, where he knocked down both free throws to put the Cavs up by five. But on a broken play on the ensuing possession, Andre Iguodala found Harrison Barnes wide open for a dunk and was foolishly fouled by J.R. Smith for a three-point play to cut the lead back down to two.

Neither team could put the ball in the hole after that and the game came down to the final few possessions. The Dubs defense forced LeBron to give up the ball, leading to an Iman Shumpert air ball. Curry broke free on the next play and his finger roll layup tied it up at 87 with 7.2 seconds to play.

On the last possession of the game, LeBron learned from his Game 1 mistake and attacked the basket with the game on the line, but he missed the good look he got. Tristan Thompson‘s tip-in attempt didn’t fall either and for the first time in NBA Finals history, the first two games of the championship series went to overtime.

Shumpert made sure to get OT off to a better start than in Game 1, knocking down a wide open three LeBron provided for him. James got fouled on an offensive rebound on the next possession, extending the lead to five from the free throw line. Back-to-back tip-in buckets by Draymond Green quickly chopped the lead back down to one with 1:53 to play.

Draymond has scored his only 2 field goals of the game here in this overtime #NBAFinals
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) June 8, 2015

One of the more controversial plays of the game came when Tony Brothers missed a blatant Iguodala foul on LeBron, though it appeared Brothers also missed LeBron traveling right before that.

Curry drew a foul on that ever controversial pump-fake-and-lean-in move, knocking down two free throws to give the Warriors a 93-92 lead with 29.5 seconds left in overtime.

On the next possession, LeBron James broke free and had a clear lane to the basket…until Draymond Green came out of nowhere and sent it back.

The Warriors were unable to collect the ball, however, and Dellavedova was fouled going for an offensive rebound after the Cavs reset. Irving’s replacement calmly sunk both free throws at the line to restore Cleveland’s one-point lead.

Curry air balled his long range two-pointer on the other end, but LeBron only converted one of two free throws after he was fouled. Unfortunately for the Dubs, they didn’t get a look on the inbounds, as Curry turned it over trying to get the ball to Klay Thompson.

Tied at 1-1, the series now heads back to Cleveland for Game 3.

Next: Golden State Warriors: 5 Adjustments For NBA Finals Game 3

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