Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From Game 2 vs. Cavaliers

4. Cavs Living With Green’s Looks

To Cleveland’s credit, they’ve done a decent job on the Splash Brothers so far in this series. Neither Stephen Curry nor Klay Thompson have had those kind of backbreaking games where every other factor flies out the window because the Dubs have two ultimate trump cards.

The only problem is that by living and dying by their coverage on Golden State’s top two scorers, other defensive sacrifices have to be made. Against a team this deep, the Cavs had to pick their poison. In Game 1, it was 45 points from Golden State’s bench.

In Game 2, it was Draymond Green submitting his application as the team’s third Splash Brother.

Okay, so maybe that’s an exaggeration, but you get the point. In the series opener, the Cavs dared Green — a 38.8 percent shooter from three-point range during the regular season — to let it fly, and he made only two of his six three-point attempts.

In his postgame presser, Green said he wouldn’t hesitate to fire up shots if the Cavs defense continued to play him that way. Fast-forward to Game 2, and “Treymond Green” made a guest appearance with a game-high 28 points on 5-of-8 shooting from downtown.

During the Dubs’ 20-2 second quarter run that blew the game open and turned a six-point deficit into a 12-point lead, Green knocked down back-to-back triples and then supplied another three-point play at the basket to turn the tide of Game 2.

Green started off 3-for-4 from downtown and had 18 points at the half, right before the Dubs came out and brutalized the Cavaliers with a 12-5 run to end the third quarter and turn a 13-point lead into a 20-point advantage.

The first shot of that third quarter run that put the game away for good? An unlikely step-back three-pointer from Green that nearly broke the league MVP who was watching from the bench.

With 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists in Game 2, Green is now averaging 22.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game on .516/.500/1.000 shooting splits for the series.

“Draymond Green, Finals MVP” is the most likely scenario at this point, especially if the Cavs don’t adjust the way they’re defending him in Game 3.

Next: No. 3