Warriors Put Cavs in 2-0 Hole: Can Cleveland Bounce Back?

Abrahim Karzai, J1 Staff Writer

After JR Smith’s major blunder in Game 1, the Cavs were looking to bounce back in Game 2 and build on what had been a strong performance – especially from LeBron James, who scored a game-high 51 points. After the loss, the message from Head Coach Tyronn Lue was simple: “It’s behind us and now we’ve got to move on.”

Moving on had to be tough after a frustrating 124-114 loss in overtime in Game 1 at Golden State, but as James told reporters at media day before Game 2, he felt that his team – especially Smith –  could bounce back.

“He probably took that loss as hard as anybody that other night, just as anybody on the team, but one thing about J.R., he has an uncanny ability to bounce back. I think people have seen that throughout our postseason runs where he hasn’t played well or played to his ability that he think he shoulda played, and then the next game he comes out and shoots the ball extremely well, just very locked in. For me, I don’t think I need to say anything to J.R. I’ve been knowing J.R. since he was in high school.”

However, as Cleveland was looking to bounce back, the Warriors were trying to keep their flow going, so something had to give. It turns out it was the Cavs, who saw Golden State bring an offensive explosion to Game 2. In the win, the Warriors got big contributions from up and down the roster especially Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Steph Curry, who combined for a whopping 79 points, with Curry knocking down 9 threes, an NBA Finals Record.

The dominating performance by Golden State resulted in 122-103 victory to take a 2-0 lead in the series, which heads to Cleveland for Game 3 on Wednesday. With the series heading back to Cleveland, the Cavaliers are hoping to overcome the hole they found themselves in.