NBA Finals game 2: GS Warriors 93 Cleveland Cavs 95 recap and analysis

The tempo was really up and quick early on, but C Andrew Bogut was a beast inside, as he collected boards but also was the protector of the Warriors rim. On the offensive side, SG Thompson was on his game but he was forced to leave the floor because of lazy fouls issues. Cleveland was attacking inside, a lot because of the absence of their PG, Kyrie Irving, who will miss 4 months do to injury. 18 of the 20 points that Cleveland scored in the 1st quarter were in the paint, with good plays by C Mozgov or by King James. But the return of Klay Thompson changed everything in the second period, as he scored a lot and picked the slack of Steph Curry, who was ice cold and was especially well covered by Matthew Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert for exemple. A quick run to end the half by the team from the Bay reduced the edge, as Cleveland leaded by 2 after 24 minutes, 47-45. Cleveland started the 2nd half not great, as he tried to pulled shots from the outside but he missed some jumpers. But GSW had also troubles to find their stroke, as they tried some quick shots and didn’t establish their game. Mozgov was once again huge inside, with James as the leader of the tempo of the Cavs game, with Smith, Shumpert and Jones as outside weapons. Take inside by a great and athletic Cavs defense, the Warriors and Steve Kerr started to have trouble on offense. A run by Thompson ended the 3rd well for Golden State, as the Cavs leaded by 3 with 12min to play. The Warriors problem was really their impatience on offense, as they forced their attempts and shots early on the clock. Curry started to hit from downtown, and Kerr decided to do the « Hack-a-Titi », with Tristan Thompson who was forced to go to the line. Two threes by Andre Iguodala and Steph Curry helped the furious comeback, and with some stupid fouls by J.R. Smith, GSW went on a 13-4 run to tie the game. King James missed once again the ball to win the game, as we went to a second overtime in a row. LeBron James decided to take the game over in the extra-period, but the refs forget some incredible fouls, as Draymond Green was great both on offense and on defense on James. But the Cavs were leaded by a superb Matthew Dellavedova last night, as he went to the free throw line and forced Curry to bad shots and bad passes. The Cavs did it and win it by 2 to even the series at 1, with LeBron James as the MVP, as the Ohio native scored an other triple double, with 38 points, 15 boards and 11 dimes. Game 3 is in Cleveland on tuesday night.

With the Collaboration of Alan Guillou