Expert
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Golden State Warriors vs Cleveland Cavaliers |
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2018 NBA Finals, Game 2, June 4 |
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Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA | ||
Golden State Warriors | Cleveland Cavaliers | |
122 | SCORE | 103 |
32 | Q1 | 28 |
27 | Q2 | 18 |
31 | Q3 | 34 |
32 | Q4 | 23 |
After a heartbreaking loss in Game 1, the Cleveland Cavaliers will aim to snatch one on the road in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors machine. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 10am (AEST).
All the momentum will be with Golden State after their Game 1 overtime win, where they ran away to record an eventual winning margin of ten points.
The Warriors might have been expected to do it easy throughout the finals, particularly on their home floor, but it was anything but in Game 1.
They struggled at times to stay with the Cavaliers, who defended like their life depended on it. At the half, it was all square, and that was only thanks to a big Warriors run in the lead-up to the main break.
Golden State, on the back of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry then made an attempt at kicking away early in the third quarter, but were quickly brought back by Cleveland, who entered the final quarter six points down.
LeBron James then led the charge for the underdogs, as Cleveland got the game back to within one point down the stretch. Just 4.5 seconds from fulltime, a free throw tied the game. The second misses, but JR Smith inexplicably dribbled the ball back to half court, running the clock down and allowing the game to enter overtime.
From there, it was all one-way traffic.
However, the Cavs, no matter how disappointing their loss was, can take plenty of encouragement from the contest. LeBron is in great form, putting up 51 points, but as a team they shot at 44.4 per cent throughout the match and got themselves to the free throw line plenty of times by being aggressive.
Kevin Love was strong in his return, while Tyronn Lue’s men also had some good minutes off the bench from Larry Nance Junior and Jeff Green.
Despite the positives they can take, the Warriors will be move forward knowing they weren’t at their best and still came away with a win.
Andre Iguodala is again due back in Game 2 of the series and will add extra mettle to their defence, as well as providing another sound offensive option. With Curry and Kevin Durant leading the charge from outside the arc, Golden State are a juggernaut who look unlikely to be stopped.
Prediction
The Warriors now hold all the momentum in this series. It’s hard to see them dropping a game, particularly at home, and this one could well be a blowout if the Cavs can’t recover from the heartbreak of an overtime loss.
Warriors by 25.
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