ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The Cleveland Cavaliers were in Oakland to face the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of the 2015 NBA Finals.
Kyrie Irving was out with a fractured kneecap suffered in Game 1 — Matthew Dellavedova started in his place — while Anderson Varejao and Kevin Love were out again for the Cavaliers.
1ST QUARTER: Klay Heats Up But Sits With Foul Trouble
Neither team got momentum in the first five-plus minutes of the game, although the Warriors did their best to take advantage of the one-on-one matchup that had Dellavedova covering Klay Thompson.
Yet, Thompson’s first two buckets weren’t against Dellavedova directly. After missing a three-pointer pull, Iman Shumpert switched over to Klay and Thompson took him left-handed off the bounce on the left side and stepped back on one foot for an isolated jumper over Shumpert.
After LeBron James made a nice little push shot in the lane, trying to body up Harrison Barnes in the post as much as he could in the early going, Klay took a “heat check” three-pointer from the right corner on a catch after the inbound, but missed badly.
But Thompson came back shortly thereafter with a trey from the right wing via drive-and-kick from Draymond Green…
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…then Klay posted up on the right block, used his shoulder to create space with his back to the basket, bodied Dellavedova, turned, and rattle a jumper in.
Stephen Curry turned the ball over with a bad pass that Shumpert took the length of the court, and drew two foul shots on a hack by Thompson, his second personal sending him to the bench for Leandro Barbosa. JR Smith also came in for Dellavedova.
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The Warriors held an 11-10 lead with 7:09 to play at that point.
Andrew Bogut then drew a charge on Mozgov, shaking his fist in the air from the ground after the hit in celebration. Later, Bogut disrupted Mozgov at the rim, then assisted Curry on a late cut to the basket. Steph applied English on the layup as it went in, out, then back in.
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After Shumpert missed a trey from the right side over Andre Iguodala, Curry took the ball upcourt, surveyed the situation, delivered a righty behind-the-back pass to an open Leandro Barbosa in the deep left corner, and he drained a triple.
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Cavs head coach David Blatt called timeout and the Warriors had created some separation with a 20-12 lead with 3:12 remaining in the opening frame.
Ex-Warrior Baron Davis was shown on the jumbotron during the timeout and he received some loud cheers.
But the Cavaliers closed the quarter with an 8-0 run as James scored twice in the paint, and Mozgov and Smith scored, with JR going by Shaun Livingston for a lefty scoop.
It was tied, 20-20, at the end of the first period.
2ND QUARTER: Mozgov Punishes Warriors Small-Ball
Marreese Speights opened his campaign with an airball and Livingston threw a zig pass into the baseline seats as Klay zagged, and Blatt and the Cavs showed some resiliency early on in the second quarter, as Thompson toilet-bowled a three-pointer from the top after a dribble and pop versus James Jones, then once again smelled blood with Dellavedova on him, posting up in the right post and getting a step-in-step-back to swish from the elbow.
LeBron then made a bad jump pass that Livingston easily stole, with he and Iguodala playing keep away on the break as Livingston ended up slamming it home, but Blatt didn’t call timeout, and Jones managed to set a good enough pick to free up James for a left wing triple to silence the crowd and close the gap back down to 27-25.
Klay then went through the lane and got a jumper over Smith…
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…but later missed an early heat-check pull short.
But Jones came back with two three-pointers, then James found Mozgov cutting into the lane and fed him with a no-look snap-sling pass that caught Barnes, guarding LeBron, by surprise.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr went small with Green at the “5”, and the Cavs responded by finding Mozgov at the rim with entry passes from LeBron.
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Thompson found Iguodala early on the transition and Andre soared in for a dunk, but Cleveland still held the lead, 42-35, with 3:00 to play in the half.
After a timeout, Curry finally hit a trey, making him just 2-for-9 on the night from the floor, and Steph threw his hands out as if to say, “Finally!”
However, the Cavs continued to milk Mozgov against Green. The Warriors counter-punched with a tic-tac-toe play from Iguodala to Draymond to Barnes for a dunk, and a Thompson catch-and-shoot trey off a screen from the right side, assisted by Curry.
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That tied the game at 46-46 with 1:06 left (later changed to a 2-pointer following review). JR came up short from the right side over Curry the following trip but the Warriors committed a turnover and the Cavs got the ball back.
The next trip down, LeBron couldn’t hit on a tough shot, but Draymond Green was called for a push in the back on Mozgov, who split free throws.
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Curry’s last second heave rimmed out and the Warriors trailed 47-45 at the half.
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