ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Three nights after taking a one-game lead in the 2017 NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors (1-0) hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers (0-1) again at home.
Both teams were at full strength, even with the coaching staff, as Steve Kerr finally returned to the sidelines for the Warriors, to a huge ovation during warmups:
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The Cavs’ strategy was evident on the opening possessions: attack the basket early and often. LeBron James turned a missed jumper into a coast-to-coast layup off the bat, but Draymond Green responded with a swish from up top.
After a lengthy possession, Green missed his next three-point try, and James attacked again for a layup.
Stephen Curry lost the ball in traffic, then LeBron attacked again to draw a foul on Draymond, a sequence which ended with Kevin Love getting an early layup after the inbound.
Later, Klay Thompson missed another trey, but got his own rebound following the shot, and buried a jumper, then after a Kyrie Irving pull-up went short, Thompson went down the lane and drew an and-one layup versus Love:
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Out of the timeout, Kerr sprung Curry open on the weakside, Draymond delivered the swing pass, and Golden State broke the ice by taking a 16-14 lead:
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[protected-iframe id=”5f2ee17d725f83a67e5675b0c0f676ae-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Frealgm%2Fstatus%2F871523376346443777″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]Tristan Thompson countered with a two-hand smash down the middle, but Draymond ran pick-and-roll with Steph on the left side, got the ball on the roll, and found Pachulia under the hoop for two more.
Irving messed up a behind-the-back pass, and KD and Steph were off to the races with LeBron the only Cavalier back. Curry ended with a scoop as James guessed on a pass, and Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue had to call timeout to stem the tide, the Warriors taking a 23-16 lead with 5:19 to play:
[protected-iframe id=”797fd73c327ceb8185724426f54ac3e8-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Frealgm%2Fstatus%2F871523702290108416″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]Out of the timeout, Durant swatted a fade-away by J.R. Smith, then pulled up over Tristan Thompson from the right arc for three more:
[protected-iframe id=”4779b382266aef6b74b3c0092d65c148-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fbballbreakdown%2Fstatus%2F871524745824452608″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]Kyrie made a clutch three from the corner on the catch in response, but the Warriors managed to free up JaVale McGee down the lane for a two-hand slam fed by KD, which gave the Warriors a 28-19 lead:
[protected-iframe id=”6935eac398adc2f8327ab38689db380a-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fjaeazizi%2Fstatus%2F871525185639260160″ width=”360″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″]But a turnover gave LeBron a 1-on-1 fast break against the back-pedaling Andre Iguodala, and James finished in spectacular fashion with a soaring one-hand jam.
Opponents have been fouling Curry as soon as he crosses halfcourt to stop Golden State’s fast pace, but after Durant got a deflection of Irving’s pass to Love, Steph turned the foul into a shot from the logo, which narrowly missed, and the referees conferred and shortly thereafter, awarding him three foul shots.
With 2:51 to go, the Warriors had a 31-21 lead.
But Richard Jefferson hit a three, then after another Warriors turnover, James split the Golden State defense and went straight down Broadway for a layup with McGee fouling his shoulders in a futile attempt.
The and-one brought the Cavs back to 31-27 with 2:21 left.
Channing Frye came in and promptly hit a long two on a catch from LeBron, but Steph drew more free throws, his ninth and tenth of the quarter, this time on Deron Williams.
Iguodala then found Livingston down the lane for a smash…
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But Curry found Ian Clark, who found Durant at the top open for three more…
[protected-iframe id=”251ef37f99becfcdea0c5a0168b8fa8a-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fchatsports%2Fstatus%2F871528609575444480″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]…Smith slipped at the left wing and traveled in the process, and Steph missed an inbound heave from halfcourt, and the Warriors went into the second stanza with a 40-34 lead.
Q2: Turnovers
David West started the second quarter and promptly hit a jumper open from the top, Durant scored, and Iguodala and West took turns swatting shots at the rim…
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But Korver hit a three, Iman Shumpert’s jumper trickled in, Love got a turnaround on a post up, and after a missed trey by Thompson, Shumpert drew foul shots on Durant, leading Kerr to call timeout to regroup his team, as Cleveland edged closer again, 50-44, with 7:34 to go.
Durant got an and-one on some contact on a turnaround from Love…
[protected-iframe id=”2cd4e68b3eda137de8e6be199b97500a-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fnbatv%2Fstatus%2F871532953062567938″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]…then later, KD blocked an attack down the left baseline by James, but Irving found Love with position on Green underneath for an easy layup.
LeBron started to impose his will on the game, though, once again attacking, this time Klay, and scoring despite Durant’s help. James then knocked the ball out of a Livingston drive, but dribbled off his own foot for a turnover.
The Warriors inbounded quickly, LeBron was left behind, and Durant found Thompson for a cutting dunk, with Lue calling timeout as James had a discussion about the previous play with the referees:
[protected-iframe id=”482e55e1021f799e6fba09fc59e9ca68-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwarriors%2Fstatus%2F871533677628465153″ width=”360″ height=”225″ frameborder=”0″]Turnovers, of which Golden State accumulated 13 in the first half eventually, continued to plague the team, as a bad pass straight into Shumpert’s hands led to a coast-to-coast layup for James, a Livingston zing pass caught Steph not looking as the ball deflected into the seats by the Warriors’ bench, but the Cavs missed threes and Livingston finally ended a mini-drought with a stop-and-pop jumper.
After some empty possessions, LeBron burst past Livingston for another dunk, and Kerr called timeout as Cleveland continued to apply the pressure, Golden State’s lead at just 59-56 with 3:06 left.
Kyrie got cooking again with a scoop at the shot clock buzzer, Livingston connected with Draymond for another dunk, but Durant threw the ball away again for the Warriors, on an outlet, resulting in a foul take by Livingston — however, Golden State was now in the penalty.
After Shumpert buried the free throws, Iguodala hit a triple from the right wing, but James flexed his muscle again, powering past Draymond for yet another left-to-right attack and layup.
Klay drew a foul on an up-fake against Smith, resulting in some arguing with LeBron on the missed assignment, and Thompson missed the second free throw, still got a chance on the offensive rebound, but shanked another jumper.
Shumpert missed, then so did Durant with the halftime clock winding down. KD’s launch from the top beyond the arc missed, but he got his own rebound, took a dribble and swished the jumper with 9 seconds remaining.
However, the Cavs once again responded, as Irving went down the left side for a runner at the buzzer, closing the gap to 67-64, the Warriors taking their slim lead into halftime.
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @richhh90)
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