2018 NBA Finals - Game 2: Cleveland Cavaliers 103-122 Golden State Warriors - 5 Talking Points
For the third straight year, the Golden State Warriors began their Finals campaign against their nemesis - the Cleveland Cavaliers - by taking care of home court in Oakland and ensuring that the series shifts to Cleveland with the home team staring at a 0-2 series deficit.
And a lot like the previous two years, both of these wins came by double digits - Game 1 by 10 and Game 2 by 19. However, what was different this year, was that the Dubs got lucky and escaped with a win in Game 1 but they weren't about to allow the same thing to happen in Game 2.
The defending champions put up a clinical performance on both ends of the floor to cruise to a far more comfortable and far less controversial win in Sunday's Game 2 as compared to Game 1 on Thursday.
Without beating around the bush any further, let's get right to it and discuss the biggest talking points from this Game 2 win for Golden State:
#The Cavaliers defense took an off-night on defense
Ideally, the Cleveland Cavaliers should have come out more focused than ever, wanting to at least steal one at Oracle Arena. If their demeanor at the media availability on Saturday was anything to go by, they seemed to have flipped the page on their disastrous end to Game 1.
But their performance in Game 2, especially on defense, said otherwise. First of all, they had the worst start possible, going down 15-6 while allowing the Warriors to shoot 7-of-7 over the first four minutes of the game. They did claw their way back into the game and hung around for most of it but some key stats are something they are going to need to work on.
The game was the Stephen Curry show but the Warriors, as a whole, shot 80% (20-of-25) in the restricted area and 71% in the paint. If you are the Cavaliers, that is just inexcusable. For anybody who watched the game, these numbers aren't surprising because Golden State had plenty of open drives and cuts to the lanes off of missed rotations and miscommunications by the Cavaliers.
Everytime Cleveland made a run, they failed to get a stop on key swing possessions and at the end of the day, those momentum changing sequences are what impact a game the most.