Draymond Green takes control with 3-ball in Game 2

The Golden State Warriors are two wins away from becoming back-to-back NBA champions after looking nearly unstoppable against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

Draymond Green flexed his bulging biceps with big plays on both ends of the floor all night for 28 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The 26-year-old went 5-for-8 from the 3-point line while MVP Stephen Curry scored 18 points in spite of foul trouble to help the Golden State thoroughly overwhelm the Cavs 110-77 on Sunday.

“They just beat us,” LeBron James said. “We didn’t win anything. At no point in the game did we win anything.”

The 33-point win was the Warriors’ most lopsided ever in an NBA Finals game.

“I’m definitely surprised at the margin of victory,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It happens in the NBA, sometimes things get away from you. Sometimes shots go in, sometimes they don’t.”

Love suffers head injury

Once the Splash Brothers found their shooting touch, Cleveland couldn’t keep up. Klay Thompson got hot after halftime to finish with 17 points and five assists as Golden State became the first team to go ahead 2-0 in the NBA Finals since the Lakers did so in 2009 against Orlando.

“What we’ve done the last few years — everybody, every night has an impact,” Curry said. “You don’t know where it’s going to come from any given night. We’ve got to keep our focus and our edge and hopefully get two more.”

Kerr made it clear that everything changes when the series shifts to Cleveland, where James and the Cavs must show up for Game 3 on Wednesday in front of their title-starved fans down 2-0 to the defending champs. To make matters worse for Cleveland, forward Kevin Love is now dealing with a head injury.

The NBA said Love experienced dizziness early in the second half and left for the locker room to be re-examined, then was placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol. The league said he didn’t exhibit any symptoms before then, even after taking an elbow to the back of the head from Harrison Barnes in the second quarter and going down for several minutes before returning following a timeout.

Warriors match ’96 Bulls

After a scoreless first quarter when he missed all five shots but had five assists, James scored 14 of his 19 points in the second and also finished with nine assists and eight rebounds. James’ teams had won nine straight post-season Game 2s after losing the series opener dating back to a loss in the 2008 Eastern Conference semifinals to Boston.

“The guys are not discouraged,” Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said. “But we’ve got to be tougher … They did what they were supposed to do, they won two games at home. We’ve got to get home and do the same.”

After Curry and Thompson combined for only 20 points in Thursday’s 104-89 Game 1 win on 8-for-27 shooting and the bench carried the load, they each hit four 3-pointers and went 13-for-24.

Leandro Barbosa had three straight transition layups in the third quarter and chipped in with 10 points.

Andrew Bogut had four blocks in the first 7:15 and received a standing ovation when he came out at 3:50 in the first then went to the locker room late in the quarter after he hit his hand on the rim early and grimaced in pain.

The Warriors’ 87 victories combined from their record 73-win regular season and the playoffs matched the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, the group Golden State topped for the most regular season victories in NBA history.

Article Written By: The Associated Press of CBC Sports