Final - OT
Warriors go for 2-0 lead over Irving-less Cavs
Jun 7, 2015 - 2:34 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Golden State Warriors will try for a 2-0 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday night as Game 2 tips from Oracle Arena, minus one superstar.Cleveland's All-Star guard Kyrie Irving fractured his left knee cap in Thursday's 108-100 overtime loss in Game 1. Irving missed two games in the Eastern Conference Finals, but he acknowledged this was different, and he was correct.
Irving underwent surgery Saturday morning and is done for the remainder of the postseason. The Cavs are already without All-Star forward Kevin Love after shoulder surgery and the pressure is squarely on the face of the NBA, LeBron James.
"It's a tough pill to swallow," James said of Irving's injury. "It sucks for him personally. It's a tough situation for our team. Guys have to pick it up in his absence."
The Cavs have experience without Irving. He missed Games 2 and 3 against Atlanta and Cleveland prevailed both times with the scrappy Matthew Dellavedova in the starting lineup.
"We found a way. We won a Chicago series without Kevin (Love) and with Kyrie pretty limited. Obviously, Atlanta series, same thing," said Cavs coach David Blatt. "You'd love to see us at full strength. The situation is what it is. We are going to come out and play and play to win, request no quarter and no sympathy."
Golden State is not offering any sympathy.
"It's still an enormous challenge. It's the NBA Finals," said Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
The Warriors are well aware of how dangerous not only James is, but how dangerous the team could be. Several Warriors hinted that the Cavs will display more of a team effort with Irving gone.
"LeBron's going to look to probably move the ball more and get everybody some better looks," said MVP Stephen Curry. "Dellavedova has a different game than Kyrie, so when he's involved in one-three pick-and-rolls or he's involved in their action, you have to know his strengths.
"We obviously hate to hear anybody go through an injury like that. This is a special time. Your heart goes out to him. The challenge is still going to be tough."
Irving was very good in Game 1 with 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. His defense, never a calling card, was also great. He blocked Curry on what appeared to be a solo layup attempt with 24 seconds left in regulation.
James was excellent. He scored a personal Finals best 44 points, but most chatter about the man who's been to the last five Finals, was about his attempt to win it before overtime.
James took a long, step-back jumper with Golden State's Andre Iguodala draped all over him.
"I got to where I wanted to get," James said. "It's a make-or-miss league, we had our chances."
The rebound bounced to Cleveland' Iman Shumpert, whose putback looked good, but didn't fall.
"It looked good the whole way," Kerr said of Shumpert's shot.
The Warriors dominated overtime.
Kerr employed his small-ball lineup without center Andrew Bogut. It was an effective group during the Western Conference Finals against Houston and it was even better on Thursday.
The Cavs went 1-of-9 from the field in overtime and missed 12 of their last 13 shots from the floor overall. James scored a layup with under 10 seconds to give Cleveland its only points of the extra session.
"It was just a classic five minutes that we needed to get that win," Curry said.
"We couldn't get a good look, we couldn't get nothing to drop," James said of overtime.
Curry finished with 26 points. Klay Thompson, fully recovered from a concussion in Game 5 of the West finals against the Rockets, posted 21 points and six rebounds for the Warriors, who are in their first NBA Finals since 1975. Iguodala's 15-point effort led a Golden State bench that outscored Cleveland's 34-9.
Game 3 will be Tuesday night in Cleveland.
- CLEVELAND: 95
GOLDEN STATE: 93
Final - OT
Jun 7 11:18 PM - CLEVELAND: 95
GOLDEN STATE: 93
End of OT
Jun 7 11:18 PM - 379
rootsRUWTbot Added 6 roots (Overtime, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 95, Warriors 93 End of OTJun 7 11:18 PM - CLEVELAND: 87
GOLDEN STATE: 87
End of Regulation
Jun 7 10:53 PM - 363
rootsRUWTbot Added 35 roots (Close Finish, Overtime, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 87, Warriors 87 End of Reg.Jun 7 10:53 PM - 318
rootsRUWTbot Added 11 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 87, Warriors 85 4th - 0:38Jun 7 10:49 PM - 307
rootsRUWTbot Added 12 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 87, Warriors 85 4th - 0:41Jun 7 10:48 PM - 295
rootsRUWTbot Added 30 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 87, Warriors 85 4th - 1:23Jun 7 10:48 PM - 265
rootsRUWTbot Added 6 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 87, Warriors 82 4th - 1:41Jun 7 10:47 PM - 259
rootsRUWTbot Added 29 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 85, Warriors 80 4th - 2:35Jun 7 10:43 PM - 230
rootsRUWTbot Added 61 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 84, Warriors 78 4th - 2:45Jun 7 10:41 PM - 169
rootsRUWTbot Took away 33 roots (Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 84, Warriors 75 4th - 2:57Jun 7 10:40 PM - 202
rootsRUWTbot Added 33 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 83, Warriors 75 4th - 3:04Jun 7 10:40 PM - 169
rootsRUWTbot Took away 25 roots (Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 83, Warriors 72 4th - 3:13Jun 7 10:36 PM - 189
rootsRUWTbot Took away 24 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 80, Warriors 72 4th - 3:50Jun 7 10:34 PM - 213
rootsRUWTbot Added 53 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 79, Warriors 72 4th - 4:12Jun 7 10:33 PM - 160
rootsRUWTbot Took away 6 roots (Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 79, Warriors 70 4th - 4:37Jun 7 10:32 PM - 166
roots - 158
rootsRUWTbot Took away 51 roots (Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 76, Warriors 66 4th - 5:29Jun 7 10:30 PM - 209
rootsRUWTbot Added 6 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 72, Warriors 66 4th - 6:00Jun 7 10:25 PM - 203
rootsRUWTbot Added 5 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 72, Warriors 66 4th - 6:39Jun 7 10:24 PM - 198
rootsRUWTbot Took away 27 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 72, Warriors 66 4th - 7:01Jun 7 10:23 PM - 225
rootsRUWTbot Added 24 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 71, Warriors 66 4th - 7:48Jun 7 10:18 PM - 201
rootsRUWTbot Added 6 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 71, Warriors 64 4th - 7:57Jun 7 10:17 PM - 195
rootsRUWTbot Took away 22 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 71, Warriors 64 4th - 8:21Jun 7 10:17 PM - 217
rootsRUWTbot Added 8 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 69, Warriors 64 4th - 8:44Jun 7 10:16 PM - 209
rootsRUWTbot Added 8 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 69, Warriors 64 4th - 8:44Jun 7 10:13 PM - 201
rootsRUWTbot Took away 30 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 69, Warriors 64 4th - 9:29Jun 7 10:12 PM - 231
rootsRUWTbot Added 13 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 66, Warriors 64 4th - 9:49Jun 7 10:12 PM - 218
rootsRUWTbot Added 31 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 66, Warriors 64 4th - 10:05Jun 7 10:11 PM - 187
rootsRUWTbot Took away 24 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 66, Warriors 62 4th - 10:45Jun 7 10:10 PM - 211
rootsRUWTbot Added 10 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 64, Warriors 62 4th - 11:06Jun 7 10:09 PM - 201
rootsRUWTbot Added 29 roots (Close Finish, Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 62, Warriors 62 4th - 11:39Jun 7 10:08 PM - CLEVELAND: 62
GOLDEN STATE: 59
End of 3rd
Jun 7 10:04 PM - 172
roots - 164
roots - 151
roots - 145
rootsRUWTbot Took away 12 roots (Individual Performance)
Cavaliers 62, Warriors 56 3rd - 2:51Jun 7 9:55 PM - 157
roots - 148
roots - 138
roots - 133
roots - 126
roots - 121
roots - 130
roots - 124
roots - 119
roots - CLEVELAND: 47
GOLDEN STATE: 46
Halftime
Jun 7 9:16 PM - CLEVELAND: 20
GOLDEN STATE: 20
End of 1st
Jun 7 8:38 PM - CLEVELAND: 0
GOLDEN STATE: 0
1st Quarter - 12:00
Jun 7 8:10 PM
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