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Cavs Have Overcome Adversity All Season, But Warriors Are a Different Beast
- Updated: June 6, 2016
Down 2-0 in the NBA Finals after a merciless 110-77 thrashing from the Golden State Warriors Sunday, the Cleveland Cavaliers are proving all adversity is not created equal.
Getting the doors blown off this badly, at this ultimate stage of the postseason, made hopeful comments like these, from Kevin Love in after Game 1, ring hollow:
“There’s good things that can come from it feeling like your back is up against the wall,” he told reporters. “I think we’ve been a team that has kind of thrived in, I don’t know if chaos is the right word, but thrived in adversity and been able to bounce back.”
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To be fair, what were Love and the rest of the Cavs (many of whom also spoke of the team’s trials during the season) supposed to say after losing big in Game 1?
Working through a midseason coaching change, LeBron James’ cryptic tweets and relentless media scrutiny has clearly done little to steel the Cavaliers against a different, more direct species of adversity. They’re getting demolished by superior talent that is better deployed and far more rigorously tested. Based on the proceedings in Game 2, Cleveland doesn’t thrive in this kind of adversity at all.
It falls apart.
Draymond Green led the way for the Warriors, scoring 28 points, grabbing seven rebounds and handing out five assists in 34 minutes. His fifth three-pointer nearly killed Stephen Curry, who was resting comfortably on the bench at the time.
Curry played only 25 minutes because of foul trouble, but he provided 18 points and nine rebounds on 7-of-11 shooting—a far more impactful performance than he managed in Game 1, even if it came in a shorter stint.
James answered with 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting, adding nine assists and eight rebounds. He led the Cavs in all three categories and functioned much as he did in last year’s Finals: as his team’s only viable source of offense.
Golden State extended its winning streak over the Cavs to seven straight dating back to last year’s playoffs, and this one was finished long before the buzzer. It’s hard to pinpoint the decisive moment, but when James settled for an isolation three as the best way to attack Leandro Barbosa on a switch in the third quarter, things felt pretty well decided.
And when Green hit that fifth three shortly thereafter, you could almost hear the buses …
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