OAKLAND, Calif.: In Sunday’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the Cavaliers had their toughness tested.
The result should have been an affront to their manhood.
The Cavs couldn’t match the defending champion Golden State Warriors’ physicality.
They were mentally powerless to stop a 20-2 run in the second quarter and another onslaught in the fourth.
They were thrown off their games by the officiating crew, which ignored the pounding the Cavs absorbed, especially under the basket.
They couldn’t handle the pressure of the big stage, with only the oldest man on the roster, Richard Jefferson, playing as if he weren’t intimidated.
Rookie coach Tyronn Lue looked overmatched, struggling to find effective combinations.
It all added up to a 110-77 Warriors’ victory in Oracle Arena. The Cavs return home down 0-2, setting up a must-win situation in Game 3 on Wednesday night in Cleveland.
After watching the film of Game 1, Lue knew what to expect, both from the referees and the Warriors.
“They’re allowed a lot of physicality, and we’ve got to be physical,” Lue said before the game. “All their switches, with Steph [Curry] on LeBron, he’s bumping LeBron, and we have to take the same approach. I think the [officials] are letting the game be played.”
The Cavs may have been aware of the style required, especially in the Oracle, where the Warriors are 50-3 this season, 11-1 in the playoffs. But the Cavs still didn’t play that way.
Even LeBron James failed the Cavs. He saw his career-best string of 25 consecutive postseason games with at least 20 points snapped, finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and nine assists in 34 minutes.
James went 0-for-5 in the first quarter and 5-of-12 in the first half. He also committed four turnovers in the first 24 minutes, three in the second quarter. In Game 1, that had been a thorn in the Cavs’ side, with 17 turnovers leading to 25 Warriors’ points.
For the second consecutive game and continuing a troubling trend from the 2015 Finals against the Warriors, J.R. Smith struggled offensively. He hit 2-of-6 from the field and scored just five points. Smith came out trying to dribble past Klay Thompson and looked ragged and erratic.
The Warriors showed no mercy in pouring it on, and did it again without superstars Curry and Thompson responsible for all the damage. On this night, it was Draymond Green, who lit up the Cavs for 28 points, 12 in the second quarter. Curry and Thompson combined for 20 points in Game 1 as the Warriors bench outscored the Cavs counterparts 45-10, the biggest disparity in the Finals in at least the last 50 years, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
On Sunday, Curry and Thompson combined for 35 points.
It wasn’t just the dazzling ability to score, but the intensity with which the Warriors played, no matter who was on the court.
The Cavs take their cues from their leader, James, and when James starts slowly, so too do the rest. But the Cavs also failed to channel their frustration over the officiating into playing angry on offense.
Even after Kevin Love took an inadvertent forearm to the back of the head by Harrison Barnes as they went for a rebound in the second quarter and lay sprawled under the basket and the officials allowed the game to play on, the Cavs failed to respond. Love was diagnosed with a concussion in the second half, experiencing dizziness after seeing two minutes of action and entered the league protocol.
The Cavs continued to play passively, were out-hustled and out-muscled, seemingly resigned to their fate. The Warriors looked like an unstoppable juggernaut, the Cavs the psychologically fragile souls that some in the league perceive them to be.
As a team, the Cavs and Warriors could not be further apart, the Warriors far superior in terms of heart, swagger and the ability to rise to the occasion.
Perhaps the friendly confines of the Q will renew the Cavs’ energy, will ignite their aggression, will help them locate their passion.
If not, the Warriors’ record-setting 73-victory season seems to be marching toward another champagne celebration in the visitors locker room.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.