NBA Finals 2016 - Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors - Game 2

NBA Finals - Cleveland Cavaliers vs Golden State Warriors Game 2

Game 1 was not quite what everyone was expecting. Lebron was Lebron, but the other showcased stars of the match-up were not themselves, including the MVP Steph Curry. 11 points for Curry was not quite the Curry we're used to, but he was the reason for many wide open layups/dunks that his teammates were the recipients of, most noticeably that Draymond Green dunk when Lebron and Shumpert messed up and doubled Curry instead of switching. So yes, he had a pretty awful offensive game, but his presence was felt and effected the game. Curry and Thompson's struggles did seem to spark the Golden State bench to compensate for their struggles by outscoring the Cleveland bench 45-10. Shaun Livingston stole the show and as of now is the leading candidate for Finals MVP. Now it it's pretty improbable that he will have another performance like that, but he will most definitely play a huge role in the series, especially when Curry is resting.

As for Cleveland, their bench was invisible and downright horrible. Curry's kryptonite last year, Matthew Dellavedova, was awful and looked scared. He posted a team worst +/- of -19 and didn't help the Cavs at all. I expect him to have a better series after getting those Game 1 jitters out. A lot of people are asking "what happened to JR Smith?" He did have an awful offensive game, but that may have correlation to his outstanding defense on Klay Thompson. It will only be a matter of time before he goes off for 5+ 3's in a game. One last note: When James went out with 34.1 seconds left in the 3rd quarter, Cleveland trailed 71-68. When he returned 2:23 into the 4th, the Cavs trailed 84-70.

My Game 2 Prediction

This is a must win game for Cleveland. Going down 2-0 will be nearly impossible to comeback from. I think Cleveland's bench will out play Golden State's or at least be near even. Yes, I do think one of the Splash Brothers will have a big bounce back game, my guess is Steph, but Kyrie and K-Love will also have much better games, leading to the X-Factor of JR Smith and Cleveland's bench against Golden State's role players and bench. Besides those factors, LeBron is undefeated since 2009 in Game 2 after a Game 1 loss. So if history repeats itself, which I think it will, Cleveland will be heading home with the series tied 1-1 like I thought it would be.

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