LeBron James knew he would have to do it all and that’s nearly what he did Thursday night. But just enough help pushed his depleted Cleveland Cavaliers’ squad to a 95-93 overtime victory over Golden State in Game 2 of The NBA Finals to even the series.
Trailing by a point, Matthew Dellavedova beat Harrison Barnes to a huge offensive rebound and drew a foul. With 10 seconds left, he knocked down his biggest pair of free throws ever to put the Cavaliers up one.
Then Dellavedova did it on the defensive end, forcing Stephen Curry into an airball jumpshot. After James hit a free throw to provide the final margin, Iman Shumpert deflected a hurried Curry pass for a steal and the clock ran out.
The emotional rollercoaster of this game was enough to cause a heart attack. It was that intense of a contest with the unexpected happening time after time.
James registered his 13th career postseason triple-double by producing 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists in 51 grueling minutes. He had 2:40 of rest time, but managed to be a dominant force throughout the game.
If James is running up and down the court, whoever is on his team will have a legitimate shot at winning. He’s that good, and was on Sunday.
Down 1-0 before tipoff, the Cavaliers were being given a chance of maybe one win in this series by national media. They were only saying a game because of what James is capable of doing on his own. For a team full a prideful individuals, that just doesn’t sit right.
“We’re shorthanded a little bit based on what’s happened, but we’re also played shorthanded in the past and we’ve won a lot of games,” coach David Blatt said. “We’re not looking to win one more [game]. That’s not our goal.”
It was only the Warriors’ third loss at home all year, including the postseason.
The Cavaliers needed players to step up in the absence of Kyrie Irving. Timofey Mozgov could not be contained in the interior. He imposed his will with his aggressive activity, leading to 17 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes. He was 7-of-12 from the charity stripe. Tristan Thompson gathered 14 boards, half on the offensive glass.
Cleveland’s mini bench outscored Golden State’s robust group 22-17. J.R. Smith and James Jones had 13 and eight points respectively.
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