OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on Game 2 of the NBA Finals (all times local):
9:05
Stephen Curry says the Golden State Warriors can play better,
They’re playing pretty good right now.
Curry had a triple double and Kevin Durant scored 33 and the Golden State Warriors took a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals with a 132-113 victory in Game 2 on Sunday night.
Curry finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
The big nights from the former MVPs made coach Steve Kerr a winner in his return to the bench after a more than six-week absence following complications from back surgery.
“We’re young, we’re healthy, we’re playing basketball, the game we love, and we have a great opportunity in front of you,” Curry said. “You’ve got to kind of seize it and enjoy the experience and the journey.”
This marks the second straight year Golden State won the first two games of the Finals. Cleveland rallied to win last year’s series in seven games.
LeBron James had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists to tie Magic Johnson’s record with his eighth career Finals triple-double.
It was just the second time in NBA playoff history two players had triple-doubles in the same game. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) and Walt Frazier did it in 1970.
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7:40 p.m.
Stephen Curry had a triple double and Kevin Durant scored 33 and the Golden State Warriors took a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals with a 132-113 victory in Game 2 on Sunday night.
Curry finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists,
The big nights from the former MVPs made coach Steve Kerr a winner in his return to the bench after a more than six-week absence following complications from back surgery.
“We’re young, we’re healthy, we’re playing basketball, the game we love, and we have a great opportunity in front of you,” Curry said. “You’ve got to kind of seize it and enjoy the experience and the journey.”
This marks the second straight year Golden State won the first two games of the Finals. Cleveland rallied to win last year’s series in seven games.
LeBron James had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists to tie Magic Johnson’s record with his eighth career Finals triple-double.
It was just the second time in NBA playoff history two players had triple-doubles in the same game. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) and Walt Frazier did it in 1970.
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7:25 p.m.
Stephen Curry, he’s got a triple-double with 30 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.
Kevin Durant, he’s up to 31 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and five blocks so far in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
But Sunday’s biggest key for Golden State might be this: Klay Thompson looks like himself again.
Thompson is 8 for 12 from the field, 4 for 7 from 3-point range, and he has 22 points as the Warriors have built a 121-99 lead nearing the midpoint of the fourth quarter.
Thompson shot 3 for 16 in Game 1.
A quick note on Curry: It’s his eighth triple-double, and first in the postseason. The Warriors are 7-0 in previous games when Curry had a triple-double.
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7:10 p.m.
LeBron James has another NBA Finals triple-double.
Golden State is in full control of Game 2 anyway.
Stephen Curry is 14 for 14 from the line and has 27 points, nine assists and nine rebounds, Kevin Durant has 24 points and the Warriors lead Cleveland 102-88 going into the fourth quarter.
A potential issue for the Warriors down the stretch: Draymond Green has five fouls.
Klay Thompson has bounced back in a big way, scoring 17 so far for Golden State.
James has 27 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds - his eighth Finals triple-double, tying Magic Johnson’s NBA record.
James’ teams are 4-3 in his previous Finals triple-double nights. He had one for Miami in 2011, another in 2012 and two in 2013. He then had two for Cleveland in 2015, one last year and his Sunday one is No. 8.
Kevin Love has 24 for the Cavs, who were outscored 35-24 in the third.
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6:45 p.m.
Golden State is up by double digits again, 83-73 after the first 3 minutes of the third quarter in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
A big sequence got the Warriors there: Kevin Love made a 3-pointer to get Cleveland within five, but Draymond Green answered with a 3 for the Warriors and then Stephen Curry sliced his way through LeBron James and Love for a layup.
Curry is up to 22 points for the Warriors, with seven already in the third quarter. LeBron James is up to 20 points, 11 assists and six rebounds for the Cavaliers.
The Warriors are shooting 55 percent so far. Golden State has won 106 consecutive games when shooting better than 50 percent, a streak going back to November 2014.
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6:20 p.m.
Going back to last season, nine of the last 11 games between Golden State and Cleveland have been decided by double digits.
This one is looking much different.
It’s halftime of Game 2 of the NBA Finals, and Golden State leads Cleveland 67-64. The Warriors led by as many as 12 points, but LeBron James has been his usual outstanding self in the first two quarters.
James has 18 points, 10 assists and six rebounds already. Kevin Love has 15 and Kyrie Irving scored 10 for Cleveland.
Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant both have 15 points for the Warriors. Curry didn’t score in the second quarter, however. And the Warriors have 13 turnovers already, which the Cavs have turned into 17 points.
This is only the fifth Finals game - and the first since 1967 - where both teams had at least 64 points at the half.
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6:10 p.m.
Draymond Green is back, after three first-quarter fouls.
It’s a bold move by Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who’s in his first game back after an 11-game absence with health issues. Kerr returned Green to the lineup by the midpoint of the second quarter, and with Cleveland steadily cutting into what was a double-digit Golden State lead.
The Warriors lead 59-56 with 3 minutes left in the half.
Kevin Love and LeBron James have combined for 27 for the Cavaliers. Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry have 28 for the Warriors, but Curry is also up to six turnovers. That’s two more than the Warriors had as a team in Game 1.
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5:45 p.m.
Golden State has committed twice as many turnovers already in Game 2 of the NBA Finals than it did in the entirety of Game 1 - eight so far in this game, four in all of the series opener on Thursday.
Doesn’t matter. The Warriors lead Cleveland 40-34 after the first quarter.
Stephen Curry has tied Paul Pierce’s NBA Finals record with 10 free throws made in a quarter. Curry leads everybody with 15 points, and the Warriors became the sixth team in Finals history to score at least 40 points in an opening quarter.
LeBron James has 10 points and five assists to lead Cleveland.
The Cavaliers led 9-3 early, before the Warriors went on a 23-7 run to take what was a 26-16 lead.
James has been attacking early and often, with dunks, layups and a strong three-point play after taking what essentially was a tackle attempt from JaVale McGee on a drive and scoring anyway.
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5:25 p.m.
LeBron James is attacking. And Game 2 of the NBA Finals is starting like a 100-meter dash.
It was Cleveland 14, Golden State 13 after just the first 4:13 of the first quarter. The Cavaliers said they wanted to play at a faster pace, and James is setting the tone by getting to the rim four times already.
Kevin Love started 4 for 4 for the Cavs, but was briefly shaken up and seemed to be favoring his left side.
The best early sign for the Cavaliers: They made their first five shots - three by Love, the other two by a driving-and-attacking James.
The best early sign for the Warriors: Klay Thompson, who was 3 for 16 in Game 1, connected on two consecutive possessions.
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5:10 p.m.
Here we go: Game 2 of the NBA Finals has started.
There are no changes to the starting lineups from Game 1 for either team, which is not a surprise.
For Cleveland, it’s LeBron James, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, Kyrie Irving and J.R. Smith. For Golden state, it’s Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Zaza Pachulia.
Coach Steve Kerr has returned to the Warriors’ bench Sunday after missing the last 11 games while dealing with complications following back surgeries, and naturally got a huge roar from the Golden State faithful at Oracle Arena when introduced. Kerr’s picture was shown on the videoboard as the fans stood and cheered.
A 2-0 series lead guarantees nothing, but would obviously put the Warriors in a good spot. The only teams to rally from 2-0 down in The Finals are Boston (over the L.A. Lakers) in 1969, Portland (over Philadelphia) in 1977, Miami (over Dallas) in 2006 … and of course, Cleveland over the Warriors last season.
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4:45 p.m.
There are some impressive streaks that merit some mention going into Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
Golden State is trying for its 14th consecutive postseason victory, which would tie the longest such streak in any of the four major U.S. pro sports. The Pittsburgh Penguins won 14 in a row during their 1992 and 1993 runs in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
LeBron James, meanwhile, is trying to win a road game for the 30th consecutive series, spanning his time with Cleveland, Miami and Cleveland again.
This is the 41st playoff series for James. His teams have won at least one road game in 37 of the first 40, with the lone exceptions being the 2007 NBA Finals (against San Antonio), the 2008 Eastern Conference semifinals (against Boston) and the 2009 East finals (against Orlando).
James enters Game 2 against Golden State having been part of 58 road playoff wins. Only Tim Duncan (63) and Robert Horry (61) have more.
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4:25 p.m.
Former Warriors coach Al Attles was honored for his longevity and influence before Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
Attles played for the Warriors in some of the franchise’s most memorable games, including Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point masterpiece in 1962. He coached the Warriors to their first championship since moving West in 1975 and watched as a team ambassador as Golden State captured its first title since then two years ago.
Attles received the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award on Sunday night. Hubie Brown also was honored as a co-recipient.
The 80-year-old Attles, who is wrapping up his 57th season with the Warriors, owns the longest active streak with one team in the NBA.
Dallas Coach Rick Carlisle presented Attles his award - named for the late Hall of Fame Pistons coach - on behalf of the National Basketball Coaches Association.
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3:55
It’s Comeback Night at Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr is back. And so are Cleveland’s black jerseys.
Even though Cleveland star LeBron James is no fan of the short-sleeved look, it is one that works for the Cavs. They wore the black shirts while winning Game 7 of the NBA Finals last year, and will try the look again Sunday against Golden State.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue says he wasn’t even aware of the team’s uniform scheme for Game 2, though noted, “they love those jerseys. But we’ve still got to play. It doesn’t make a difference what jersey you wear.”
The Cavs went with a more basketball-traditional look, donning navy uniforms for their Game 1 loss.
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3:40 p.m.
Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue says it’s good to have Golden State coach Steve Kerr back on the sideline for the NBA Finals.
Kerr announced before Game 2 on Sunday that he is returning to the sideline the first time since the first round of the playoffs against Portland. The Warriors had been 11-0 under acting coach Mike Brown with Kerr out with complications following back surgeries.
Lue says he had texted with Kerr during the playoffs to send his best wishes while Kerr missed the previous 11 games following complications from back surgeries.
The Cleveland coach says Kerr is someone he respected even before he started coaching and is glad Golden State has its leader back.
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