Cleveland Takes Game 2 Without Irving, Tie Up NBA Finals 1-1

The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of the NBA Finals 95-93 tonight, even without help from Kyrie Irving.

After losing Irving in overtime of Game 1 to a fractured knee, everyone was already writing off the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. However, when Lebron James is playing, you never count his team out.

Never.

James took his team on his back in the first half, going off for 21 points. The Cavs, to everyone's surprise, tied the Warriors in the first quarter 20-20, and was able to take the lead in the second.

However, the Warriors, led by Klay Thompson's 20 points in the first half, pieced together a nice run in the second quarter. They trailed the Cavs 40-33 with 3:50 left in the half, but they were able to make a push to cut their halftime deficit to only two points, 47-45.

One of the bigger stories of the first half was the ability of Cavs' point guard Matthew Dellavedova's defensive efforts on NBA MVP Stephen Curry. He contained Curry as well as anyone was able to do this season, keeping him to a limited 2-10 from the field and held him to just 10 points.

The second half didn't prove to be a score-fest either. Combined, both teams only made nine field goals during the third quarter, and the scoreboard proved that with the lights showing 62-59. The Cavs were able to hold serve throughout the period, and continued the defensive momentum all the way through the fourth quarter.

Teams like the Warriors are not easy to beat, especially if they catch fire, which almost seems like an inevitability. However, the Cavs kept them in check, allowing them to clank fastbreak three after fastbreak three from Curry and Thompson, but the fourth quarter proved to be the difference maker.

With less than five minutes remaining, the Warriors trailed 79-68, but never count out the best team in the NBA. They made one last push, going on a 19-8 run, and eventually tied up the game with 7.2 seconds remaining, 87-87.

During the overtime period, the Warriors cooled off yet again, but Draymond Green was able to keep them in the game with back-to-back buckets, his only two field goals of the game, cutting the deficit to 92-91 with 2:00 remaining.

After two big free throws from the MVP (following a couple of bad refereeing decisions), the Warriors took the lead 93-92 with 29.5 seconds left, Dellavedova knocked down two clutch free throws himself with 10 seconds to go, essentially ending the game

This is the first time in NBA Finals history in which the first two games of the series went into overtime.

Lebron James ended up with yet another triple-double, 39 points, 16 rebounds, and 11 assists, his 12th all time in the playoffs, which ranks second all time. Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 34 points and Curry finished with 19 on just 5-23 shooting.

Game 3 will be played on Wednesday in Cleveland.