The Cleveland Cavaliers tied the NBA Finals at one game apiece after holding on to win a thrilling Game 2 over the Golden State Warriors, stealing home court advantage. Here are three things we learned from the game that will affect the series going forward:
1) Cleveland's defense
All of the talk about the Cavaliers coming into the game centered around how Cleveland would score without Kyrie Irving, but it's been their defense that has allowed them to control the series to this point. Cleveland held Golden State to just 39.8 percent shooting from the field, including a disastrous 8/35 from long range.
They're packing the paint and cutting off driving lanes while still pressuring shooters on the perimeter, taking the Warriors out of their rhythm. Golden State hasn't been able to totally crack the Cavs yet, and it'll be interesting to see what adjustments - if any - head coach Steve Kerr makes.
2) Matthew Dellavedova vs. Stephen Curry
However, the biggest reason why the Warriors struggled so much was because Stephen Curry was thrown off of his game by Matthew Dellavedova. Cleveland's backup-turned-starter absolutely shut Curry down as the MVP didn't make a single shot (0/8) with the Australian guarding him.
Curry ended up shooting just 5/23 from the floor overall, but he didn't seem to have an answer for Dellavedova. If he can continue to harass, bother, and limit Curry's effectiveness, Cleveland has a great chance to win.
3) Iso-ball isn't working for Cleveland
The Cavaliers have fallen into the trap of playing isolation-heavy basketball without Kevin Love or Kyrie Irving, usually relying on LeBron James to go one-on-one against his defender to make plays for himself and for everyone else. While LeBron did score 39 points, he shot just 11/34 from the field and is a measly 29/72 for the series.
Cleveland's defense has masked those offensive inefficiencies so far, but that won't be the case when Golden State inevitably figures their offense out. The Cavs need to improve their ball movement and overall offensive execution if they want to win this series.
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