NBA Finals: Warriors cruise to Game 2 win over Cavaliers

Game 2 is in the books, and those books won’t exactly sit on the shelves of bookstores everywhere. In this episode, SB Nation’s Zito Madu joins us to talk about the Warriors’ 33-point blowout victory. Among the topics discussed:

We also vent about the U.S. men’s soccer team’s awful loss to Colombia (starting at the 36-minute mark) and the state of the program. Plus, Zito calls out a certain pillar of the USMNT and brags about his burgeoning semi-professional soccer career. For more coverage of the USMNT, Copa America and even more, check out SB Nation’s soccer section.

After taking the first game by 15 points, the Warriors have outscored the Cavaliers by 48 points through the first two games -- the biggest margin in NBA Finals history, per SportsCenter.

It was Green’s second straight great game -- he had 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in Game 1 -- and, at this point, the Cavaliers don’t have an answer for him.

It was the Warriors’ seventh consecutive win against the Cavaliers dating back to last year’s NBA Finals.

Neither team looked comfortable early, and despite the Warriors crashing the offensive glass in the first quarter and getting zero points from James, the Cavaliers led 21-19 after one. With the help of their own version of the Death Lineup, the Cavaliers jumped out to a 28-22 lead early in the second, but the Warriors broke down the Cleveland defense with a 20-2 run over a five-minute stretch. Green was spectacular in the second -- his 18 points led the Warriors to a 52-44 lead at the break.

Love stayed on the court and continued to play for the rest of the second quarter, but removed himself from the game early in the third quarter and exited for the locker room. He appeared disoriented in his final play on the court.

Per NBA concussion protocol, Love will be evaluated again in the next 24 hours. If he is deemed to have a concussion, he will not be able to return to the court for at least the next 48 hours. He then must complete several subsequent steps of physical exertion symptom-free before he can return to the court.

In Game 2, it was Draymond Green’s turn. He was draining virtually every three that he attempted. It got so ridiculous that Curry, who was just hanging out in the bench admiring his teammate’s play, cowered in disbelief. Steph just can’t even, you guys.

And we don’t blame him.

Cleveland is a 6.5-point road underdog in Game 2 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. With their loss in the series opener on Thursday night, the Cavaliers fell to 4-9 SU in their last 13 games as a betting underdog.

The Cavaliers powered through the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 12-2 SU and 9-5 ATS record, but the Warriors are clearly a far superior team to the ones that Cleveland has faced to this point.