NBA Finals 2017, Warriors vs. Cavaliers: Game 2 schedule and results

In Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the series’ three MVPs all showed out in what was an exciting, tight game up until the Warriors’ all-stars exploded from deep to finish the job. The Warriors’ 132-113 win isn’t representative of the greatness we witnessed throughout. LeBron James and Stephen Curry triple-doubled, and Kevin Durant double-doubled in a shootout in which all three had their signature moments.

When both Durant and Curry are this on, there’s only so much James and company can do. Even Kevin Love’s 27 points weren’t enough to supplement The King’s workload. But though Game 2 didn’t deliver a buzzer-beating finish, it did live up to the hype of three likely future Hall of Famers competing for a championship.

For three quarters, it seemed Game 2 could have gone either way. The second installment to one of the most predictable anticipated NBA Finals in history started like a game of tug-of-war, each side testing the other’s strength first.

But it ended how many expected: the Warriors were just too fast, too accurate, too smothering defensively and, in the end, up 2-0 on the Cavaliers, now only two wins shy of their second championship ring in three years.

LeBron James added another notch to his track record of sustained dominance in Game 2 against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday when he picked up his eighth career triple-double of the NBA Finals. James tied a mark Magic Johnson set during his playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers, and no other players in NBA history have more than two triple-doubles in the NBA Finals.

LeBron picked up his 10th rebound at the 1:33 mark in the third quarter of Game 2. He had already recorded 27 points and 12 rebounds at that point in the game.

The Warriors are playing their beautifully flashy basketball early in Game 2 against the Cavaliers. One of those plays came as a JaVale McGee alley oop.

It was a booming dunk by the hyper-athletic McGee, and Kevin Love got a front row seat on the play. It’s not the first spectacular play we’ve seen at the rim in an NBA Finals between the Cavs and Warriors (sorry Andre Iguodala).

Carlos Santana performed the national anthem prior to Game 2 of the NBA Finals for the second time in three years Sunday night.

Just like he did in 2015, Santana played the smoothest of anthems before the game as Oracle Arena was decorated by red and blue lights held by fans.