The Cleveland Cavaliers are forcing Stephen Curry to guard LeBron James during the NBA Finals

THE ESSENTIALS

Game 2 Tipoff: 5 p.m. Sunday at Oracle Arena. TV: ABC. Radio: KGMZ 95.7 “The Game” in Oakland and San Francisco, KRTY 95.3 in San Jose, KION 1460 and 101.1 in Salinas and Monterey.

SERIES RECAP

Game 1: After receiving an incredible break late in regulation, the Warriors scored the first nine points in overtime to defeat the Cavaliers 124-114 at Oracle Arena. With 4.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the score 107-107, Cleveland’s George Hill missed the second of two free throws and teammate J.R. Smith grabbed the offensive rebound. But he inexplicably dribbled out the clock, allowing the game to go to overtime. The Warriors withstood a stellar performance by LeBron James, who had 51 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. The scoring total is the fifth-highest in NBA Finals history and James’ playoff career high. Stephen Curry scored 29 to lead the Warriors. Kevin Durant had 26 and Klay Thompson scored 24 despite playing with a knee injury suffered in the first quarter. The game was competitive throughout as there were 17 ties and 15 lead changes.

REMAINING SERIES SCHEDULE

Game 3: Wednesday (June 6) at Cleveland, 6 p.m. ABC
Game 4: Friday (June 8) at Cleveland, 6 p.m. ABC
Game 5: Monday (June 11) at Golden State, 6 p.m. ABC
Game 6: Thursday (June 14) at Cleveland, 6 p.m. ABC
Game 7: Sunday (June 17) at Golden State, 5 p.m. ABC

INJURY UPDATE

Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala has missed five games since suffering a bone bruise in his left knee when he banged knees with James Harden in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals against Houston. On Saturday, coach Steve Kerr considered Iguodala to be doubtful for Game 2. Klay Thompson is listed as questionable because of a sprained left ankle suffered when Smith slid into him trying to make a defensive play.

STEPH VS. LeBRON — FOR REAL

A lot championships are hyped by using the stars who don’t necessarily face off against each other: Magic vs. Bird, Elway vs. Montana, Montana vs. Marino. But in these NBA Finals, we really have seen Steph vs. LeBron. The Cavaliers are following the blueprint used by the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference finals, when they made a concerted effort to get Curry, who isn’t the Warriors’ strongest defender, matched up against James Harden. Now, Cleveland is make Curry guard James. With the Warriors switching on all screens, it has been easy for Curry’s man to set a pick for James and force a defensive switch. To his credit, Curry has done a credible job under trying circumstances.

THERE ARE PRECEDENTS

For those of us old enough to remember, Smith’s mental blunder at the end of regulation in Game 1 is not without precedent. In Game 4 of the 1984 Western Conference semifinals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas at Reunion Arena, Mavericks rookie point guard Derek Harper did the same thing. With the score 112-112, the Lakers’ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar missed a sky hook with 12 seconds remaining. Dallas’ Rolando Blackman got the rebound and passed to Harper. He dribbled out the clock thinking the Mavericks had the lead. The Lakers won in overtime 122-115 for a 3-1 series advantage and wrapped things up in Game 5 at The Forum. And in the “He Should Have Known Better” category, the Lakers’ Magic Johnson did the same thing in the same playoffs, giving the Boston Celtics Game 2 of the 1984 NBA Finals.

TO TELL THE TRUTH

After the game, Smith said that he knew what the score was and was waiting for a teammate to call a timeout. If Smith really knew that it was a tie game and that the Cavaliers had a timeout remaining, why didn’t he simply call it himself after securing the rebound? Sounds a bit suspicious. On Saturday, Smith “clarified” things by admitting, “I can’t say I was sure of anything at that point.”

CRASHING THE BOARDS

The Warriors were one of the NBA’s worst teams when it came to keeping opponents off the offensive boards. And teams are really taking advantage of this lately. In Game 1, Cleveland had 19 offensive rebounds. This comes on the heels of Houston getting 17 in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. That’s 36 offensive rebounds surrendered in two games.

THE UNWRITTEN RULES

Tristan Thompson got bent out of shape at the end of Game 1 when he took it upon himself to let the Warriors and Shaun Livingston know that he didn’t appreciate that late shot attempt to avoid a shot-clock violation with 2.6 seconds remaining. Yes, Golden State was comfortably ahead by eight points the time and didn’t need any more points. But that doesn’t mean the Warriors had to stop playing basketball. Thompson thought otherwise and fouled Livingston — almost elbowing him in the head. He was called for a flagrant foul 2 and automatically ejected. If this were baseball, would Thompson take exception to a batter swinging at a pitch with a 12-run, eighth-inning lead? Is the hitter just supposed to take strikes until he’s called out? What Livingston did is not the same as stealing bases in that baseball situation — or JaVale McGee launching 3-pointers to purposely embarrass an opponent.

PAYING THE PRICE

For the ensuing fracas with Draymond Green after his ejection, Thompson was fined $25,000 by the league on Friday. Hope it was was worth it, Tristan. His flagrant foul 2 was also downgraded to a flagrant 1.

LAKERS REUNION

When Nick Young, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr. were members of the Lakers at this time last year, it would have been hard to imagine that the trio would find themselves in the 2018 NBA Finals. Young had the best chance of achieving this because he was a free agent. Clarkson and Nance were the long shots, but their opportunity came through when they were sent to the struggling Cavaliers at the trade deadline for Isaiah Thomas. Of the three ex-Lakers, Nance has a chance to make an impact in this series because of his athleticism and rebounding ability. He had nine points and 11 rebounds in only 19:21 off the bench in Game 1.

HOW THEY SCORED

The Warriors were able to run in Game 1, scoring 28 fast-break points. The Cavaliers’ offensive rebounding allowed them to score 21 second-chance points. Points in the paint were fairly close, 56-52 in favor of the Warriors.

WHO STARTS?

With Iguodala out in Game 1, Kerr started Kevon Looney at center. But in the second half, he started McGee, who gave the team a shot of energy. If Iguodala can’t go in Game 2, it will be interesting to see who Kerr calls upon.

DOMINANCE

Going back to the 2017 Martin Luther King Jr. Day game at Oracle Arena and including last year’s NBA Finals, Golden State has won eight of the past nine games against the Cavaliers.

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