OAKLAND, Calif. — Veteran swingman James Jones came off the bench to score 10 second-quarter points, helping the Cleveland Cavaliers gain a 47-45 halftime lead over the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.
Golden State won the series opener 108-100 in overtime Thursday.
The Warriors led by as many as eight in the first quarter, and the Cavaliers by seven late in the second period before the first 24 minutes ended on near-even terms.
Cavaliers forward LeBron James led all scorers in the half with 20 points, hitting seven of his 13 shots. He also had six rebounds and six assists at the half.
The Warriors managed to hang close despite a slow start by regular-season Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry, who missed eight of 10 first-half shots, including six of seven 3-point attempts. The Golden State point guard finished the half with eight points, just the second time in the postseason that he scored fewer than 10 points before halftime.
Curry’s backcourt mate, shooting guard Klay Thompson, matched James’ 20-point total to keep Golden State within arm’s length. Thompson, who sat out the final seven-plus minutes of the first quarter in foul trouble, hit two 3-pointers among nine field goals in the half.
The Warriors overcame 2-for-10 shooting from 3-point range, a 14-10 rebounding deficit and two early fouls by Thompson to lead by as many as eight in the first quarter.
Thompson had a team-high nine points before drawing a second personal 4:51 into the game. He sat out the rest of the period.
The Cavaliers scored the final eight points of the quarter to forge a 20-all tie by period’s end. Golden State went scoreless over that 3:12 stretch.
James had 10 of Cleveland’s 20 points at that stage.
NOTES: The Cavaliers have experience rebounding from a Game 1 loss in the postseason. They lost the opener to the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference semifinals before taking the series 4-2. … PG Matthew Dellavedova started in place of Cavaliers PG Kyrie Irving, who fractured his left kneecap in Game 1 and is done for the series. … The Cavaliers’ complete injury list of players who will not be returning to the Finals consists of: Irving, PF Kevin Love (dislocated left shoulder) and PF/C Anderson Varajao (ruptured left Achilles tendon). … While admitting before the game that being an underdog is not a bad thing, Cavaliers coach David Blatt insisted, “We’ve also played short-handed in the past, and we’ve won a lot of games. We’re not looking to win one more. That’s not our goal.” … Warriors coach Steve Kerr took time in his pregame press conference to congratulate fellow University of Arizona alum Bob Baffert, trainer of Triple Crown-winning American Pharoah, as well as French Open champ Stan Wawrinka, noting, “I like watching other sporting events, and I do draw inspiration from them.”