The Golden State Warriors have crushed the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-77 to take an imposing 2-0 series lead in the NBA Finals.
It was a tense first quarter for both sides as neither could find a rhythm offensively, the defensive efforts of both Andrew Bogut (four blocks) and LeBron James, despite not scoring a point, the stand-out performances as the Cavs edged to a slim 21-19 lead at the end of the opening period.
The second quarter was all about Draymond Green, the controversial forward catching fire from beyond the arc to drop three three-pointers on his way to 18 first half points, the Warriors riding a 20-2 run before a late James streak reduced their first half deficit to eight points.
The Cavs opted to come out in the second half with a smaller line-up, James playing at the center position in an attempt to match the Warriors' pace.
However Cleveland struggled to deal with the mismatches that line-up created defensively, Klay Thompson starting to find his range while Green's exceptional play continued with the hosts stretching their buffer to 16 points halfway through the third quarter while Steph Curry sat with foul trouble.
The Cavs issues were compounded with forward Kevin Love leaving the game for a concussion test after taking an elbow to the back of the head earlier, veteran Richard Jefferson providing some much needed spark off the bench in his absence but not enough to prevent a 82-62 shortfall at the conclusion of the quarter.
Golden State poured in seven unanswered points to open the final quarter to essentially plunge the nail into the Cavs' coffin, the lead swelling to as much as 35 points as they romped to a 2-0 series lead.
Green was comfortably the Warriors best with a packed statistical line of 28 points, seven boards , and five assists, while James put up 19 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in a losing effort.
Game three takes place in Cleveland on Thursday (NZT).
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