Draymond Green Shows Versatility As Warriors Crush The Cavaliers
Draymond Green is on his way to earning the Finals MVP after dominating LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
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The Golden State Warriors and Steve Kerr let Draymond Green do his thing to devastating effect for the Cavaliers in game two of the NBA Finals. Green doesn’t have the best fundamentals, and he certainly isn’t the cleanest player. However, his production all over the court is a direct result of the fire he plays with every day.
Green contributed 28 points — tossing in five three pointers — during Golden State’s dominating 110-77 game two victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The second half was particularly embarrassing for Cleveland given that Golden State scored 58 points while allowing just 33 points from the Cavaliers.
Defense though, has been a key reason that the Warriors currently have a 2-0 lead in the Finals. Neither Klay Thompson nor Stephen Curry has scored 20 points in either Finals game so far, but that hasn’t seemed to matter. The Warriors have the personnel that has smothered any chance the Cavaliers may have had at productivity on offense.
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In game two, Cleveland only made 35.4 percent of their field goals while the Warriors made 54.3 percent of theirs. It’s obvious which of these two teams is better after only two games. The Cavaliers simply have no chance to win this series if they continue to shoot poorly while the Warriors pour on the points.
Some Cavaliers fans believe their team still has a chance, saying that James doesn’t have enough help. James’ supporters seem to like making excuses for him since it’s obvious that he isn’t doing much to help his team either. Nobody on Cleveland’s squad can seem to handle the complete team effort the Golden State Warriors are putting out there.
Does anybody on the Cavaliers want to step up? Apparently not. It will be next to impossible for Cleveland to find answers because anybody on the Warriors’ roster can have a great game. Shaun Livingston took control of game one, and Green erupted in game two.
Green can beat a team with tough defense, but he is especially lethal when he starts nailing shots from long range. Game two was truly a signature Finals moment for Draymond Green. He became the third Splash Brother after contributing five of the combined 13 threes made by himself, Curry, and Thompson.
Green looked like Curry from beyond the arc when he nailed a deep three against Richard Jefferson in the second half. That play was the hammer that crushed any chance the Cavaliers had to win game two.
A huge difference between the Warriors and the Cavaliers in this series is versatility. Cleveland is less versatile than any team that Golden State has faced this postseason. It’s almost as if the true Finals was the series that the Warriors won against Oklahoma City. Unlike Cleveland, the Thunder could actually move the ball around and score in a variety of ways.
LeBron James only made seven out of 17 field goals and just one of five threes in game two while Green made over half of his threes and field goals. Plus, Green was highly effective on defense and in the paint on offense. Lastly, Green only turned the ball over once while LeBron committed an ugly seven turnovers.
The only other player who seemed able to contribute something for Cleveland, aside from James, was Richard Jefferson. However, none of Cleveland’s starters, including James, have been shooting well at all.
At this point, the only thing the Warriors need to do is stop the Cavaliers from scoring in the paint. The Cavaliers are making things easy for the Warriors by missing most of their shots.
Next: Warriors Easily Overpower The Cavaliers In Game One
Nothing the Cavaliers attempt in order to scrape together a win matters anymore because the Warriors are better at every level of the game. Draymond Green brings heart, strong defense, and now long range shooting — and looks like the current favorite for the Finals MVP.
And unless they can find some magic somewhere, the Cavaliers are close to being finished thanks in large part, to Green’s efforts.