Bench lift Warriors to first blood in Finals series

For now, they sure seem unstoppable. Reigning MVP, Curry, and his three point shooting counterpart, Klay Thompson, were of little to no significance to the outcome of the game. Not yet. They still have a chance to win this series and to do that, they will have to work on limiting their inconsistencies on both ends of the court. “So it’s a great sign, obviously, that we can win in the finals without those two guys having big games, but it’s not really that surprising to us”.

“First of all, he just played a great game-I thought he looked for openings”, Kerr said of Livingston. “We didn’t win anything”.

Lue’s message was reminiscent of January, when his first order of business when taking over the coaching job from David Blatt was to make a point of the Cavs’ need to put their foot on the gas.

In a rematch of last year’s Finals, the Warriors came out on top in Golden State on Thursday, despite a subdued display from “Splash Brothers” Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Meanwhile, the Cavs were still largely LeBron James, two heralded teammates who hadn’t won anything as pros and an abyss of role players.

Now the pressure is on Cavs rookie head coach Tyronn Lue to make adjustments. The Cavs had already erased one 14-point deficit when they took a short-lived 3-point lead in the third quarter. James had 23 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, and Kevin Love added 17 points and 13 boards. James’ teams had won nine straight postseason Game 2s after losing the series opener dating back to a loss in the 2008 Eastern Conference semifinals to Boston.

“I’m not discouraged at all”, James said Friday after analyzing video of the defeat. “Sometimes you need it. Maybe it was meant for that to happen”. It makes it tough for J.R.to get shots. “Everything changes when we go to Cleveland, we know that”. Barbosa returned from a minor back injury to shoot 5 for 5, while 2015 Finals Most Valuable Player Iguodala had 12 points, seven rebounds, six assists and some stingy defense on James. As for the 8 for 27 combined showing by Curry and Thompson, Kerr was asked if he liked the shots the backcourt took in Game 1.

Think fast and attack first was the message. “Our mindset has to be to be productive when we’re out there”, Livingston said. That approach could have pitfalls because that’s what the Warriors love to do most. “We understand you can’t let up ever”. “It’s rare we both have one in the same night, but that’s what our team’s for”.

“We’re better than the Showtime Lakers”, he quipped, a friendly jab at former power forward father, Mychal. An assist shy of a triple-double, James was able to have his way at times, however, Warriors forward Andre Iguodala had his number on defense, altering a number of James’ shots. LeBron at five! Matthew Dellavedova at five!

“So the team we beat (Thursday) night is brand new”. Photos of Ali showed on the main scoreboard ahead of the national anthem.

The Warriors sent a statement to the Cavaliers that the “Strength In Numbers” message on those gold shirts that were draped over the seats at Oracle Arena is so much more than just a catchy slogan.