ABC is off and running with NBA Finals

It’s circle the wagons time in Cleveland.

Suddenly those open looks the Cavs grew accustomed to in the Eastern Conference playoffs have turned into contested shots over the top of long perimeter defenders. The Warriors are two wins from sweeping all four rounds, including the last one, against the defending champs.

The 2017 Golden State Warriors are one of the best teams the National Basketball Association has ever produced. “I’m more of a present guy, so we just got to figure out how we can be better in Game 3“.

“The game is too fresh”. “We have to figure out a way to get him going early”.

“That’s what everyone wants to see, some of the best players in the world go against each other”, Klay Thompson said.

“We’re most focused on what happened past year in terms of being up 2-0 and we came here (to Cleveland) and the series shifted”.

The Warriors create so many mismatches and are able to put so many different risky combinations on the floor, the Cavaliers have been forced to go away from some pieces that have been integral parts of the machinery all year. “I’m sure the Warriors are going to come out with the respect that we’re very good at home, and we need to show that by playing better”, Jefferson said.

The Cavs could start with a lineup change.

The Warriors kept finding cracks and turning them into canyons: An unwise James pass trying to find Love in the post was picked off, leading to a Durant fastbreak And-1 followed by a no-look pass from Curry to Shaun Livingston in transition and the quick 7-0 run pushed the lead back to 11.

Though Durant says he did not consider James’ precedent, he readily admits, “He paved the way”.

James may not want to give an inch to the Warriors by admitting the Cavs need to alter course.

ESPN reached out to Vegas bookmakers and asked them to set the odds in a game and series between this year’s Golden State team and Michael Jordan’s Bulls title team that finished 72-10 in 1995.

While James said Sunday that he doesn’t prefer to play at home, Irving’s numbers say otherwise, and he could bounce back when the Cavs return to Cleveland. “He’s a big piece of our success and they know that, so they have neutralized that in the first two games”.

“We’re not going to change our game because of who we’re playing”, said Lue.

Lue is simply asking LeBron James to do too much on the court.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has talked about how the Warriors pursued Durant previous year, after playing against him and his former team – the Thunder – in the playoffs.

It should not take away from the fact that Curry put James in a spin cycle. When he got back out to the 3-point line, Curry picked up the ball, touching it with both hands.

The Cavaliers forced 20 turnovers compared to a finals record-tying 4 in game one, for all the good it did them. “No, for real … no, I’m just playing”. That’s a strong statement, but I guess we’ll never know. “To me, it’s a miracle that it’s even a possibility, it’s so hard to do”.

Thompson continued his fine defence on Irving as well.

The Warriors, on the other hand, have gotten key contributions from their four All-Stars: Curry, Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, as well as from players like Livingston, Andre Iguodala and Zaza Pachulia at times to set an National Basketball Association record with 14 straight postseason wins.

“You act like I’m just this troubled guy who’s been in a bunch of trouble and can’t control myself, and, you know, Jesus Christ”, Green said.

And they have reasons to believe that they can, for they’re coming home.