The Golden State Warriors are on the verge of an American major sports league record after handing the Cleveland Cavaliers another heavy defeat to go 2-0 up in the NBA Finals.
In a mouth-watering match up of two talent-stacked rosters, the Warriors again showed they had the greater firepower, thanks largely to the addition of Kevin Durant since they lost last season's finals series to the Cavaliers.
They overcame 20 turnovers and a triple-double by four-time NBA MVP LeBron James to win 132-113 in game two at home on Sunday.
The win extended their unbeaten streak in the season's playoffs to 14 games.
That matched the post-season winning streak of ice hockey's 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins - the best in the four biggest US pro sport leagues, the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA, according to EliasSports.
Durant was once again the best player on the court as he electrified the gold-clad sold-out crowd at Oracle Arena with 33 points and 13 rebounds to go with five blocks and three steals.
James also had a huge game with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists as well as three steals for the Cavs.
But the Warriors had the answer as sharp-shooting guard Stephen Curry stepped up with a triple-double of his own - 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, while also committing eight turnovers.
With Klay Thompson (22 points) also coming to light, Golden State finished well ahead in three-pointers, scoring 18 from 43 attempts to Cleveland's eight from 29 tries.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr marvelled at the skill on display from both sides as the likes of Durant, Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green battled with James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson.
"The talent on the floor in this series is just unbelievable," said Kerr, who returned to guide his team from the sideline after a six-week absence with back problems.
"It really is a series that is just loaded with high-powered weapons all over the floor."
Kerr said game two was quite different from game one, as the Cavaliers "put us on our heels" and he warned that the job was far from done as the best-of-seven series moves to Cleveland for game three on Wednesday
James said that despite losing by 19 points, his team played better that in the first meeting.
"Much more physical today than we were in game one. And we forced them to 20 turnovers and they still beat us pretty good, so we got to be much better too," he said.
Share
