Cavaliers drop Game 2 122-103

For the Cavaliers, Game 1 was a blown chance at a stealing a game on the Warriors’ home floor. Game 2 may be a reminder of the gap between the two teams.

On Sunday night in Oakland, Cleveland dropped Game 2 to Golden State 122-103 to fall behind 2-0 as the series shifts back to Cleveland.

LeBron James led the Cavs with 29 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Kevin Love added 22 points — 13 of which came in the third quarter — and 10 rebounds. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 33 points and set a new NBA Finals record with nine made three-pointers. Kevin Durant chipped in 26 points on 14 shots for Golden State.

The Warriors finished the night shooting 57.3 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three. By comparison, the Cavs shot 41.7 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three. James finished 10-20 from the field; the rest of the team finished 27-69.

In their Game 2 loss, the Cavaliers never held the lead. JaVale McGee scored the Warriors first four points on back-to-back dunks. Golden State would then begin to push it’s lead up near double digits, only for Cleveland to cut the lead to as few as five points for most of the game. But at the half, the Cavs trailed by 13 points.

The Cavs would survive the third quarter when the Warriors typically unleash themselves. Paced by Love’s 13 points in the quarter, Cleveland got within five points at multiple points in the quarter. The Warriors, though, headed into the fourth quarter up 10 after Jeff Green missed a wide-open corner three with the Cavs down seven and David West hit a corner three on the other end.

Golden State would then bury the Cavs in the fourth. At 7:54, Curry hit a three as the shot clocker expired — essentially flicking in the ball in over Love’s outstretched hand — to put the Warriors up 14. After Love missed a three, Durant pushed Golden State’s lead to a 16 — the highest margin of the night to that point. A Durant dunk with 5:16 to go — with Curry on the assist — pushed it 18.

Just over a minute later, James, Love, George Hill and J.R. Smith checked out for good. Curry remained in, hitting his final three-pointer over rookie Cedi Osman with 3:30 left before checking out for good and the Warriors up by 21 over a Cavs team that never had the right answer in Game 2.

Up next: Game 3 will be Wednesday in Cleveland. Tipoff is at 9 p.m.