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Curry flurry puts Warriors up by 2
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Stephen Curry backpedaled in pure joy. He skipped, hollered and let the ball fly from everywhere with that feeling he gets when there鈥檚 no way it will miss 鈥 unwavering even with a defender鈥檚 hand in his face.
Curry dazzled in outdueling LeBron James as the two superstars traded big shots and celebratory moves, hitting an NBA Finals-record nine 3-pointers and scoring 33 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 122-103 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night for a 2-0 lead.
鈥淧retty special night,鈥 Curry said, 鈥渁nd hopefully some more special things happen and we get two more wins.鈥
Kevin Durant played steady to score 26 points to go with 9 rebounds and 7 assists while also handling the defensive load against James. Klay Thompson added 20 points playing on a tender left leg to put the defending champions two wins from a repeat title.
James followed up his 51-point performance in Game 1 with 29 points, 13 assists and 9 rebounds in a far tamer finals sequel 鈥 and a much more lopsided one 鈥 minus the craziness of a drama-packed opener on Thursday.
Game 3 is in Cleveland on Thursday (China time).
鈥淲e want to continue to be uncomfortable,鈥 James said. 鈥淛ust because we鈥檙e going home doesn鈥檛 mean we can relax.鈥
Kevin Love had 22 points and 10 boards for the cold-shooting Cavs.
Curry had the shot of the night with 7:54 to play, making an off-balance swish from several feet behind the 3-point arc over Love as the shot clock wound down, then scooted backward in delight. Curry fell into the first row of fans with a baseline 3 again over Love and 4-point play at the 5:44 mark of the fourth.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a big shot taker, big shot maker,鈥 Draymond Green said. 鈥淭ough shot taker, tough shot maker.鈥
The long shot over Love stood out for Curry鈥檚 Splash Brother, Thompson.
鈥淎bout seven seconds on the clock he just kept going backward, I don鈥檛 know why, but he just threw it up and I didn鈥檛 think it had any chance of going in,鈥 Thompson said. 鈥淭hat was kind of like a dagger shot. It just gave us all the momentum back.鈥
The two-time MVP made 11 of 26 shots and was 9 for 17 from deep.
James pointed with both hands after his 3 with 11:04 left got his team within 7, before Curry answered from deep the next two trips down the floor.
Curry and James had a tense moment in the third, too.
James became irate at the officials for a no-call on Curry, who ran beneath the Cavs star and didn鈥檛 let him land with 3:54 left in the quarter as James caught Love鈥檚 long pass and went out of bounds. Cavs coach Tyronn Lue was hit with a technical, saying afterward he didn鈥檛 say much but was on the court.
JaVale McGee scored 12 points, making all six of his shots in his first career NBA Finals start as Kerr made a lineup switch 鈥 McGee replacing Kevon Looney 鈥 that proved spot on.
The typically efficient Durant connected on 10 of 14 shots after going just 8 for 22 鈥 1 of 7 on 3s 鈥 in the opener but still scoring 26 points.
Last year鈥檚 NBA Finals MVP made his initial five field goals, driving right at James on offense and doing all he could to fluster him on defense.
James hit a 3 over Durant鈥檚 outstretched arm midway through the third, then Tristan Thompson鈥檚 basket the next possession pulled the Cavs within 72-66. But they couldn鈥檛 contain Curry and the rest of the Warriors for extended stretches.
The Warriors vowed to make it harder for James to generate good looks after he shot 19 for 32 in the series opener, and James went 12:06 of game time between made baskets.
James went 10 for 20, showing few signs his shot was altered by a bloodshot left eye. He had been taking antibiotics and using drops after being poked in the eye by Green on Thursday.
The Warriors earned a wacky 124-114 overtime win in Game 1 on Thursday 鈥 featuring JR Smith鈥檚 blunder when he grabbed an offensive rebound in the waning moments of regulation and dribbled back toward halfcourt rather than shooting for the victory, and an overturned charge call against James.
Smith received rousing cheers from the home fans during pregame introductions and 鈥淢-V-P!鈥 chants greeted him when he went to the foul line.
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