Game 1 Recap: Kevin Durant leads Golden State in win vs. Cavs
For the third straight year, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are battling one another for an NBA Championship. This is the first time in NBA history that the same two teams have met in the finals three years in a row. With their star-studded rosters, both teams dominated and cruised through the first three rounds of the playoffs.
Despite being the reigning champs, the Cavaliers were viewed as the underdogs coming into this series. Perhaps this is for good reason as the Warriors went on to win 113-91. The Cavs kept things interesting as they only trailed 60-52 through the first half. However, Golden State took off in the third quarter and never looked back.
Leading the way for the Warriors was Kevin Durant with a monster performance of 38 PTS, 8 REB, 8 AST, while Steph Curry added 28 PTS, 6 REB, 10 AST. Cleveland’s Big 3 of LeBron James (28 PTS, 15 REB, 8 AST), Kevin Love (15 PTS, 21 REB, 1 AST) and Kyrie Irving (24 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST) had a solid night, but were unable to get any help from the rest of their squad.
Game 2 is scheduled for Sunday, June 4 at 8 PM ET at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
Side note: In their previous two meetings in the NBA Finals, the winner of the second game between Golden State and Cleveland has gone on to lose the series.
(Video courtesy of NBA.com)
