OAKLAND, Calif. — The Cavaliers were losers in every way Sunday. They lost Game 2 but also, on a far more serious note, lost Kevin Love after he was elbowed in the head, felt dizzy later in the game and was placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol.
The league released a statement before the end of the game concerning Love, who was elbowed midway through the second quarter and then came out of the game early in the third.
“Love experienced dizziness after returning to play at the start of the second half. He was taken to the locker room for further examination. The result of that exam is that he has now been placed in the NBA Concussion Protocol and will not return to play,” the statement said.
“Kevin did not exhibit any signs or symptoms during the first half, or at halftime, that would have caused him to be placed in the concussion protocol prior.”
Love will need to pass concussion tests to resume play but does get a break with two days off before Game 3.
“Losing one of our top three players is always going to be an impact,” said Cavs coach Tyronn Lue. “But right now he is in a concussion protocol and he’s just day-to-day.”
Michael Jordan played 35 Finals games. He was 24-11. LeBron James played his 35th Finals game Sunday. He is now 13-22. … The last team to hold a 2-0 lead in the Finals was the Lakers in 2009. The Lakers went on to beat the Magic, 4-1. … When the Warriors bench outscored the Cavs reserves, 45-10, in Game 1, the 35-point spread represented the largest bench margin in the Finals in at least the last 50 years, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. … The Cavs have scored 43 and 44 points in their two first halves in the Finals. …. The average score of the last seven Warriors-Cavs games: Warriors 107, Cavs 88.
Andrew Bogut had a huge impact early for the Warriors. He had four blocks in the first 8:10 and finished with five in 15 minutes.
“Hopefully it deterred them from coming inside the paint. To get my hand on a couple of them, I think it just poised us defensively. We struggled scoring in the first quarter. Thankfully we got stops,” Bogut said.
Most Warriors could be forgiven if they sulked and claimed coach Steve Kerr always liked Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson best.
Well, Kerr admits there is a different set of rules for the Splash Brothers.
“Those guys are allowed to take any shots they want. That’s the rule. Steph and Klay are, nobody else is,” Kerr said before Game 2 of the Finals. “I trust their judgment. But the minute I start complaining about bad shots, all I have to do is: ‘Oh, yeah, in Oklahoma City, Game 6, Klay took five bad shots that helped us win.’”
LeBron James gave teammates, as is his custom, a Finals gift: gold-played earphones with an inspirational message because they trailed a playoff series for the first time this postseason.
“I give my teammates stuff throughout the whole year. All the time. It’s no different. We understand the moment that we’re in,” James said. “It’s not every year that you get an opportunity to be in this situation, you know? And some of the guys on our team, it’s their first time and they’ve waited their whole life to get to this point. So we know we’ve got to just do a little bit better. We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to play a lot better in order to get this series turned around.”
