Golden State pulled away from Cleveland in the second half of game 2 of the NBA Finals to claim a 122-103 win on Sunday. The mostly uneventful game did have some fireworks however, when Steph Curry and Cavs veteran Kendrick Perkins exchanged words by Cleveland's bench at the end of the third quarter.
A bunch of other players ran over to get involved including LeBron James, but nothing serious really materialized beyond the standard jawing. Perkins has been an agitator on the Cavs bench over the course of the playoffs, so his antics should come as no surprise. As Curry was wandering back to his bench after sinking one of his many miracle shots, Perkins didn't move his legs. He left them in a position where they could have easily tripped—and potentially injured—Steph.
Steph Curry gets in Kendrick Perkins' face after Steph trips on Perk's legs on final shot of third quarter pic.twitter.com/ScS8FBFVRZ
A report from ESPN's Chris Haynes states several Warriors were unhappy with Perkins after Game 2.
"Some Warriors believe it was a dangerous play by Perkins...the fear was Curry could have sprained an ankle or suffered a knee injury," Haynes writes.
Haynes said he could not reach Perk, but he did ask Steph about the situation. Chef Curry elected to plead the fifth.
"I'm not going to get into it," he said. "No comment."
Draymond Green implied that the run-in fueled Steph's electric fourth quarter.
"He went off after that," Draymond told ESPN.
Steph finished with 33 points. He set the NBA Finals record for most made three-pointers, knocking down nine. Steph scored 16 and was perfect from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland will look to get back in the series in Game 3, which is set for Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST at Quicken Loans Arena.
