In the entire game, Chen Xi took 23 shots and made 13, scoring 39 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. He also hit a crucial three-pointer in the closing moments, forcing the Cavaliers to resort to intentional fouls and embark on a path of slow suicide.
Besides that, Westbrook went 8-for-18 and posted a triple-double of 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Butler also recorded 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists. Thanks to the Cavaliers' string of intentional Free Throws at the end, his final scoring total looked fairly respectable.
But in truth, he had only gone 5-for-13 for the entire game.
Fully committed to the defensive end, he inevitably gave up a great deal of offensive touches, though fortunately, he had long grown accustomed to that.
Even if he seemingly had not managed to contain James.
Old Zhan still put up 50 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists.
But in reality, allowing James to play one-on-one had simply been the Thunder's tactic.
Butler's relentless help defense and rotations on the defensive end were also a crucial part of shutting down the Cavaliers' other role players.
The game ended.
The Cavaliers had failed to seize their chance in the first game, when they were at their hottest, and regretfully lost G1.
As a result, the outside media became even less optimistic about the Cavaliers' future.
The first burst of energy was powerful; the second weakened, and by the third, it was exhausted.
James could not score 50 every game, but for the Thunder's Big Three to maintain their core strength of 80 points per game was hardly difficult.
"The Cavaliers are finished! I'm not even optimistic that they can win a single game now."
"When they played the Celtics and Bulls before, James could still go berserk, score