Down 2-0 in the NBA Finals after a merciless 110-77 thrashing from the Golden State Warriors Sunday, the Cleveland Cavaliers are proving all adversity is not created equal.Getting their doors blown off this badly, at this ultimate stage of the postseason, made hopeful comments like these from Kevin Love after Game 1 ring hollow:"There's good things that can come from it feeling like your back is up against the wall," he told reporters. "I think we've been a team that has kind of thrived in, I don't know if chaos is the right word, but thrived in adversity and been able to bounce back."To be fair, what were Love and the rest of the Cavs (many of whom also spoke of the team's trials during the season) supposed to say after losing big in Game 1'Working through a midseason coaching change, LeBron James' cryptic tweets and relentless media scrutiny has clearly done little to steel the Cavaliers against a different, more direct species of adversity. They're getting demolished by superior talent that is better deployed and far more rigorously tested. Based on the proceedings in Game 2, Cleveland doesn't thrive inthiskind of adversity at all.It falls apart.Draymond Green led the way for the Warriors, scoring 28 points, grabbing seven rebounds and handing out five assists in 34 minutes. His fifth three-pointer nearly killed Stephen Curry, who was resting comfortably on the bench at the time.Curry played only 25 minutes because of foul trouble, but he provided 18 points and nine rebounds on 7-of-11 shootinga far more impactful performance than he managed in Game 1, even if it came in a shorter stint.James answered with 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting, adding nine assists and eight rebounds. He led the Cavs in all three categories and functioned much as he did in last year's Finals: as his team's only viable source of offense.Golden State extended its winning streak over the Cavs to seven straight dating back to last year's playoffs, and this one was finished long before the buzzer. It's hard to pinpoint the decisive moment, but when James settled for an isolation three as the best way to attack Leandro Barbosa on a switch in the third quarter, things felt pretty well decided.And when Green hit that fifth three shortly thereafter, you could almost hear the buses warming up. Cleveland hustled to board them, too, per ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst:Golden State led by 20 at the end of a 30-18 third quarter before slapping on another 13 points to their lead in a full-on garbage-time fourth.Early and often, the Cavs were undone by defensive breakdowns like this:As the Warriors found more and more easy looks, they also dialed up their aggressiveness on defense and channeled their best end-to-end selves:With a switch-heavy scheme that continued to force stagnant Cleveland possessions, the Warriors got loads of stopswhich then led to plenty of transition looks against a chronically disconnected Cavaliers defense. Things snowballed, allowing Golden State to settle into a loose offensive comfort.The Warriors, fueled by open shotsand the growing certainty of their second straight title, looked like they were having fun:Palms upturned and shoulders shrugged after every blown assignment and miscommunication, the Cavs looked like they weren't.Yes, the Cavaliers endured the David Blatt firing and every other self-created and media-inflated controversy this season. Maybe that really does speak to some kind of resilience.But it's not the kind the Cavaliers need now.This kind of adversitygetting hammered by an opponent that only sees the need to play its hardest for short bursts at a timeis new to these Cavs, who can no longer rely on the excuse of playing at less than full strength like they could last year. Though, unfortunately, with Love currently under the NBA's concussion protocol after leaving the game in the third quarter, that excuse could arise again.It's convenient to spin the Cavaliers' conspicuous failure to handle this brand of strife into some condemnation of their character. It's tempting to deem them soft, lacking in chemistry or mentally frail...to proclaim them a disappointment. And maybe it's true James isn't the galvanizing force he needs to be. Maybe Love and Kyrie Irving aren't cut out to win under the bright lights.Or maybe we're learning something much simpler.The Cavaliers don't have the talent to compete against this Warriors team. They don't have the finely tuned schemes to adjust or the roster depth to change up tactics in a meaningful way. Even if they did, they may not have the coach to manipulate those delicate controls.Golden State has beaten the Cavaliers by a total of 82 points in their last three meetings. The larger sample suggests that's hardly an anomaly, per John Schuhmann of NBA.com:It's kind of silly for the Cavs to term themselves resilient because they weathered media storms all year. But it's also probably unfair to ding them for failing to bounce back against a vastly superior opponentespecially when their cruise to the Finals never gave them a chance to develop much on-court hardiness.James is still a part of this thing, and his greatness means the Cavs could win a game or two. But this series is over.And once that becomes officialperhaps in as few as two more gamesthe Cavaliers will face yet another brand of adversity. Almost certain runners-up again, Cleveland management (and, surely, James) will have to decide how to get tough enough to put up a fight.Top-down defeats like this, which James outlined after the Game 2 thrashing, per Ben Golliver ofSports Illustrated, show what Cleveland has now isn't enough:It turns out thatthis is the kind of adversity the Cavaliers need to properly evaluate themselves.Call it a painful but necessary lesson.Follow @gt_hughes on Twitter.
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