Every person that is a fan of basketball has already marked a few games on the calendar that they’ll be itching to watch. The Cleveland Cavaliers vs the Golden State Warriors is the biggest match-up you can get in one season. In this finals rematch, we look to see how the runaway favorites of each conference will fair against one another. Both teams will say this game doesn’t mean much and that may be true. But games of this magnitude are what great teams use to measure their progress in a season. This particular game showed the Warriors are in a better place currently and the Cavaliers still have work to do. Even though the score was lopsided, I will break down the game in its entirety and what this could mean for both teams in the future.
1st Half Recap
Steph Curry flexes as Warriors dominate Cavs in 1st half
The Golden State Warriors began the game like any fan would want their team too. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant made a total of eight 3-pointers in the 1st half. Meanwhile, the entire Cavaliers team only made four total 3-pointers and shot 25% from behind the arc. Draymond Green made his presence known and I’m not talking about with the tech and flagrant fouls he received mid-way through the first. Draymond dominated the 1st half in all facets putting up 8 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists, and 4 blocks. Not to be outdone was former MVP Steph Curry who wanted to show that he does pay well in big games. He had a double-double in 18 minutes with 14 points and 10 assists plus added 3 steals. The Warriors defense showed up as elite against their new “rival”. Their defense accumulated a total 8 blocks and 6 steals which led to 34 fast break points to only 6 for the Cavaliers.
The Cleveland Cavaliers struggled in this game from the tip-off. They shot 30% in the 1st quarter and finished shooting only 34% for the half. The Cavs as a team usually rely on their 3-point shot and passing in space to dominate but that didn’t happen. They shot 4-16 from deep which was only as measly 25% and led to easy run outs on the break for the Warriors. Kyrie Irving had 2 quick fouls with 7:20 left in the 1st quarter and couldn’t gain back his rhythm. The Cavs as a team finished with just 4 team assists while the Warriors had 26 total assists for the half. The Warriors clearly wanted to show that this new “Fantastic Four” can mesh to defeat the former NBA Champs.
2nd Half
LeBron James tries to battle back from big deficit against Warriors
The second half for the Cleveland Cavaliers started just as bad as the first half did. News broke that Cavs forward Kevin Love wouldn’t return for the rest of the game with lower back problems. Well the Warriors didn’t care as they started the 3rd quarter flying around on defense getting 3 steals and forcing 5 turnovers in the 3Q. Also, the Warriors added 4 more threes to their total bring them up to 14. The Cavs tried to make the game close at the end of the 3rd quarter going on a 15-1 run in the last 4:30 but still trailed 95-71. Kyrie and LeBron tried to up the pace but the deficit was too much to overcome. However, Golden State did miss 11 shots in a row going into the 4th quarter but that didn’t slow their defensive intensity.
The 4th quarter took the same shape as the 1st quarter. With Kyrie on the bench getting a must needed breather, LeBron was counted on to run the show. He and the Cavs just looked lethargic for most of this game. LeBron James finished with his 2nd worst career plus/minus rating at -32. His lowest ever was -34 and that was last year against this same Warriors team. Klay Thompson and the bench got hot in the 2nd half. Their ball movement was crisp and they looked like the more physically dominant team on offense and defense. Draymond Green left the game with 6:09 left in the 4thQ as he posted his 3rd triple-double of the season with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. Usually the Warriors look dominant against lower level teams but today they looked tougher than the Cavs as they won 91-126.
Final Synopsis
From the beginning of the game, the Golden State Warriors look more emotionally invested than the Cleveland Cavaliers. The two stars for Cleveland -Kyrie and LeBron- box score stats didn’t reflect their minimum impact. They combined to finish the game with 12 out of the 15 total turnovers for the Cavs. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant put on a silent but deadly show shooting 9-16 and finishing with 21 points. He also added 6 rebounds plus 5 assists and his help defense was major factor. The Warriors new “Lineup of Death” showed how they earned the nick name. They(Curry-Thompson-Durant-Iguodala-Green) combined for 92 points 28 rebounds and 32 assists which was more than the entire Cavs team. My personal take is that the Warriors wanted to prove they are better than the Cavaliers and their loss on Christmas was a fluke. Since the injury to JR Smith with a fracture to his right thumb, the Cavaliers have just been out of sync. And since he will be out indefinitely, keep an eye on this Cavs teams as this slump could continue…
