There’s not much left to say about Monday’s eagerly-awaited MLK Day matchup against the Warriors that the lopsided final score and statistics don’t.
After falling in six dramatic NBA Finals games last June, the Wine and Gold have now dropped the season series to Golden State. The first contest, on Christmas Day in Oakland, was a white-knuckle affair that could’ve gone either way. Monday night’s loss, on the other hand, was much more difficult to swallow – with the high-octane Warriors jumping out to an early lead and proceeding to manhandle the Cavaliers through the next four quarters, handing them the 132-98 loss at The Q.
The Cavaliers came into Monday’s contest on the heels of an extremely successful 5-1 road trip, shutting down the Rockets on Friday night before heading home to face the World Champs. The Warriors, on the other hand, have looked mortal of late – dropping two of their last three, including an 18-point loss to the Pistons on Saturday night.
But Stephen Curry was almost unstoppable to start the evening and he didn’t slow down until Coach Luke Walton gave him and three other starters the fourth quarter off with a 37-point lead.
The Wine and Gold were never in Monday’s game, falling behind by double-digits less than three minutes into the affair and by 13 after one quarter. The Warriors scored 70 points by intermission – extending their lead to 26 points – and ballooned their advantage to 43 early in the fourth quarter.
In a microcosm of Cleveland’s rough night, the one player who was having some success – J.R. Smith – was tossed from the contest early in the third period after flattening Harrison Barnes and drawing the Flagrant-2. Smith hit the showers having connected on six of his nine shots for 14 points.
LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 16 points in the loss, finishing 7-of-16 from the floor to go with five boards, five assists and a steal.
The other two members of Cleveland’s Big Three – Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love – struggled from the floor on Monday night, as they had on Christmas Day, combining for 11 points on 4-for-16 shooting.
The Cavaliers shot a respectable 48 percent from the floor, but defensively, they were no match for the run-and-gun Warriors – who finished at 54 percent from the field, but canned 19 of their 40 three-point attempts and out-raced Cleveland on the break, 17-2. On the night, Golden State handed out 33 assists – including 10 by Draymond Green – and turned the ball over just eight times.
Curry, the league’s reigning MVP, led all scorers with 35 points – going 12-of-18 from the floor, including 7-for-12 from long-distance. Andre Iguodala, the MVP of last year’s Finals, followed up with 20 points off the bench for Golden State.
The Cavaliers’ other two players in double-figures were Matthew Dellavedova – who went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc for 11 points to go with a team-high six assists – and Iman Shumpert – who was 4-of-6 from the floor for 10 points before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.
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