ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Three nights after defeating the Pistons, the Golden State Warriors (34-6) played host to the Cleveland Cavaliers (29-10) on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
[HIGHLIGHTS WILL BE ADDED SOON! ENJOY THE READ FOR NOW!]The Warriors recalled Damian Jones and had a full squad, while the Cavs were without J.R. Smith (thumb surgery) and Golden State fans got to see Kyle Korver, recently traded from the Hawks, in a Cleveland uniform for the first time.
Q1: Clamping Down Early
The Warriors got off to an aggressive start as Stephen Curry got the step past Kyrie Irving into the paint for a lefty scoop, then after Kevin Love missed a turnaround from the left baseline, Kevin Durant brought the ball up and found Klay Thompson wide open in transition for a splash from the left wing:
https://twitter.com/warriors/status/821162031696912384/video/1
After Tristan Thompson threw the ball away to Curry, Steph pulled up from straightaway, but back-ironed the miss.
Draymond Green got the tap-out to Durant, but KD missed a jumper, then LeBron James missed a three from the left arc, and Green found Durant for a touchdown layup on the board:
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/821161833646014464/video/1
With 10:27 remaining, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue called timeout as Golden State raced out to a 7-0 lead.
Out of the timeout, Iman Shumpert missed a jumper, but Curry missed from downtown again, and Irving made him pay with a coast-to-coast reverse layup just past Draymond back-pedaling.
After absorbing a trampling from Irving for Kyrie’s first foul, Zaza Pachulia took a lead pass from Steph but smoked the layup, James gave it right back at the other end, fumbling a dribble to Pachulia, Thompson missed a triple, Irving airballed one in return, and on the break, Zaza found Durant, who threw a lob to Green for a layup:
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/821162926648066048/video/1
Love tried to post up and turn on Durant, but KD slapped the ball away, Curry missed an open triple again, and this time Shumpert made him pay with a coast-to-coast lefty off the board, closing the lead to 9-4 with 8:22 to play.
After Klay missed another trey, Irving tried to drive on the swtiched Durant, but KD got a hand on the ball and Irving had the ball go out of bounds off his leg.
Durant then got the opportunity to take the step past Kyrie on the bounce, but Tristan came by and got the help swat, James missed a driving layup in transition against Green, and on the other end, Draymond drew Irving’s second personal on a missed dribble-and-fade by Klay.
After a timeout, Lue inserted Korver, but Durant hit a three from the left wing on a drive by Steph against Love.
Love, however, answered back with a fading and-one on Curry after he boarded a missed corner three from Korver.
With 6:41 to go, the Cavs closed to within 12-7.
But Klay hit from a right curl, Zaza scored inside, muscling a bucket past Love with the entry pass from Draymond, then after Shumpert’s three rolled out, Green set a pick for Durant in the left corner, slipped to the basket, and the retreating Cavs defense allowed KD to bury a pull-up triple with no dribble. This shot would later be changed to a long two-pointer on a replay review at the quarter end:
https://twitter.com/NBAOfficial/status/821177523438489602/video/1
Korver made an impressive catch-and-pivot three to respond, then Curry missed again inside on a drive, leading to free throws by Tristan on a foul by Pachulia.
Later, Andre Iguodala was left open at the arc, delivered by Steph, James couldn’t hit back on a drive against JaVale McGee, and in transition, Iguodala found Curry from the left wing for a splash to give the Warriors a 24-14 lead with 3:58 left, as Lue took a twenty-second timeout:
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/821165939332771841/video/1
Out of the timeout, McGee slammed home a pair of two-handed finishes, the first on a drive from Iguodala, the next on a pick-and-roll with Durant:
[protected-iframe id=”d655674116e188cbe4509b297422af15-114320562-10106876″ info=”https://vine.co/v/53Lnj1BbB7V/embed/simple” width=”300″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″]https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.jsLater, Green deflected a Korver trey, resulting in an airball, and Curry threw the touchdown pass to Draymond for a layup, and the Warriors stretched their lead to 30-17 with 1:09 remaining.
Shumpert answered with a pull-up three from the right arc, but Steph drove and found another wide-open Iguodala for three more.
On a missed three from Richard Jefferson, Green mishandled the rebound, allowing the ball to land in LeBron’s lap for a dunk at the rim, but Curry came back with a pop-and-splash on a pick-and-roll with JaVale on the right wing with 12.4 seconds to play.
James missed a step-back jumper from the left baseline over Ian Clark at the buzzer, and the Warriors headed into the second stanza with a 38-22 lead that was changed to 37-22 after the review of Durant’s early jumper.
Q2: Late Blaze
Starting the second quarter, Draymond made two blocks, got Channing Frye to goal-tend on a drive, Shaun Livingston got an and-one on a pull-up jumper from the free-throw line, then Green made another layup to put Golden State up by twenty, 44-24.
But Irving came back in, missed a jumper, but Tristan got the uncontested board with two hands.
Livingston answered with another turnaround jumper, Iguodala got a steal but threw the ball away, and Draymond got another block, this time on a DeAndre Liggins, and Iguodala weaved around in transition for a layup…
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/821170058999328768/video/1
…prompting Lue to call a timeout with 9:22 to play, the Warriors going ahead by the score of 48-26.
But Korver hit a long two, Jefferson hit a corner three, and Warrios head coach Steve Kerr called timeout with 8:24 to go, the Cavs trimming the lead to 48-31.
Out of the timeout, David West scored twice, but on a bad pass to a cutting West by Livingston, James found himself on the break, Green fouled him to stop the play, but clotheslined him with the shoulder, prompting a long review by the officials, due to Jefferson having words with Draymond.
Green was issued a Flagrant One, although it looked like LeBron flopped a little, as well as a technical for the verbal altercation with Jefferson:
https://twitter.com/BenGolliver/status/821172431075184640/video/1
Kerr took Draymond out.
After the free throws from James, Irving missed a jumper, Iguodala pushed the ball, and got the assist to Livingston for a reverse.
Iguodala drew a clear-out charge on a drive by LeBron, but Durant missed a pull-up and Kyrie hit a pull-up on a pick-and-roll with Tristan to shed Curry.
Steph nearly turned the ball over, but recovered to find KD for a drive on the baseline that trickled in, and LeBron responded with an and-one drive against Livingston.
Out of a timeout and the bonus free throw by James, Iguodala got a baseline drive to drop…
https://twitter.com/bballbreakdown/status/821174960466980865/video/1
…then after Irving slipped and lost the ball, Steph corraled the loose ball, missed the layup, but KD was there for the two-hand putback slam:
https://twitter.com/bballbreakdown/status/821175390781652992/video/1
James got a foul on a drive against Pachulia, Green got snuffed out on a drive against Tristan, but as LeBron tried to size up another switch against Zaza, Curry came over and sneakily stole the ball, then found Klay wide open in the left corner for a splash:
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/821176172633460736/video/1
Kyrie then tried to spin on Klay but Klay blocked it, the outlet went to Steph, who found Durant in the right corner:
https://twitter.com/bballbreakdown/status/821176426632097792/video/1
With the Cavs’ defense on its heels, KD checked the situation, took one step to the hoop, and jammed the ball in with two hands, forcing Lue to call timeout as the Warriors went ahead, 65-46, with 3:10 left.
Out of the timeout, Golden State caught fire. Love threw up an airball against Pachulia, but Tristan got the board and got fouled, but the Warriors got the ball back and Steph hit a triple on the catch on a misdirection off-ball screen with Klay:
https://twitter.com/bballbreakdown/status/821177131459674112/video/1
After a James miss against Durant, KD brought the ball up, pulled up from the top of the arc, and hit a long two:
https://twitter.com/bballbreakdown/status/821177466119069696/video/1
The Cavs then lost the ball up top, Draymond pounced on it along with Zaza, and Durant got the step on the break for a one-hand dunk as the Warriors burst ahead 72-46, with 1:40 remaining:
https://twitter.com/bballbreakdown/status/821177794566582273/video/1
Lue had no expression:
[protected-iframe id=”2223fe253b02b90d83b870798b42e007-114320562-10106876″ info=”https://vine.co/v/53LUIru7E2l/embed/simple” width=”300″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″]https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.jsLeBron made an impressive left-wing pull-up swish for three over another switch on Pachulia, but Zaza fought back and converted a tough up-and-under scoop on the cut from Steph, Curry’s tenth assist:
https://twitter.com/bballbreakdown/status/821178366808031233/video/1
Durant then deflect a pass up top from James, with Pachulia defending the pick-and-roll aggressively again, and at the other end, KD drew a side-out foul, then Curry drove and drew two free throws with 32.8 seconds to play.
James missed again, Steph got the board with 7 seconds to go, found KD in the corner, but the pass got deflected.
Still, Durant grabbed it, zinged it back to Curry from the deep right hashmark, and Steph splashed through the triple at the buzzer, the Warriors taking a 78-49 lead at the half:
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/821178483866943488/video/1
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