QUICKEN LOANS ARENA, CLEVELAND, OH — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Golden State Warriors at the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas.
The Warriors took a 55-52 lead into halftime.
Q3: Klay And KD Provide Separation
Kevin Love and Kevin Durant traded threes to start the second half.
Later, Stephen Curry hit a dribble-fade in the lane after a series of moves with the pivot foot to shake Love…
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A few possessions later, Curry airballed a trey, then James hit another three from the same left wing over Klay Thompson, but after JaVale McGee couldn’t handle a lob too low thrown to him, LeBron missed his third try from the same spot.
Durant got the rebound, outlet to Steph, who found Klay in the left corner for a splash:
[protected-iframe id=”44222de2385428c2248d3c85faaedf53-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwarriors%2Fstatus%2F813132360224940032″ width=”680″ height=”320″ frameborder=”0″]James answered with a left-side step-back over KD, then after Channing Frye missed a three over Draymond Green, Green raced upcourt and scooped in a layup, although he charged into DeAndre Liggins on the play.
Perhaps a make-up non-call for the first three ticky-tack whistles, the bucket gave the Warriors a 69-66 lead as Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue called timeout.
Out of the timeout, Klay splashed another triple, then Curry got a steal, but threw the ball away on a behind-the-back pass that got deflected.
James hit a three from the corner, but Draymond came back with a slam dunk down the lane:
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Curry then got checked off the ball by Richard Jefferson with no call…
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[protected-iframe id=”6fe5f365aebc59d8ae90527ad159a4dd-114320562-10106876″ info=”https://vine.co/v/5EuUbO3qMrh/embed/simple” width=”300″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″]https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.jsClosing out the quarter, Durant went down the right side past Love and Jefferson for a smash…
[protected-iframe id=”8c30b8f015033381db4cd6c800dd08d6-114320562-10106876″ info=”https://vine.co/v/5EuPuMMmXiU/embed/simple” width=”300″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″]https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js…then after Clark made a nice steal that resulted in Andre Iguodala stepping on the baseline on the attack, LeBron came back for a full-court drive and slam, missed the dunk, but got fouled, and after making one of the free throws, the Warriors took an 87-80 lead into the final frame.
Q4: Kyrie Strikes Again
Klay got a lefty scoop to start the final frame, then Durant crossed Love and Liggins tried to take another charge, but instead got called for another blocking foul and KD got the and-one.
After Love missed a three from the left wing, Durant went with a dribble-and-pop and, just like that, the Warriors held a 94-80 lead as Lue took a timeout with 9:35 remaining.
Out of the timeout, Jefferson took flight and got a dunk against porous defense, but he was also called for taunting after winking at KD after the play ended.
Durant went cold, and Love got a dunk in the lane as well.
David West turned the ball over, KD missed again, and Irving hit a triple, prompting Warriors head coach Steve Kerr to call timeout as the Cavs crept back, 95-87, with 7:33 to play.
Out of the timeout, the downhill slide continued as Klay’s three from the left arc went short, and Kyrie waltzed down the right side for a layup, but Draymond later came back with a dunk assisted by West.
Still, the Cavs wouldn’t relent and Irving pulled up for three more, and the Cavs had the deficit down to just one possession, 97-94, with 6:10 to go.
Green then made a terrible pass inside to West, then on the other end, Irving got inside and drew another touch foul on Draymond. The ref waited to see how Green would react, Green’s teammates kept him at bay, and luckily for the Warriors he did not get another technical.
Iman Shumpert then hit a triple from the right corner via James attack on Durant from the opposite side, but Curry came back with a righty scoop assisted by Draymond.
That gave the Warriors a 101-97 lead with 4:28 left, but “old man” Jefferson got another dunk, this time fed by Love, although Green answered back quickly with a floater in the lane.
After advancing the ball to the frontcourt, Lue called a timeout.
It was a timeout well spent as he drew up a play that freed LeBron for a dunk down the lane assisted by Kyrie.
Green missed a jumper from the left wing, Irving missed a putback of Shumpert’s missed trey from point blank, but recovered and stole the ball from Draymond, and Irving finished a tough layup past Durant, the ball barely trickling in at the last moment.
That tied the game at 103-103, then Durant missed a jumper and James came down for another dunk, assisted again by Kyrie, plus the harm by Green, and Kerr called timeout with 1:43 to play, down two:
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Thompson then blocked Irving’s attack, KD pushed the ball and found Steph on the left wing for a rare splash, giving the Warriors a 108-105 lead with just 1:14 to go:
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Up by just one point, the Warriors took too long to run their set and Iguodala’s pass to Thompson in the corner, which he swished, was caught at the zero-mark after the review of the play, confirming a shot clock violation with just 11.1 seconds left.
Kerr inserted Livingston for Curry, and with 3.4 seconds remaining, Irving spun in the lane and faded over Klay for the bucket:
[protected-iframe id=”8e41326589bf85a169d21d6e90e16677-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fbballbreakdown%2Fstatus%2F813145833734434817″ width=”680″ height=”320″ frameborder=”0″]After a timeout to advance the ball, the Warriors got the inbound to Durant, his foot got stepped on by Jefferson with no call, KD tripped, and heaved up a prayer that had no chance, and the Cavs stole the game, 109-108:
[protected-iframe id=”947f27ad59334602e01695bce5ca7551-114320562-10106876″ info=”https://vine.co/v/5Ezz2zM5xV6/embed/simple” width=”300″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″]https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.jsDurant led all scorers with 36 points plus 15 rebounds, while Thompson added 24 points on 9-for-16 field, 5-for-11 downtown, but Steph and Draymond had sub-par games.
Curry had just 15 points on 11 shots, while Green played 32 foul-troubled minutes, garnering just 4 assists, although he scored 16 points. However, he committed 6 of the team’s 19 turnovers.
For the Cavs, Jefferson went just 2-for-11 from the field, but those two dunks were emphatic, while the bench outscored that of the Warriors, 25-13.
LeBron had 31 points and 13 rebounds, going 4-for-8 downtown, and Kyrie chipped in 25 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, and 7 steals. Love added 20 points and 3 treys.
Golden State (27-5) heads back home and begins a ten-game homestand against the Raptors in three nights.
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram via @ bryer.cottier)
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