Postgame: Cavs Comeback Against Golden State (Again) in Christmas Classic

The Cleveland Cavaliers were able to make the wishes of all their fans come true with a 109-108 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day. This game certainly lived up to the billing as the Warriors (27-5) and their new toy Kevin Durant were as good as advertised. Golden State lead most of the game, with their largest lead growing to 14 during the final period. The Cavs were able to knock the lead down to eight at the 7:33 mark of the quarter, when LeBron James re-entered for Cleveland after resting for the first 4:27 of the period. As the game dwindled down it was as back and forth as the last matchup between these two teams, on June 19 in Oakland was.

This game had an ending that was similar as well. Kyrie Irving, who was guarded by Klay Thompson this time, hit the game winner on a turnaround jump shot at the elbow with 3.4 seconds remaining. The Warriors last gasp resulted in Kevin Durant falling down and hoisting a 34-foot prayer that ultimately had no chance.

Although this game took place on Christmas Day, nothing about it had the feeling of just another December regular season game, this one felt like June.

With that, here are some scribbles from this afternoon’s game:

• Kevin Durant is really, really good, but he seems to have a lot of difficulty defeating LeBron James. With the Cavs winning today, James now boasts a 18-4 record against Durant while the two are matching up head-to-head. This is kind of perplexing due to how good Durant is, there’s no questioning it, he’s the second best player in the world, behind LeBron. Durant did poke some criticism at the officiating following the game’s final possession. “I fell, and I didn’t fall on my own.” he told reporters after the game.
• The Cavs really missed JR Smith, again. Everyone knows what Smith can bring to the table both offensively and defensively. He’s a sharpshooter that can be a defensive stopper as well when he puts his mind to it. They don’t necessarily miss him a whole bunch on the defensive end of the floor, with Iman Shumpert and DeAndre Liggins filling in, but they miss him a ton on the offensive end. Those two combined for a 1-10 showing from the floor, with the only make being an Iman Shumpert corner three in the fourth. When that gets coupled in with Richard Jefferson shooting 2-11 from the floor, the Cavs can find themselves in trouble, as they did for much of the afternoon.
• Although Richard Jefferson didn’t have a good day shooting, we learned he still has a little bit of bounce in his legs. Jefferson threw down a dunk on Kevin Durant in the fourth quarter, which brought Quicken Loans Arena back to life, only to be handed a technical foul for winking at Durant following the dunk. This call was extremely questionable considering Draymond Green’s antics after just about anything that doesn’t go his way. That being said, Green did draw a technical at the 9:25 mark of the 1st.

• LeBron James is still in his prime, if not entering a new one. This season Cavs’ fans have seen James begin to shoot the three-pointer better than he has since he returned to the Cavs in the summer of 2014. Today that was a big key for Cleveland. He went 4-8 from deep, with three of those shots coming in a four possession period in the third quarter. He also had one of his better dunks (pictured above), an And-1 on Draymond Green that was similar to his attempted dunk during the closing seconds of Game 7 where he was fouled. James finished with 31 points and 13 rebounds.
• Steph Curry didn’t have his best game for the Warriors, and that has been a trend lately. Curry finished with 15 points on 4-11 from the field including two-of-seven from deep. These poor games from him are much easier to hide with Kevin Durant on the team, though.
• Kyrie Irving has ice water flowing through his veins at all times, and that can’t be questioned. Irving hit another huge shot in a big spot this afternoon. If you remember the last time these two teams squared off it ended with Irving nailing a three-pointer to ultimately lift the Cavs to their first title ever. This shot wasn’t as big, but it was a game winner in a regular season game. “Kyrie is a killer on the court,” Head Coach Tyronn Lue said after the game. Kyrie has developed a killer instinct and has certainly made himself the go-to guy for the Cavs in the game’s final moments on a regular basis.
• Kevin Love looked more comfortable against the Warriors than he has at any point in a Cavaliers uniform. Love finished this game with 20 points and had a game high +/- of 12. He was the only player on either team to be in the double digits either way. Love played relatively well defensively, and looks like an entirely different player than he was when the Cavs acquired him on that end.
• The Cavaliers will be in action next tomorrow in Detroit against the Pistons.