FINAL RECAP & HIGHLIGHTS: Warriors (28-1) Get 10 Blocks Against Cleveland Cavaliers, Win 89-83

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ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Golden State Warriors

The Warriors took a 45-42 lead into halftime.

3rd Quarter – Mini-Run, But Still Close

Golden State pulled away a little bit, but Cleveland didn’t let them get too far.

Timofey Mozgov blew a layup…

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…and Klay Thompson got a three out of it with Stephen Curry providing the in-transition cross-court sling pass:

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Brandon Rush stepped up his defense against LeBron James and picked him clean on a drive of the left baseline.

Later, James lost the handle on the ball, again against Rush, and Curry played pick-and-roll with Draymond Green on the ensuing possession, and Curry left him a slip pass for a two-handed dunk:

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Andrew Bogut also got this block from behind on Mozgov…

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…and Cavs head coach David Blatt called timeout with 8:56 to play, however, James got a long three to drop late in the shotclock, over Green, out of the timeout, and the Warriors’ mini-run was halted.

After Rush missed a three back-iron, Curry found himself iso’ed against Mozgov, went past him and James, and got the and-one scoop as Mozgov couldn’t do anything but try and corral him after-the-fact:

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But once again, James changed the momentum, getting an inside bucket on a nice entry feed by Kevin Love, to pull the Cavs back to 57-51.

A J.R Smith triple after Tristan Thompson corralled a blocked shot by Bogut on Kyrie Irving brought Cleveland back to within three, 57-54.

Empty possessions ensued until Curry made a beautiful layup on the catch from Green:

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Green drew a lot of contact from Thompson, but made this bucket…

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…despite not getting the whistle, and Shaun Livingston got a scoop to go up 64-57 with 1:47 to go in the quarter.

Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton even rolled the dice with Ian Clark and it almost paid off with this nice steal and layup attempt (blocked by LeBron)…

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…but James got a putback with 17.2 seconds remaining and Festus Ezeli missed a jumphook at the buzzer.

The Warriors held a 64-59 lead at the end of the third frame.

4th Quarter – Stops And Curry Drives

Livingston kept the Cavs at bay to start the final stanza, with two jumpers to match this bucket by LeBron…

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…before both teams got caught in another stalemate of two minutes without a bucket.

Matthew Dellavedova finally broke the drought with a turnaround fade-away. Cleveland was shooting just under 30% from the field, but trailed only 68-65 early on.

Walton went with a lineup that had Livingston, Klay, Clark, James McAdoo, and Ezeli until Curry, Andre Iguodala, and Green returned with just over seven minutes to go.

The Warriors got some separation initiated by great defense, as Ezeli swatted a left side drive by James, Curry stole an entry pass by Dellavedova, and Iguodala blocked another drive by LeBron off James out of bounds, but Irving came back with a fadeaway over Steph, then a lefty scoop scissoring through the lane.

After this dunk by Livingston…

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…this block by Iguodala on James…

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…and a Klay catch-pivot jumper, Green got a two-handed layup charging down the right side of the lane, assisted by Iguodala, and the Warriors had their largest lead, 81-71.

But LeBron came back with two straight two-hand slams, one down the left side and the other after first blocking a lefty scoop by Klay…

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…then spinning by a right block post-up against Iguodala, who gambled badly on the entry pass.

Iguodala got an open three to drop on the next possession, but Livingston was called for a bad screen trying to free Klay on the other side of the court.

The superstars then took over, with James driving in, missing, but the tip-in pulled off by Kevin Love to make it 81-77, Warriors, with 2:14 remaining.

Love then blocked Green’s layup attempt, but after Livingston fouled James, LeBron missed both from the line and now there was only 1:33 left on the clock, the Warriors still up four.

Curry then caught Dellavedova on an island twice. Here’s the first:

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Smith made a catch-and-shoot three delivered by James, but Curry took advantage of Dellavedova a second time:

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James couldn’t answer with a baby hook over Iguodala, Livingston got the rebound, and Curry missed a dagger three attempt over Dellavedova from the right wing.

In transition, LeBron easily got by Steph, but Draymond was there to meet him:

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Green was called for the foul, however, by the referee who was shielded from the play, but James missed the second and Golden State was up 85-81 with just 20.3 ticks to go.

Cavs head coach David Blatt ordered a hack on Iguodala and it worked, with Andre missing both free throws, but after a timeout, James airballed a three-pointer from the top and Iguodala was fouled immediately again.

This time, Andre made both to put the Warriors back up, 87-81, with 12.7 seconds left.

With two timeouts remaining, Blatt didn’t call another one, let Dellavadova advance the ball, and he shoveled a pass back to Smith for three. Smith was at a bad angle and nearly shot-put the attempt, but drew contact from Livingston.

After Smith made two of the first three free throws, Dellavedova fouled Green on the third rebound and Draymond’s free throws put Golden State up, 89-83.

Blatt took another timeout, drew up a play for Smith, but J.R. missed the triple attempt from the deep left wing and the Warriors (28-1) won, 89-83, as Green collected his 15th rebound on the night.

Draymond led the Dubs with 22 points, 15 boards, 7 assists, and 2 blocked shots, while Curry added 19 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and Klay tallied 18 points. The Splash Brothers went just 2-for-8 from downtown, however.

Livingston was huge off the bench, scoring 16 points on 8-for-9 field.

James led the Cavs with 25 points on 10-for-26 shooting, while Love added 10 points and 18 rebounds. Smith had 14 points and Irving 13.

(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @vvsf)

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