QUICKEN LOANS ARENA, CLEVELAND, OH — Here are some sights and sounds from behind-the-scenes in Cleveland as the Golden State Warriors took on the Cleveland Cavaliers, a game that the Warriors won convincingly, 132-98.
[[NOTE: We chose this featured image of Andrew Bogut from the postgame walk back into the locker room because he stopped by to tap our phone screen and send the Snapchat!]Morning Shootaround
Some of the morning shootaround media questions were about the Warriors coming back to Quicken Loans Arena (aka “The Q”) for the first time since winning the NBA Finals last June.
Although Golden State had already played Cleveland back at Oracle Arena on Christmas, one key difference was the availability of Harrison Barnes, who started in the game at The Q. Both interim head coach Luke Walton and Stephen Curry spoke on the importance of Barnes:
- Walton: “Having Harrison on the court gives us a lot of options”
- Curry on Harrison Barnes: “We need that versatility.”
The Warriors, still feeling the sting of the loss to the Detroit Pistons two nights prior, looked at the games against the Cavs not so much about them as about an opportunity to regain their identity:
- Curry on Cavs: “This is an opportunity for us to get better…full attention/effort”
- Walton on Cavs: “They’re a hungry team. They lost the NBA Finals. I know first-hand…”
Another topic: how the Cavs like to trap Curry. Walton said it was no different than other good teams such as the Los Angeles Clippers focusing their efforts in doing so, and Curry said that he doesn’t mind the lower stats particularly against Cleveland, as it means it allows other teammates to get involved and to run the Warriors’ offense:
- Curry: Cavs trapping him “allows the rest of the court to open up”
- Walton on Warriors defense, Cavs trapping Stephen Curry (this was addressed during pre-game coaches’ press conferences)
Curry also added that he’s amazed by Kyrie Irving‘s dribbling prowess, and that they have totally different styles when it comes to that:
That morning, USA Basketball also announced its pool of thirty players, on which there were five Warriors: Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala. Here’s how Walton and Curry responded to the news:
- Walton on 5 Warriors on Olympic invite list: “if you play the right way, you get rewarded”
- Curry on USA Basketball: “great memories to have”
Here’s our “story” from Snapchat (user name = “letsgowarriors”):
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZpdOFx7N68&w=420&h=315]Pre-Game
Here’s Curry with his routine from the edge of the center-court logo:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2jkqONmbjE&w=560&h=315]The anticipation for this game on MLK Day and prime-time TV was obviously high and here were some sights and sounds:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVvkMq67RKM&w=420&h=315]Post-Game
First, Walton said the blowout of the Cavs won’t change anything come June:
Here’s a compilation of post-game interviews. We didn’t have time to parse through all of them because of an early flight to Chicago the next morning, the next leg of #GSWRoadie.
- Iguodala postgame Cavs-Warriors
- Shaun Livingston postgame Cavs-Warriors
- Green postgame Cavs-Warriors (1of2)
- Green postgame Cavs-Warriors (2of2)
- Curry postgame Cavs-Warriors (1of3)
- Curry postgame Cavs-Warriors (2of3)
- Curry postgame Cavs-Warriors (3of3)
- Festus Ezeli postgame Cavs-Warriors
We also caught up with Barnes and asked him about bouncing back from the 2-for-11 game against the Pistons:
Here’s a compilation of sights and sounds from postgame Warriors-Cavs:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1RmoBVEBGw&w=420&h=315](Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @poormanscommish)
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