Oakland, California, January 16 - The stage was set at the beginning of the season that the Cleveland Cavaliers would visit the Golden State Warriors on their home floor. What was not clear, however, was how this game would turn out. The Cavaliers have had their way with the Warriors, winning their last four outings, something the Warriors were looking to change going into Monday night's game.
Stephen Curry and the rest of the Warriors would come right out and dismantle the defending champions a spectacular fashion. They built an early 15 point lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back as the Cavaliers were not able to mount any form of comeback. The rest of the game would see pretty much the same as the Warriors were rolling while the Cavs were struggling en route to a 126-91 final score. Complete stats for this game can be found on the NBA's official website.
True to their name, the 'Splash Brothers', Klay Thompson and Steph Curry sank 5 three-pointers each. Thompson led the team with 26 points, followed by Durant's 21 and Curry's 20 while 3 other Warriors scored in double digits. Everyone would seem to get going as 12 of the 13 Warriors who would step on the floor would contribute to the score.
The Warriors made 46 field goals on 37 assists, had 10 steals and blocked 11 shots. Draymond Green got a quiet 11-13-11 triple double with 5 blocked shots while Andre Igoudala scored 14 points on a perfect 5-5 shooting. For all intents and purposes, the Warriors dominated the Cavs in every aspect of the game. As per a report by AP News, reigning MVP Stephen Curry had this to say about their victory: "This is high-quality basketball, at its highest level. These are the kinds of atmospheres that you live for."
On the other side of the court, LeBron James and the Cavaliers would struggle the entire night. James would only score 20 points on 6-18 shooting while Kyrie Irving had 17 on 6-19 shooting with both players dishing out only 2 assists each. The defending champs could not seem to find a flow to their offense as they would only have 11 assist on 31 made shots as a team.
In an interview with ESPN, Cavaliers point guard, Kyrie Irving, said "They did what they were supposed to do. Right from the start they jumped on us and never looked back." The next time these two teams would potentially meet would be at the NBA finals, granted that they each win their respective conferences. With the dominating victory in yesterday's game, you can be sure that King James and the rest of the Cavaliers would want a chance to repay the Warriors and be able to successfully defend their title against their Western Conference rivals.
