Cavs fall to shorthanded Warriors

The Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the shorthanded Golden State Warriors on Friday night. The Warriors, who lost to the Celtics on Thursday night in OT, were without Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andrew Wiggins due to rest. 

However, none of that mattered.

After trailing by double-digits for most of the second half, the Cavs, who were down by as many as 20 points, cut the Warriors’ lead to four with two minutes left in the fourth, but Ty Jerome hit a three on the next possession, and the Warriors defeated the Cavs 120-114 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Cleveland(28-19), who was without Donovan Mitchell(groin) for the second straight game, have lost two straight and three out of their last four.

Here’s The Great, Not So Great, and the Bottom Line of the Cavs’ loss to the Warriors.

Darius Garland led the way for Cleveland with 31 points, nine assists, and two steals. Eighteen of Garland’s 31 points came in the first half. He didn’t shoot it that great(10/25 FG, 3/11 3-PT FG), but he did his part.

Defense: Cleveland gave up 120 points to Ty Jerome, Jordan Poole, Donte DiVincenzo, and others. Golden State lit them up from downtown. The Warriors made 23 threes and shot 54% from deep. Poole(5) and Jerome(3) made a combined eight threes. WOW!!

Rebounding: The Warriors outrebounded the Cavs 45-35. That’s unacceptable. That means you let Golden State outwork you!!

Third Quarter: Golden State shot 58% from the field, including 60% from deep in the third. The Warriors had their largest lead of 20 points in the quarter. Again, they just wanted it more!!

Even without Mitchell, this loss is super unacceptable. The Warriors sat pretty much their whole starting lineup. In many ways, the Warriors were willing to give this game up, but crazy things happen in the NBA.

This was the Cavs’ worst performance of the season! Again, Unacceptable!!

What’s Next:

Cavs host the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.

Best of the Rest:

-Poole led the Warriors with a game-high 32 points; Jerome had 22 points, DiVincenzo added 17 points, and Kevon Looney chipped in with four points and 17 rebounds. 

Golden State had six players in double figures.

-For the Cavs, Caris LeVert had 22 points, including five threes. Evan Mobley added 17 points and eight rebounds.

-Ricky Rubio(injury management) did not play Friday night.