This is the game everyone was waiting for. The rematch of the last two NBA Finals, Warriors vs. Cavs. Especially Warriors fans, they’ve been wanting another crack at LeBron James and company since Game 7 of the NBA Finals ended.
Rest assured the Warriors have been salivating at the thought of playing the Cavaliers. With Kevin Durant now on the roster, this team is a bit different than the one from last season, but they know the Cavs will be representing the East in June. To get the Larry O’Brien trophy back to the Bay Area, they will need to go through Cleveland and this Christmas Day matchup was the first big test.
Here’s a quick recap of the game in case you missed it:
1st Quarter:
If it wasn’t for the Christmas trees and presents, you would have thought this was a playoff game. The intensity was through the roof, which is why both teams had trouble finding the basket early on. Draymond Green picked up two early calls that were questionable at best and received yet another technical after he voiced his displeasure with those calls. Steph Curry couldn’t find his shot and the game was even through the first six minutes of the quarter 10-10. Durant was the leading man for the Warriors, but too many turnovers were helping the Cavs keep pace with the Dubs. The Warriors were able to get a four point advantage with about two minutes left, but the Cavs were right there with them and the quarter ended with the Warriors up 27-25.
2nd Quarter:
Klay Thompson got the second quarter started with a triple, the first one of the game for the Warriors at this point. You could tell that this was going to be a contested game, with two heavyweights throwing punch after punch hoping the other would eventually fold. Thompson hit another three with about eight minutes left, which gave the Warriors their biggest lead of the game 40-32. Surely, every Warriors fan was waiting for the Dubs to turn it on and built a 20+ point lead, it never happened. The Cavs made sure the lead stayed at 6-8 points for most of the quarter. The Warriors were able to get it up to double digits with about four minutes left in the half, but credit to the Cavs they always responded with a bucket of their own. With the Warriors leading 50-40, the Cavs came back with a 10-0 run. With one minute left in the half, all of a sudden we had a tie game on our hands. The half ended and the Warriors were only up 55-52. The Cavs must have felt great going into the locker room.
3rd Quarter:
It was raining triples to start the third quarter. Kevin Love hit a three to tie the game and Durant came right back to get the Warriors their three point lead back. Durant was the aggressor early on, making sure the Warriors maintained the lead. Curry was not having a “Steph-like” night, but he was garnering a lot of attention by the Cavs’ defense. LeBron hit a three with about eight minutes left in the period and it cut the lead to one, but Thompson answered right back with a three of his own. However, James wasn’t done hit another triple to again get the Warrior lead down to one. While LeBron was playing well, the third quarter belonged to Thompson. He would hit another two triples to get the lead up to five, but the Cavs would not go away. As the quarter was winding down, the Warriors found themselves up eight after some key stops and clutch buckets by Durant and Green. A James free throw cut it to seven to end the third period.
4th Quarter:
Only 12 minutes remained in this fantastic game between the two best teams in the NBA. Thompson carried over the hot streak from the third and scored the first points of the fourth to give the Warriors a nine point lead. Durant had been the most consistent Warrior all game and he added another two buckets to post the lead to 14. Fans looked a little worried, the Warriors had all the momentum and a 14 point lead to go along with it. I know I’ve said this throughout this entire recap, but the Cavs showed great resilience, they never gave up and kept fighting. After a Cavs’ timeout with about nine minutes left in the game, they went on a 11-1 run, cutting the lead to only four points with plenty of time left on the clock. Once again, the Warriors squandered a double digit lead very quickly. Usually you expect the Warriors to put this game out of reach, but this was not the case in Cleveland. A Green dunk got the Warriors out of the drought, but Kyrie Irving’s three got the crowd out of its seat. The arena was rocking and the Cavs had all the confidence in the world. The Cavs’ role players also played a big part in this game. From Richard Jefferson to Iman Shumpert, they came up big for the Cavs in clutch situations. With about two minutes left, Irving hit a layup to tie the game at 103 all, at that point you knew it would come down to the final shot. Curry hit a three with 1:14 remaining and Irving came back with a layup of his own. The Warriors were up one and failed to score after they turned the ball over because of a shot clock violation. This gave the Cavs the opportunity to take the lead and they turned to their late game hero, Irving, to get them the victory. Irving took a tough fall away jumper against Thompson, one of the better defenders in the league and drained it. There was still time on the clock, so the Warriors got the ball to Durant, but he lost his balance and couldn’t even get a shot off. Game over, Cavs win 109-108. Tough loss for the Warriors after controlling most of the game, but more importantly Richard Jefferson looked like he fouled Durant in that final play, but nothing was called. Big no call at the end of the game.