Cavaliers lose tenth straight at home, humiliated by Warriors 131-112
BY STONE LEXINGTON
CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER
(CLEVELAND, OH) - Something had to give a Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Saturday night.
The Cleveland Cavaliers entered Saturday night’s matchup with the Golden State Warriors as losers of nine straight home games, a feat not easily accomplished in the NBA. Meanwhile, the Warriors arrived in Cleveland on an impressive run of their own, a 10-game road losing streak. Golden State also arrived in Cleveland with the worst record in the league, while the Cavs had produced the third-worst record leading into the matchup.
Gone are the days of the Cavs and Warriors meeting in four straight NBA Finals with superstars littered all over the court. Former Cavalier LeBron James has fled to Los Angeles, and Kyrie Irving now entertains fans in Brooklyn.
For the Warriors, Kevin Durant has joined Irving in Brooklyn, Steph Curry has played in just four games for Golden State this season because of a broken hand and Klay Thompson will likely miss the entire season as he continues to rehab from a torn left ACL, suffered in Game 6 of last season’s NBA Finals.
“Golden State is a lot like us,” Cavs head coach John Beilein said before the game. “They’re in a big transition, they’re fighting and they’re with everybody in having similar success on the scoreboard, but they’re still growing. Two teams that are very hungry for a win tonight, and we want to be the ones to get it.”
Saturday night looked much different than the ultra-competitive series’ the Cavs and Warriors used to produce, as the Warriors left The FieldHouse with a dominating 131-112 victory, snapping their 10-game road losing streak.
As can be the case with “evenly matched” teams, the Cavs and Warriors played one another to near dead heat in the first half, as Golden State led by a slim 61-59 margin. The third quarter, however, would have made one think that the two teams weren’t actually that close at all.
Golden State opened the third quarter with a 19-4 run, capped by a D’Angelo Russell three-pointer that gave the Warriors an 80-63 lead with eight minutes to play until the start of the fourth. By the time the third quarter came to a close, Cleveland trailed by its largest deficit to that point, 105-78.
How bad was the third quarter for the Cavs? Golden State won the quarter 44-19, drained 10 three-pointers in the period and seemed to be toying with the Cavs at will. The Cavs never recovered from the third quarter onslaught.
“For whatever reason, we just haven’t been able to get some things done during home games,” Beilein said.
Shooting guard Collin Sexton led Cleveland with 23 points and four assists, while Kevin Porter Jr. added 19 points and three rebounds.
In the 300th game of his career, Larry Nance Jr. scored in double-figures in a career-best seventh consecutive game with 12 points and five rebounds.
Draymond Green, the last All-Star left standing from the Cavs and Warriors epic series’, finished with eight points, a career-high tying 16 assists and seven rebounds. Glenn Robinson III scored 22 points, while Russell finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
“LeBron James isn’t walking through that door, Kevin Durant isn’t walking through that door,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said before the game.
While the Cavs are in a true rebuilding phase, the Warriors should be in contention for a championship again next season.
“This is a different experience for us with this staff,” Kerr said. “We’ve had veteran teams for the last five years, so it’s a totally different situation. As much as we hate losing, it has its rewards and we’re trying to enjoy every aspect of it.”
The Cavs haven’t been enjoying their time on the court lately and will wrap their four-game homestand against the New York Knicks on Monday.
POSTED 02/01/2020 23:16
Lake County Sentinel
