The Warriors went to war in their 132-98 defeat over the Cavaliers
Quicken Loans Arena looked more like a slaughter house rather than an actual game in last nights battle between two of the best. As the Golden State Warriors laughed their way back to their locker room, the Cleveland Cavaliers found themselves back at the drawing board after their horrific 132-98 loss against the defending champs.
Curry led his team finishing with 35 points while shooting 12-of-18 from the floor. Curry also dominated off the court with his comments regarding the match-up.
"Obviously, walking in that locker room, it'll be good memories. Hopefully, it still smells a bit like champagne, " says Stephen Curry before the game.
Usually, comments like that would get the opposing team fired up, but obviously it worked in Steph's favor as the team leader of the Cavaliers LeBron James finished with 16 points while shooting 7-of-16 from the floor.
”Obviously, you want to play well against the top teams and we haven’t done that. We’re 0-3 against the top two teams in the West and 0-1 against the Bulls so far. We have to play better basketball. We have a long way to go. Tonight was an example of how far we need to go to get to a championship level. We have to continue to get better, " says LeBron James after the game.
The next leading scorer was J.R Smith who potentially could have contributed more to the team, but unfortunately was ejected from the game at the 10:41 mark of the third quarter. Smith who is known for letting his emotions get the best of him launched his body at Harrison Barnes who was attempting to set a screen.
While Curry made it look easy draining seven 3-pointers against the Cavaliers cold defense, the Cavs struggled throughout the first half to make a single 3-point field goal. Finally, with just 40 seconds remaining in the second quarter Kevin Love drained a 3 making the score 67-40. This was his first and only points for the night.
Love failed to show up last night, but had a lot to say without saying much when asked about his concern for the team.
"It's going to take a lot of guys looking themselves in the mirror and it all starts with our leader over there and dwindles on down, " says Love at the end of the game.
For someone who only scored 3 points in not only a game, but a "statement" game against the NBA champs, certainly has a lot of nerve to point the finger. Hopefully, Love has a mirror outside of his locker; maybe that'll help him receive a better image of himself.
Love did not only play terrible on offense, but on defense as well. Golden State demolished Cleveland with pick-and-rolls leaving Love clueless. Golden State's second leading scorer Andre Iguodala finished with 20 points, while missing only one shot.
The Irving vs. Curry showdown failed to occur last night due to healthy Irving ending the game with only 8 points shooting 3-of-11 from the floor. Kyrie's ball handling skills were impeccable as usual, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to get him to the rim. Curry's 35 points outscored the combined 27 points of James, Irving and Love.
Now, are the Cleveland Cavaliers done after suffering one of the worst team loss's in Cavaliers franchise history? Did they get exposed last night? Are they capable of making it to the NBA finals for the second straight year and win it all? The only one who know's the true answer behind questions is the team that makes up the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yes, it will take some time for the team's communication on the court to develop, along with the maturity levels of those who like to point the blame contributing to a loss. But, eventually with time they will get there and hopefully accomplish what LeBron came back to Cleveland to do, and that's bring home a championship.
In due time gentlemen, in due time.
