Cavaliers smother Warriors in 113-95 loss

12/31/2024 12:52 AM

The Warriors won the first quarter, then got dominated for the next 24 minutes as Kenny Atkinson and the Cavs blew out the Dubs for the second time this fall.

After an embarrassing loss earlier in the season, the Golden State Warriors went out Monday night and proved they could hang with the Cleveland Cavaliers. For about 12 minutes.

The Cavs and former Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson stomped the Warriors for the second time this season, winning 113-95. Cleveland's starting backcourt of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell combined to score 48 points, while Steph Curry and Dennis Schroder combined to score...23. Cleveland had a 27-point advantage on three-pointers, an insurmountable deficit even in a game where, despite the protestations of Bob Fitzgerald, the Warriors actually shot 16 more free throws and were called for 11 fewer fouls than the Cavs.

The Dubs did have some bright spots from young players. Trayce Jackson-Davis had 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, even facing the Cavaliers' excellent front court of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, who only had 19 points and 16 boards combined.

Moses Moody had 19 points in just 21 minutes of play, shooting 7-for-8 and making three of his four three-pointers. For Bay Area sports fans who also watched the San Francisco 49ers lose to the Detroit Lions Monday night, it's nice to know there's at least one young player named Moody in the Bay Area who can make a three-pointer.

Jonathan Kuminga had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and got to the foul line for 14 free throws. He only shot 4-for-15, but didn't turn the ball over, and 18 points on 15 field goal attempts is great by Warriors' standards.

The Warriors led 27-26 after one quarter, then had one of their worst offensive quarters of the season by scoring 11 points in the second. It was part of a 42-16 Cavaliers run that saw them take a 23-point lead four minutes into the second quarter. By the end of the third quarter, the Cavaliers were ahead by 18 points.

Not only did the offense seem asleep at the wheel in the second quarter, so did head coach Steve Kerr. Steph Curry and Draymond Green exited the game with 7:09 to go in the second, with the Warriors leading by a point. They then re-entered the game with only 38 seconds left in the half, mainly because they stood at the scorer's table four roughly four minutes while Kerr waited for a stoppage in play that never came. When Curry and Green finally returned, Cleveland had an eight-point lead.

Another sign of the broken offense? The team's total inability to score off of turnovers.

Golden State didn't score a single point off of 11 first-half turnovers. They also failed to score off of three second-quarter offensive rebounds, with Buddy Hield, Jonathan Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis all failing to score on tip-ins and put backs.

Perhaps the most humiliating part of the loss was when former Warriors two-way player Ty Jerome hit big shots and trash-talked the dejected bench during the Warriors' miserable second quarter.

The Warriors also saw Donovan Mitchell make his 1,500th career-three-pointer (plus 1,501-1,504) Monday night. Only 2,352 behind Curry!

The Warriors are back to .500 with a 16-16 record, evenly split between 8-8 at home and 8-8 on the road. Dennis Schroder had his highest-scoring game as a Warrior with 12 points, and is now shooting 30% overall and 21% on threes. He'll have two off days to practice his jump shot or rest before the Warriors play the Philadelphia 76ers Jan. 2. If recent games are any indication, the first quarter should be extremely competitive at least.