The Wine & Gold would rather forget Friday night’s contest – falling to a road-weary and shorthanded Warriors squad that jumped out to a lead after one quarter and never looked back, handing Cleveland one of its worst losses of the season, a 120-114 decision at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
After falling in overtime on Thursday night in Boston, the Warriors – playing the final contest of a five-game, eight-day roadie – rested Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green. But despite being without arguably the greatest shooting backcourt in NBA history, Golden State still managed to shoot 54 percent from long-distance – with every player who dressed besides Kevon Looney draining at least one three-pointer in the victory.
The Cavaliers were without Donovan Mitchell, who missed his second straight start with a strained left groin, but still shot an even 50 percent from the floor and got a combined 53 points from its starting backcourt.
But Cleveland’s defense simply wasn’t there on Friday night – with the Warriors topping the 30-point mark in each of the first three quarters before the Cavs made a late run after trailing by 20 points midway through the third.
Jordan Poole led all scorers with 32 points on Friday – going 10-for-23 from the floor, including 5-of-12 from deep and 7-of-8 from the stripe as Golden State notched its 12th straight regular season win over the Cavaliers.
For the Cavaliers, Darius Garland led the way once again – finishing with 31 points on 10-for-25 shooting, including 3-of-11 from deep and 8-of-8 from the line, adding a game-high 10 assists and a pair of steals.
Caris LeVert got his second straight start and chipped in with 22 points, going 7-of-16 from the floor, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.
Evan Mobley had another solid night – finishing with 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting, adding seven boards and a block. Jarrett Allen had a quiet night offensively, netting just eight points, but led both teams with three blocks in the loss.
Cedi Osman and Kevin Love both notched double-figure scoring off the bench – netting 13 and 12 points, respectively, while shooting a combined 6-of-6 from three-point range.
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