Cavaliers just had a tough game for Warriors in disastrous loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
History has shown us that success in the NBA is mostly about talent, health and chemistry and, yes, the connection between coaches and players. Yet the truth shows us that much of that can be offset by one factor.
Matchups.
That was evident Friday night in Cleveland, where the Warriors learned quite a lesson in a 136-117 loss to the Cavaliers. The score was much closer than the destruction that took place on the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse floor.
The Warriors (7-2) fell behind early with scores of 20-2, 60-30 and 78-38 – all well before halftime. A second-half rally, mostly from the second unit, couldn’t overcome their disastrous first-half performance against the 10-0 Cavaliers – the only undefeated team in the league.
While Golden State’s demise can be attributed to sloppy work on both ends, much of it was due to the problems caused by a Cavaliers defense with two players, center Jarrett Allen and forward Evan Mobley, playing on a height of less than 2 meters and possessed a pterodactyl-like wingspan.
“You have two great rim protectors in Mobley and Allen,” Brandin Podziemski told reporters in Cleveland. “We didn’t make them work at all. We were just satisfied with, ‘Oh, we see them, let’s pass it on.’ Sometimes you have to take them on and see what they have.
Indeed, the Warriors didn’t seem interested in testing Allen and Mobley in the halfcourt. So they tried to avoid the big men in hopes of getting to their offense before Cleveland could set its defense. That resulted in a succession of risky and wayward passes, most of which turned into turnovers (13), giving the Cavs 15 first-half points.
It looked familiar. To the extent that the Cavs defeated the Warriors last season, winning by a total of 19 points, this was the third time in a row that Golden State was stymied, mainly by the imposing Allen and the even more imposing Mobley.
“We’ve seen them over the last couple of years, and it’s the same group,” Kerr said. “They are playing at a high level at the moment. They are young and emerging. They should get better.”
The Warriors found no answers. Surrounded by twin towers, Trayce Jackson-Davis was outmatched. Draymond Green, who was listed as “questionable” on the morning injury report, did not look like himself. The Warriors, especially in the first half, consistently looked at the paint like it was a toxic swamp.
As a result, Golden State’s first-half performance amounted to a dumping ground.
While the Warriors’ offense shriveled into a kind of psychological quicksand, with 42 percent of their players scoring 42 points from the field, including 31.2 percent from beyond the arc, their defense was tighter than ever this season. Using a surprising collection of blown coverages and late or slow closeouts, the Cavaliers put up 83 points in the first half while shooting 65.3 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from deep.
Meanwhile, Cleveland, which ranks 23rd in the league in rebounding, stared down Golden State’s No. 1 status and crashed its way to a 24-13 lead on the glass.
“We didn’t let them feel us at all,” said Podziemski, who had seven rebounds in 27 minutes for the team.
“Our defense didn’t come out with enough physicality and sharpness in the first half,” said Kevon Looney, who came off the bench and matched Podziemski’s seven rebounds. “It’s a very good team. They were moving the ball. We let them make some easy threes to start the game, and once they got their confidence, they ran with it and shot the lights out in the first half.
The second half was considerably better, with the Warriors finding enough energy to score more points (75-53), grab more rebounds (27-19) and force 13 turnovers – for 25 points – while only committing four .
But that 42-point deficit hanging over Golden State coming out of the locker room after halftime was too much to erase. The Cavaliers outscored the Warriors in the first half by a larger margin than the Warriors were able to generate in the second half.
“We have to respond,” Kerr said. “We have to practice [Saturday]. We need to perform better; we had 13 turnovers in the first half. We were completely disorganized, and I feel like that’s where we need the most work. We have to continue to work on our organization and get ourselves in order so that we can execute and understand how to perform against a team that plays at that level defensively.”
Kerr probably doesn’t mind Cleveland joining the Eastern Conference. The Warriors will only see the Cavaliers once more this season, on December 30 at Chase Center. Assuming both squads remain healthy and intact, it will be another challenging matchup.
“I know what I could have done better,” Kerr said. “But I won’t tell you that.”
Kerr has two days to find and implement answers, as Sunday afternoon the young and feisty Oklahoma City Thunder are built to take on similar defensive challenges.
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