Warriors fall to Cavs on Christmas amidst controversy
The Golden State Warriors fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas Day after Kyrie Irving hit a tough turnaround jumper.
Kevin Durant sat on the floor as Richard Jefferson walked away triumphantly as time expired. He looked around for a foul as Cleveland celebrated their narrow victory. The Golden State Warriors fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-108.
It’s the end of December, but it felt like a playoff game. Emotions were running high with all of the high-level talent on the floor. If anyone wants to say that the regular season is meaningless, you just have to play back the tape of this game.
Golden State led for most of the game. Kevin Durant, who finished with 36 points and 15 points, went on a run that put his team up 14. It looked like the Warriors were ready to pull away, but LeBron James never goes down easy. He hit 4/5 from deep in the third quarter and made play after play to keep his team within striking distance.
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The Warriors were too much into the Christmas spirit as they gave Cleveland a gift. This was not a game they should have lost. They were leading and had momentum. The Dubs let some bad calls get in their head and didn’t finish the game out.
Golden State got thrown off early as Draymond Green picked up two fouls on what looked like good defensive plays. He then was assessed a technical foul as he stormed off angrily. He had to sit out for most of the first quarter and Kevin Love got into a rhythm as Kevon Looney struggled to find him.
It was peak NBA basketball. There were posters all over the place. Durant threw down a huge slam over Love then James slammed one home after cherry picking. Jefferson dunked on Durant then threw down an even more powerful one over Klay Thompson.
Golden State fell apart down the stretch. Once again, they gave the Cavaliers a window and they took advantage of it. Kyrie Irving, once again, proved that he’s a great performer in the clutch. He found a cutting James, who did four pull ups on the rim without picking up a technical foul.
Irving sunk the dagger as he hit a turnaround over Thompson with 3.5 left on the clock. The Warriors called timeout and ran a play for Durant who was tripped up by Jefferson. The time expired and the game was over.
It was another chapter in this intense rivalry. The Warriors and the Cavaliers face off again on January 16. This was a huge loss for Golden State as they now drop to first place.
They’re not going to be happy with this loss, obviously. But it’s important to note that last year’s champions lost on Christmas on the road.