The Golden State Warriors got the revenge they wanted on MLK Day and demolished their biggest rivals.
The Golden State Warriors entered MLK Day riding a 4 game losing streak to the Cleveland Cavaliers dating back to last season’s NBA Finals. Monday night, the Warriors took out their frustration and got revenge on their biggest rivals.
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The Warriors knew MLK Day was the time to get revenge and make a statement considering the Cavaliers were playing their sixth game in 12 days on their West Coast road trip. The Warriors played like a desperate team, and it showed as the Warriors played their best overall game of the season.
This game meant more for the Warriors then it did for the Cavaliers. Here are the reasons why.
First, teams are only rivals if both of them trade victories. If the Cavaliers had won, it would have been the Warriors fifth straight loss against a single team. It would be difficult to call this series a rivalry if one team always beats the other. Now the term rivalry is fair game.
Second, the Warriors wanted to take out the anger from the Halloween party where the Cavaliers did childish acts, according to Klay Thompson.
Of course the Cavaliers troll job was fair because they won and have every right to express themselves; just like Draymond Green trolling the Cavaliers during the Warriors parade. Still, the Warriors were angry about this and it boiled over onto the court.
Next, the Warriors, in particular Stephen Curry, wanted to show that the Cavaliers weren’t in their head. Coming into Monday’s game Curry had four bad games in a row against the Cavaliers. Curry is the Warriors catalyst so when he struggles the rest of the team does as well. On Christmas Day DeAndre Liggins hounded Curry the whole game and the Warriors offense wasn’t as sharp.
This game pointed out areas where the Warriors have advantages over the Cavaliers, particularly on the defensive end. The Cavaliers have poor defenders (Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Channing Frye and Kyle Korver.) The Warriors went after these four players all night when they were on the floor.
Of course, the Warriors had these advantages last year, but didn’t get the job done because of unfortunate circumstances like Curry and Andrew Bogut being injured.
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Even though the Warriors won this game by 35 points it means nothing considering the Warriors won by 34 points in Cleveland on MLK Day last year. Both teams will be different by June, and considering how the last two NBA Finals have played out it will come down to the Warriors fourth quarter execution, which has been an issue.
This was a continuation of the best rivalries in sports and the NBA wants to see it in June. If the Warriors get through the Wild West they will be ready to battle the Cavaliers once again for league supremacy.