Golden State Warriors’ defense put on a masterclass versus CLE

The Golden State Warriors put on one of their strongest defensive performances of the season, and Draymond Green wasn’t even playing.

Points were hard to come by for the Cleveland Cavaliers. They scored a season-low 82 points and shot just 42.7 percent from the floor. Previously, the lowest-scoring game of the season for Cleveland came on Nov. 18 — when they scored just 89 points against… you guessed it, the Warriors.

The Golden State Warriors reminded us why they have the best defense in the league with a masterclass effort against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

How exactly did the Warriors manage to put on such a clinic defensively? It was a mix of a few things.

Gameplan to perfection

Few teams in the NBA plan better than Golden State. This was on display as the Warriors seemingly watched hours of film and knew precisely how to neutralize the Cavaliers’ biggest threats.

Take Darius Garland, for example.

The crafty young point guard loves getting into the paint. From there, he often picks his poison on floaters or alley-oops to his athletic big men, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. This pick-and-roll dance has allowed him to break out as an All-Star candidate.

One problem, of course. The Warriors knew it was coming and played this dynamic perfectly.

With lanky defenders like Andrew Wiggins, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Kevon Looney inserting themselves into the paint, they were able to simultaneously take away his patented lob-pass and deter him from gathering into his floater multiple times.

Garland finished with 9 points (tied for a season-low) and 4 turnovers.

Klay Day gave them a little boost

The Warriors understood they would have to ring the bell in accepting the challenge of boxing out three seven-footers on Sunday night.

With so much size in Cleveland’s frontcourt, it is jarring to see them lose the rebounding battle 54-42, giving up an astounding 22 offensive rebounds — good for the third-most of any team this season.

However, the Warriors winning a fight on the glass is not too surprising.

They rank third in the NBA in rebounding despite being mostly undersized. Another indicator rebounding is just as much about effort and positioning as it is size.

Every single member of the team was engaged in scrapping for rebounds.

Kevon Looney finished with a career-high 18 while all 10 players who appeared on the floor (excluding Draymond Green) snagged two or more boards.

It might be oversimplifying things, but let’s just say the team was doing everything in their power to ensure Klay Day wasn’t spoiled.

It was a dominant team performance from the Warriors. And, I didn’t even mention the contributions of Gary Payton. An article detailing his defense will be posted shortly, as it deserves its own story.

For now, the Warriors just delivered one of their best defensive games of the year.