From the opening minutes of Friday's game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Golden State Warriors were on the back foot against the surging and unbeaten Cleveland Cavaliers.
Coming off Wednesday's monumental road win over the Boston Celtics, the Warriors fell flat as the Cavaliers burst out of the gate on a 20-2 run that only got worse for the visitors as the first-half developed.
Former Golden State guard Ty Jerome joined the party as the Cavaliers embarrassed the Warriors in the first-half
By late in the second-quarter the Cavaliers were a remarkable 13-of-17 from three-point range, helping them to what resulted as a 41-point half-time lead. Nothing signified Cleveland's hot shooting more than Ty Jerome's explosion in the second-quarter, with the former Warrior guard going for 13 points, one rebound and two assists on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting and 3-of-3 from three-point range.
Golden State made it a far more respectable game in the second-half, cutting the lead to 18 with more than six minutes left before eventually falling 136-117. It was an honorable fight from the visitors over the last 24 minutes, but the damage had already been done by Cleveland's other-worldly shooting in the first-half.
Moody behind-the-back 😱 https://t.co/TcaYqZAlKD pic.twitter.com/XpcBWL9i3Z
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) November 9, 2024
Star guard Darius Garland went for 27 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Evan Mobley went for 23 points, four rebounds and four assists in just 26 minutes. Jerome well and truly got his revenge against his former team, finishing with 20 points and three assists on 7-of-8 shooting in only 21 minutes.
For the Warriors, their positives really only came through their young players who saw increased opportunity in the blowout loss. Jonathan Kuminga had been a lone bright point from the disastrous first-half, scoring 14 points on his way to a team-high 21 for the game on 7-of-14 shooting to go with six rebounds and five assists.
Moses Moody had 11 points, two rebounds and three assists, providing the highlight of the game from a Warrior standpoint with a wild end-to-end play early in the fourth-quarter (see above). Fellow youngster Brandin Podziemski made a positive return from illness, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals while again leading the team in plus-minus.
De'Anthony Melton also looked spritely following a five-game absence with a back injury, scoring 10 points in just under 18 minutes off the bench. It was a different story for the Golden State starters who combined for just 40 of the team's 117 points, including only 12 for Stephen Curry in 24 minutes of playing time.
The Warriors are now 7-2 following their first road loss of the season, and will now head to Oklahoma City hoping to respond against the Thunder on Sunday.