It was a game many NBA fans were looking forward to: LeBron James and the Cavaliers lock horns one again with Stephen Curry and the Warriors; two of the court’s best face-off on the biggest holiday of the year.
But it was a Warriors game in the end, beating the Cavaliers 89-83 to propel the warriors to a 28-1 record.
Draymond Green had 22 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Warriors against the Cavs. Stephen Curry added 19 points, seven boards, and seven assists, while Klay Thompson had 18 points.
The Warriors didn’t play their usual 3-point shooting game; instead, they played defensively by locking down the Cavs to 32 percent shooting from the field.
Power forward Kevin Love and point guard Kyrie Irving, who were absent in the last match against the Warriors, did little help for the Cavs in the rematch.
Love scored just 10 points on 5-for-16 shooting, and Irving missed 11-of-15 shots to post up for 13 points.
At halftime, the Warriors were up 45-43.
With Love and Irving struggling, the Warriors took advantage and built a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter following a jumper by Thompson and a layup from Green.
But James responded with a pair of dunks and a blocked shot on Thompson before Love’s tip-in made it 81-77 with just over 2 minutes to play.
James missed two free throws after Cleveland got another stop and Curry responded with a pair of layups around J.R. Smith’s 3-pointer to make it 85-80 with 57.6 seconds to play. A final shot attempt by James from the 3 hit air with 12.7 seconds on the play clock.
LeBron James scored 25 points and nine boards to lead the Cavaliers. J.R. Smith made 14 points.
In shooting, Curry made more precise shots compared to LeBron. LeBron ended with 10-of-26 shooting at 38.4 percent, Curry was up with 6-of-15 at 40 percent.
The Cavs visit Portland on Saturday, while the Warriors host Sacramento on Monday.
