That’s all for now. Thanks as always for following along with us and be sure to read the full report of tonight’s game below.
Full-time: Cleveland 91-126 Golden State
The Warriors never trailed, leading by as many as 39 points in a lopsided 126-91 win. It’s Cleveland’s most lopsided defeat since a 117-78 loss to the Boston Celtics in April 2015. Top scorers for the Dubs were Curry (28 points), Thompson (26) and Durant (21), but surely the star of the game was Draymond Green, who finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists and a career-high five blocked shots for his 17th career triple-double. (Perhaps not coincidentally, the Warriors are 17-0 in those games.)
Cleveland 83-121 Golden State 3.33, 2nd quarter
This is ... something. The Warriors are minutes away from snapping their four-game losing skid against the Cavaliers, a streak that includes their come-from-ahead loss on Christmas and the fifth, sixth and seventh game of the NBA finals.
Cleveland 77-111 Golden State 6.39, 4th quarter
Thompson drains another three, the Oracle Arena crowd is on their feet, Cleveland calls timeout and I do believe that’s curtains.
Cleveland 77-104 Golden State 9.40, 4th quarter
The Warriors missed 12 straight shots over more than eight minutes – allowing the Cavaliers to pull within 22 points – but Iguodala breaks the drought with a basket in the paint. Moments later Green grabs a rebound that seals his third triple-double of the season: 11 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists.
Cleveland 71-95 Golden State, end of 3rd quarter
The Cavaliers used a 15-1 run to end the third quarter. But the Warriors, who have led by as many as 36 points, still lead big with 12 minutes left.
The Warriors have 31 assists, recording their league-best 28th 30-assist game this season (no team has more than eight such games).
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) January 17, 2017
Cleveland 58-94 Golden State 3.35, 3rd quarter
There still more than 15 minutes left in regulation, but Draymond Green (eight points, nine assists, five blocked shots) and Zaza Pachulia (four points, 13 rebounds) both leave the game to standing ovations.
Cleveland 58-89 Golden State 5.48, 3rd quarter
When it rains, it pours: Cleveland’s Kevin Love is struggling with lower back tightness and will not return.
Cleveland 49-84 Golden State 10.48, 3rd quarter
The second half begins and the Warriors pick up right where they left off in the first, rattling off six quick points on threes by Thompson and Curry. That stretches the lead to 35 points and prompts a quick timeout by Cleveland’s Tyronn Lue.
Here’s a look at the half-time stats. Durant is pacing all scorers with 19 points, but it’s Curry who’s leading the charge with 14 points, 10 assists and zero turnovers. Golden State’s 78 points are the most allowed by the Cavaliers in a first half since January 2011.
HALFTIME: Warriors 78, Cavaliers 49. Box score: pic.twitter.com/EAkArF4TP7
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) January 17, 2017
Half-time: Cleveland 49-78 Golden State
The ball winds up in Curry’s hands after a broken play and, of course, he calmly drains a 27-footer at the buzzer to send Golden State into the locker room with a 29-point lead. It’s Cleveland’s largest half-time deficit of the season.
#DubNation ends the half in style!
— NBA (@NBA) January 17, 2017
End of 2 on @NBAonTNT:@warriors: 78@cavs: 49#NBARapidReplay pic.twitter.com/IN5NgagM7c
GOOD NIGHT SEE YOU IN JUNE
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) January 17, 2017
Cleveland 46-65 Golden State 3.10, 2nd quarter
A dunk by Durant and a three-pointer by Thompson get the crowd fired up. But then Curry looks to pull up for a three before finding a cutting Durant along the baseline, who stuffs it home, and the noise is deafening. Another timeout for Cleveland.
Cleveland 41-56 Golden State 4.21, 2nd quarter
Lots of talk on social media off the double technical. Here’s the official ruling:
Replay Review (Game Crew): if Green committed a flagrant foul in Q2 of #CLEatGSW. Ruling: Flagrant 1 on Green. Contact deemed unnecessary.
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) January 17, 2017
And here’s the view from the chattering class:
Two separate discussions
— sam esfandiari (@samesfandiari) January 17, 2017
-yes lebron flopped and played it up to refs
-yes that's smart. He's a superstar and draymond has a rep
Go look at the definition of the rule, if you're asking me if it was flagrant 30 yrs ago I'd say absolutely not but in today's game it is https://t.co/nE29Xfhd5K
— Greg Anthony (@GregAnthony50) January 17, 2017
That’s a HOF, dual-fine-worthy flop from James.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) January 17, 2017
Cleveland 35-52 Golden State 6.55, 2nd quarter
LeBron is fouled hard by Green while running a fast break and there’s a bit of a dust-up near midcourt as Cleveland’s Richard Jefferson steps to Green. The officials will review it to detemine if Green will pick up an extra penalty, while Green insists it was a flop. It looks like the refs will call a flagrant one on Green and technicals on both Green and Jefferson. Perhaps Green’s history with the Cavs was held against him?
Updated
Cleveland 26-48 Golden State 9.22, 2nd quarter
An 11-4 run by the Warriors to open the quarter with contibutions from Green, Livingston and Iguodala has stretched the Golden State lead to 22. The Warriors have hit their last eight shots. The Cavs call another timeout and need to stop the bleeding somehow to keep this one from getting out of hand.
Cleveland 22-37 Golden State, end of 1st quarter
An Iguodala three-pointer off a Curry feed extends Golden State’s lead to 33-20 and makes it 13 assists on 14 field goals for the Warriors. LeBron answers with a two, but then Curry bangs a 26-footer for the final basket of the quarter to send the crowd to their feet. A dream start for the Warriors.
Warriors vs. Cavaliers first quarter box score: pic.twitter.com/Bg5PupfHy6
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) January 17, 2017
Cleveland 14-24 Golden State 3.58, 1st quarter
The Cavaliers were fortunate to only be trailing 18-14 as the Warriors had missed seven of their first nine shots from beyond the arc, including a few wide-open looks. But they weren’t going to miss all night. Iguodala and Curry bang threes on back-to-back possessions and just like that, the Warriors have opened their first double-digit lead of the night.
Cleveland 4-9 Golden State 7.20, 1st quarter
Irving gets the Cavaliers on the board, but Draymond Green finishes a fast break started by Pachulia to answer. Shumpert closes it to 9-4, but then Irving picks up his second foul less than six minutes into regulation as we pause for a TV timeout.
Cleveland 0-7 Golden State 10.26, 1st quarter
And we’re off! And the Warriors waste no time, sprinting out of the gate with seven quick points from Curry (a two), Thompson (a three) and Durant (a two). Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue has seen enough and calls a timeout. A high-flying start for the hosts.
Tensions are already running high inside Oracle Arena. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were met with boos and taunts when they stepped onto the court, though there are plenty of Cleveland fans in the stands trying to drown them out.
With Kevin Durant scoring off a steal and dunking all within the first two minutes, Roaracle is louder than ever. And it’s only getting started.
Stephen Curry will be honoring the outgoing president with his sneakers tonight.
Honoring our President Barack Obama today on court! He embodies the inspiration, faith & hope Dr. King stood for! We R Forever Grateful! #44 pic.twitter.com/TYc24JaWEu
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) January 16, 2017
Probable starters
Here’s a look at tonight’s probable starters. Cleveland’s JR Smith (right thumb surgery) and Chris Andersen (torn right ACL) are out.
Cleveland
F LeBron James (25.8 ppg; 7.8 rpg; 8.3 apg)
F Kevin Love (21.2 ppg; 11.0 rpg; 1.7 apg)
C Tristan Thompson (7.3 ppg; 9.8 rpg; 0.8 apg)
G Iman Shumpert (7.1 ppg; 2.7 rpg; 1.7 apg)
G Kyrie Irving (23.8 ppg; 3.5 rpg; 5.7 apg)
Golden State
F Kevin Durant (26.0 ppg; 8.6 rpg; 4.7 apg)
F Draymond Green (10.7 ppg; 8.6 rpg; 7.7 apg)
C Zaza Pachulia (5.6 ppg; 5.7 rpg; 2.1 apg)
G Klay Thompson (21.3 ppg; 3.7 rpg; 2.0 apg)
G Stephen Curry (24.7 ppg; 4.3 rpg; 5.9 apg)
Hello and welcome to tonight’s game between the Cavaliers and Warriors. It’s the second of two regular-season meetings between the teams – Cleveland won 109-108 in Cleveland on Christmas – and a rematch of the last two NBA finals.
The Warriors (34-6) have the league’s best record and rank first in scoring (117.5 ppg), field-goal shooting (.499), assists (31.2), blocks (6.1) and steals (9.4).
But the Cavaliers (29-10) have the NBA’s best player in LeBron James, and the four-time Most Valuable Player has been at his scintillating best against the Warriors. Consider that in 17 games against Golden State since the start of the 2014-15 season (including the postseason), James is averaging 31.6 points, 11.6 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.4 blocks with 13 double-doubles and three triple-doubles.
Tip-off is just over 20 minutes away. Plenty more to come.
Bryan will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s David Gendelman on the evolution of the NBA’s big man:
Last week, late in the first quarter of an NBA game in Detroit, Michigan, Myles Turner, the Indiana Pacers’s 20-year-old 6ft 11in center, popped out to the top of the three-point line and hit a 25ft jump shot with an arc so high the cameraman had to raise the viewing angle to follow it. Less than a minute later, he hit another one from the same spot. Both shots were so smooth that neither of them even skimmed the rim. The field goals were no anomaly. Turner is shooting 41% from the three-point line, well above the league average of 35%.
More than a thousand miles west in Denver, Colorado, Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets’ 21-year-old 6ft 10in center, stood with his back to the basket, 15ft away, and threw a no-look, over-the-shoulder pass to a cutting team-mate for a wide-open lay-up. The pass, more common in a Harlem Globetrotters game than an NBA one, was nothing new for Jokic. A three-minute YouTube compilation posted to the site last month highlights dozens of them. “Jokic actually has some flair,” said former NBA coach George Karl, whose controversial memoir about his life in basketball, Furious George, was published this week. “He throws some balls that only guards think about throwing.”
You can read the full article here:
