OAKLAND, Calif. _ If the Cavaliers forgot what the rugged intensity of the playoffs felt like, the renewal of their rivalry with the Golden State Warriors on Monday in Oracle Arena likely left them with a few black and blue reminders.
The teams met for the first time since Game 5 of the NBA Finals on June 12 in Oakland, when the Warriors captured their second championship in three consecutive meetings against the Cavs.
The Christmas Day rematch might have felt like a lump of coal for the Cavs, at least when their shooting prowess was concerned.
The Cavs shot just 12.5 percent from the field in the second quarter and finished at 32 percent, losing 99-92 in the nationally televised game.
The Cavs saw their streak broken of scoring at least 100 points in 26 consecutive games, which had been the longest active streak in the league.
As poorly as the Cavs played, LeBron James tied the score at 92 with a driving layup with 1:59 remaining. Draymond Green put the Warriors on top 95-92 on a 3-pointer off an assist by Kevin Durant with 1:33 left and James turned the ball over (his seventh of the Cavs' 13 turnovers) at the 1:10 mark.
After a Jordan Bell miss, Durant blocked James' driving layup with 24.5 seconds remaining, Durant's fifth swat of the day. Klay Thompson made two free throws to boost the margin to 97-92 with 18.9 seconds left. Andre Iguodala blocked Kevin Love's 3-pointer with 16 seconds to go to seal the Cavs' fate.
Love seemed most immune to the malaise plaguing the Cavs, scoring 31 points with 18 rebounds. He made 9-of-25 shots from the field, 6-of-11 from 3-point range and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
James was relatively quiet, scoring 20 points on 7-of-18 shooting with six rebounds and six assists in 40 minutes. James did not attempt a field goal in the third quarter and scored just three points from the free-throw line in the quarter.
Durant led the Warriors with 25 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Klay Thompson contributed 24 points and seven rebounds and Draymond Green had his first triple-double of the season with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
The Warriors were without four-time All-Star guard Stephen Curry, who came in tied with Durant for the team lead in scoring with a 26.3 average. Curry missed ninth consecutive game with a sprained right ankle. Also out for the Warriors was center Zaza Pachulia (sore left shoulder), who has been sidelined for eight in a row.
But the Warriors had more energy on defense, more hustle on offense than the Cavs, who seemed frustrated for much of the game.
At the 6:16 mark in the second quarter, the Cavs had hit 32 percent of their field goals but the game was still tied at 33 due to 10 Warriors' turnovers. The Warriors took their first lead with 3:08 remaining in the second quarter on a Durant 3-pointer and held on to a 46-44 advantage at the half.
The Cavs shot just 3-of-24 from the field in the second quarter, all of the makes coming on 3-pointers. It was the worst the Cavs had shot in a quarter since April, 2015 against the Boston Celtics. Keeping the Cavs in the game was Love, who had 18 points and 15 rebounds at the 6:27 mark in the third quarter.
Of the Cavs' newcomers to the rivalry, Jae Crowder made the biggest impact with 15 points.
The Cavs' reserves, who came in averaging a franchise-record 40.6 points this season, sixth in league, was virtually no factor, finishing with 21 points. Kyle Korver and Jeff Green combined to make 2-for-9 from the field, each scoring three points.
Meanwhile the Warriors got a contribution from their reserves as they usually do against the Cavs, with Patrick McCaw scoring seven of his nine points in the third quarter. The Warriors also got 21 points off the bench.
Tempers flared in the first quarter when Durant and Jose Calderon got into an altercation, Durant called for a technical foul at the 6:32 mark. The bad blood continued with Calderon more upset than he's ever been in his first Cavs season and James pulling Calderon away from the fray. In that spat, with 5:25 to go in the second quarter, Green received a technical.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue knew the matchup would be different without Curry.
"Watching the last few games, Durant's more aggressive. I think Klay's more aggressive," Lue said in pregame. "With Steph off the floor, you lose that lethal guy, always running around, always got to pay attention to, can't make a mistake because he's going to make you pay. With that being said, Durant's a lot more aggressive, he has the ball in his hands a lot more as well as Klay. They have a lot of talent and enough guys to make it work until Steph gets back. But they are a different team."
But that was also true of the Cavs, facing the Warriors for the first time since Kyrie Irving was traded to the Celtics on Aug. 22. The Cavs won last year's Christmas matchup against the Warriors in Cleveland 109-108 on Irving's fadeaway with 3.4 seconds left.
"They're different in that Kyrie was such a dominant part of their offense," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before the game. "It felt before like there were times when LeBron would take over and then he'd need a rest, and then Kyrie would take over. It feels more like there's more of a flow. Because they can't have that option with Kyrie, they're moving the ball really well. LeBron is obviously the fulcrum, but they've got a lot of pieces around him. Their second unit is much better than it has been. When LeBron goes off the floor now, it feels like they're much more capable of sustaining the effort."
