The Cavaliers were without two of their most important frontcourt players. Tyler Zeller is out indefinitely with a fractured cheekbone and is subject to the league’s concussion protocol. More importantly Anderson Varejao missed the game with a sore knee.
The shorthanded Cavaliers certainly missed their inside presence, as the Cavaliers dropped one to an improving Warriors team. Despite experiencing some flu like symptoms, David Lee feasted on the wounded frontcourt, putting up 22 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Steph Curry added 21 points and Carl Landry chipped in 19 off the bench.
The Warriors got off to a fast start, but the Cavaliers battled back in the 2nd quarter. Down the stretch, the Warriors just had too much offense for the Cavs defense and the Cavaliers could never close the gap. Kyrie Irving lead all scorers with 28 points, going 4-8 from three point range. Kyrie also had 7 assists and 3 rebounds. The Cavaliers’ next leading scorers were Dion Waiters and Daniel Gibson, who had 12 points each.
Cleveland
Starters |
Pos |
Min |
FG |
3Pt |
FT |
+/- |
Off |
Reb |
Ast |
TO |
Stl |
BS |
BA |
PF |
Pts |
K. Irving |
G |
35:47 |
10-22 |
4-8 |
4-4 |
-10 |
1 |
6 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
28 |
D. Waiters |
G |
30:39 |
5-15 |
2-5 |
0-0 |
+1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
12 |
T. Thompson |
C |
35:47 |
4-8 |
0-0 |
3-8 |
+10 |
4 |
10 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
11 |
S. Samuels |
F |
37:57 |
5-9 |
0-0 |
1-2 |
-11 |
2 |
7 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
A. Gee |
F |
21:13 |
2-4 |
0-2 |
3-3 |
-2 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
7 |
Bench |
Min |
FG |
3Pt |
FT |
+/- |
Off |
Reb |
Ast |
TO |
Stl |
BS |
BA |
PF |
Pts |
Totals |
36-86 |
11-32 |
13-21 |
|
11 |
39 |
20 |
16 |
7 |
1 |
4 |
26 |
96 |
Percentages |
.419 |
.344 |
.619 |
|
Team Rebounds: 10 |
J. Leuer |
21:48 |
3-5 |
0-0 |
1-2 |
-19 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
7 |
D. Gibson |
21:40 |
4-8 |
4-8 |
0-0 |
-9 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
C.J. Miles |
17:16 |
3-11 |
1-7 |
0-0 |
-15 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
7 |
O. Casspi |
9:59 |
0-1 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
+7 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
D. Sloan |
7:54 |
0-3 |
0-1 |
1-2 |
-2 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
L. Harangody |
DNP – Coach’s Decision |
J. Pargo |
DNP – Coach’s Decision |
A. Varejao |
DNP – Inactive |
L. Walton |
DNP – Coach’s Decision |
T. Zeller |
DNP – Inactive |
Golden State
Starters |
Pos |
Min |
FG |
3Pt |
FT |
+/- |
Off |
Reb |
Ast |
TO |
Stl |
BS |
BA |
PF |
Pts |
S. Curry |
G |
36:28 |
8-14 |
2-6 |
3-3 |
+7 |
0 |
5 |
6 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
21 |
K. Thompson |
G |
22:20 |
4-10 |
1-5 |
4-6 |
+2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
13 |
A. Bogut |
C |
17:24 |
0-2 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
+3 |
1 |
3 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
D. Lee |
F |
37:52 |
10-16 |
0-0 |
2-2 |
+7 |
2 |
14 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
22 |
H. Barnes |
F |
30:24 |
5-9 |
1-2 |
3-5 |
-6 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
14 |
Bench |
Min |
FG |
3Pt |
FT |
+/- |
Off |
Reb |
Ast |
TO |
Stl |
BS |
BA |
PF |
Pts |
Totals |
42-78 |
5-18 |
17-23 |
|
7 |
44 |
28 |
16 |
11 |
4 |
1 |
22 |
106 |
Percentages |
.538 |
.278 |
.739 |
|
Team Rebounds: 7 |
C. Landry |
26:24 |
8-10 |
0-0 |
3-3 |
+3 |
1 |
9 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
19 |
J. Jack |
25:42 |
4-8 |
0-0 |
2-2 |
+11 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
R. Jefferson |
23:37 |
3-7 |
1-4 |
0-0 |
+14 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
F. Ezeli |
12:15 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-2 |
+5 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
D. Green |
7:34 |
0-2 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
+4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
K. Bazemore |
DNP – Inactive |
A. Biedrins |
DNP – Coach’s Decision |
C. Jenkins |
DNP – Coach’s Decision |
B. Rush |
DNP – Inactive |
J. Tyler |
DNP – Coach’s Decision |
20 Comments
We have Andy we win this game. Also Pat Shurmur is a Clown.
Shorthanded Cavs played 48 minutes, but winning without a center is hard for any team. Hopefully Zeller and Varejao get healthy soon, otherwise we posibly get another Top-10 pick (with that we could have both Zellers on the team)
The Zeller Fellers!
turned the game off in the 2nd half. just an ugly game w/o a frontcourt. we are noncompetent beyond our top3 bigs and 2 of them are now hurt 🙁
Samardo has improved a lot since last year. I really like what he’s been able to do so far,
I’m amazed the Cavaliers even fought back in this one. That’s actually something we should all be very encouraged by. This would have been an easy game to just give up on. To their credit, they kept fighting.
that is good to hear (especially after how the Chicago game turned). i sadly did not keep fighting my frustration/sleepiness 🙂
not sure how you can tell. he had 20min total before last night.
Trade Varejao while you can
Pretty good chance you’ll have a top 10 pick regardless.
Maximize his value absolutely the problem is he’s always injured.
Outside shots fell for a stretch. When they didn’t again, Golden State pulled away.
I’m going to be pretty frustrated if they continue to jack up so many 3’s. 32 last night, and they are 4th in the NBA at 23.4 per game. I’d like to see them find other ways to win than ‘hope our jump shots land tonight’. Not to mention that with Irving and Waiters, we were expecting a backcourt that could get to the rim.
i’m not sure how else you can win in the NBA when you don’t have frontcourt scoring
We need to draft all the Zellers and Plumlees, then us Cavs fan only need to worry about buying two different jerseys.
I’m happy to see that Leuer got some decent minutes this game. He’s definitely worth more playing time than he’s received thus far.
I’m not expecting miracles to be worked, or saying they can win many other ways. But I just can’t stand watching teams that hoist 3’s all night (and so few off an Irving drive) and go ‘oh well’ when not enough of them fall.
They are last in FT%, last in opp FG%, and 26th in TOs. They have little margin for error to begin with, and then they give away free points and possessions on offense, and apart from Washington’s inept offense, have looked not just bad, but sloppy and lazy on defense.
I can deal with losses where you’re playing smart, tough basketball, but they’re not doing that. They’re jacking up jump shots and hoping Irving can bail them out.
I know, it would be nice if he can stay healthy long enough to trade him.
I agree with you when we are healthier. But, without Andy & Zeller, we are going to continue to be last in oppFG% and are going to be jacking 3s on the other end.
We have no other bigs that defenses have to worry about so they will all just collapse on Irving/Waiter drives. We have to either get buckets in transition or with smart movement (and usually ending in jumpers).
It is what it is for now.
Take away last night’s game, they are still dead last in opp FG% and in the top 3rd of the league in 3PA. The injury situation didn’t bring about this approach, it only made it more obvious.
And they don’t fight through screens or anticipate on defense. Basic high screens and moving without the ball got Golden State so many good looks. When Varejao isn’t in, it’s alarming how pathetic the defense is.
I prefer the term “Village Idiot”