Dubs Big Fourth Sink Shorthanded Cavs

For three quarters, the Wine & Gold gave the NBA’s top squad all it could handle. But for the second straight night, the shorthanded Cavaliers simply ran out of gas down the stretch.

Cleveland led by 13 points after 36 minutes of play, but Steph Curry and Co. caught fire over the final 12 – outscoring the Cavs, 36-8, in the fourth quarter to take the 104-89 decision on Thursday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The list of walking wounded grew even larger headed into Thursday’s contest – with Cedi Osman (lower back spasms) as a late scratch, joining Collin Sexton, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Lauri Markkanen and Lamar Stevens on the shelf for Cleveland.

But even with the Cavs cobbled-together lineup, they still put together three scrappy quarters of basketball before the league’s top defensive team turned up the heat in the final period – holding J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad to just 15 percent shooting, including an 0-for-7 mark from deep with six costly turnovers.

Curry was going in the opposite direction in that fourth quarter – netting 20 of his 40 points, going 8-of-12 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from deep over the final period.

The Wine & Gold were paced by Darius Garland, who finished with 25 points on 10-of-22 shooting, including 4-of-11 from deep, adding five assists and a pair of steals. On the negative side of the ledger, he and Ricky Rubio combined for 12 of Cleveland’s 20 miscues on the night.

Dean Wade followed up with a season-high 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting, including 3-for-6 from long-distance, adding nine boards and five assists in the loss.

Kevin Love had another solid outing in his second game back – finishing with 17 points and seven boards in 21 minutes off the bench.

Rubio and Isaac Okoro each added 10 points apiece, but both struggled to shoot the ball – going a combined 8-for-25 from the field. Okoro added seven boards and Rubio, five assists. Each finished with a pair of steals.

The Wine & Gold shot 43 percent from the floor and just 56 percent from the stripe. Golden State had the advantage in points in the paint, 48-36, but Cleveland posted 21 second-chance points to the Warriors’ seven and outrebounded Steve Kerr’s squad, 42-34.

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Darius Garland shows off his moves and gets his defender to bite on a pump fake as DG goes past him and scores an open bucket.

One cursory look at the boxscore would explain the turning point of Thursday’s game. The Cavaliers simply couldn’t make a shot in the fourth quarter, and it seemed like Golden State couldn’t miss.

There were four ties and 12 lead-changes heading into the final period, but once the Warriors tied the game at 81-apiece with 8:32 to play, the game tilted Golden State’s way for good – closing the contest on a 23-8 run to seal the deal.

By the Numbers - 12.5 … rebounds that reserve Ed Davis has averaged over his last two spot starts with the Cavaliers – grabbing 11 against Brooklyn and 14 more on Thursday night.

A 12th-year man from UNC, Davis – who also went 3-for-3 from the floor and swatted a pair of shots on Thursday – had played less than eight combined minutes before starting each of the last two games.

Dean Wade, on the Cavs fight on Thursday despite being so banged up …

"Obviously, we like to win. But we didn’t quit. Obviously, we were down a lot of bodies, but it didn’t matter. Everybody came out and competed for every minute. We could have easily folded, being down so many bodies. But we didn’t fold, and when we get those people back, we’re going to take a big step."

Enjoy the best broadcast calls of the night from Cavaliers Radio Network's Tim Alcorn and Rafa Hernandez-Brito from Power 89.1.

After falling to the Warriors on Thursday night, the Wine & Gold get a much-needed and well-earned three-day break over the weekend before the four-game homestand resumes on Monday night – when they welcome Kevin Durant, James Harden and the Nets to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The Cavs welcome the scorching-hot Suns to town on Thanksgiving eve before wrapping up the extended stay with a visit from the Magic next Saturday night. Cleveland wraps up the month of November on the road – traveling to Dallas for a matchup with Luka Doncic and the Mavs one week from Monday.