Wrap-Up – No one can say the Cavaliers don’t have a flair for the dramatic. For the third time in their last four games at The Q, the Cavaliers needed an overtime period to decide the outcome. Unfortunately, they’ve come up on the short end of the last two thrillers – including Sunday’s affair, as the Warriors held the Wine and Gold to just one field goal in the extra session to hand them the painful 108-104 loss.
Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers with 27 points, including the game-tying three-pointer he drilled with 9.5 seconds to play in regulation. On the night, the All-Star guard was 9-of-19 from the floor, including a perfect 3-of-3 from long distance and 6-of-6 from the stripe. Irving led Cleveland with nine assists. Tristan Thompson doubled-up with 17 points and 12 boards. CJ Miles added 17 points and a team-high three steals and Jarrett Jack rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures with 12 points off the bench.
Stephen Curry led all scorers with 29 points, canning the first five treys he attempted. His long two-pointer at the end of overtime put Golden State up two possessions and spelled the fifth straight loss for the Wine and Gold. Curry and Andre Iguodala combined for 22 of the Warriors’ 30 assists. As good as Curry was from the outside, Golden State also did some major damage on the inside – outscoring Cleveland in the paint, 48-24.
Turning Point – The end of Sunday’s matchup was filled with drama, but maybe the most critical point of the game took place in the moments leading up to intermission. The Cavaliers had built up a 17-point edge over Golden State with 1:28 to play in the first half. But Curry canned a pair of three-pointers, sandwiching an Iguodala slam dunk, and Cleveland found itself up nine at the break. Golden State opened up the second half on an 11-5 run and, by the 1:46 mark in the third, had tied the game.
Game Ball – Tristan Thompson – Thompson put in another blue-collar effort on Sunday, doubling up for the 12th time this season. The third-year forward went 8-of-14 from the floor, including the man-sized rebound and put-back of a Kyrie Irving miss with two minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Four of Tristan’s 12 boards came off the offensive glass.
By the Numbers – 29.0, 7.8, 2.3 … points, assists and rebounds that Kyrie Irving is averaging over his last eight games at The Q. He’s scored 20 or more in each of those contests.
Quotable – Tristan Thompson, on the Cavaliers trying to finish games …
”We need to learn how to close out games. Draymond Green coming down the lane and getting that dunk, that’s part of our defense, coming back and protecting the paint. That’s something we didn’t do tonight. We have to look at film tomorrow and get ready for Indiana.”
Up Next – The Cavaliers travel to Indiana to close out the 2013 portion of the schedule – taking on the beasts of the East in a New Year’s Even matinee. They return to Cleveland to tip off 2014 with a Thursday night matchup with the Magic at The Q before heading back on the road for a Saturday night meeting with Nets in Brooklyn.
Watch Highlights: Warriors 108, Cavs 104