A 17-0 run to start the fourth quarter helped the Warriors to a 104-89 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Stephen Curry led all scorers with 40 points, knocking down nine 3-pointers. Nemanja Bjelica added 14 points off the bench and Draymond Green recorded a season-high 14 assists.
TEAM LEADERS
FOURTH QUARTER DOMINANCE
The Warriors came into the fourth quarter down by 13 points, but then Stephen Curry started to catch fire. Curry scored the first nine points of the quarter, making three 3-pointers. Damion Lee scored the next four points and Curry the four after as the Warriors went on a 17-0 run to take an 85-81 lead. Curry and Lee scored the first 24 points of the fourth quarter for the Warriors, shooting 10-for-14 from the field. The Warriors outscored the Cavaliers 36-8 in the final frame with only three players scoring for the Dubs. Curry led the way with 20 points, while Damion Lee scored nine and Juan Toscano-Anderson had seven points.
CURRY’S 40… AGAIN
Stephen Curry scored 40 points for the fourth time this season on Thursday night. No other player in the league has had more than two 40-point performances this season. Curry scored 20 of his points in the fourth quarter of the contest, shooting 8-of-12 from the field and drilling four 3-pointers. Curry, a two-time scoring champion, leads the league in scoring this season, averaging 29.5 points per game.
BENCH’S IMMEDIATE IMPACT
The Warriors got off to a slow start on Thursday night, falling behind 10-0 and then 22-9, but the Warriors bench did a tremendous job of getting the team back into the game. Nemanja Bjelica and Gary Payton II checked in with 5:32 left in the first quarter as the Warriors went on an 18-4 run and cut a 13 point deficit to two points by the end of the quarter. Bjelica scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting and Payton II added three points and five rebounds in the quarter.
DRAYMOND’S DIMES
Draymond Green recorded a season-high 14 assists in Thursday’s win. He has now dished out at least five assists in 24 straight games, tying his career high. His 24-game streak is also tied with Trae Young for the longest active streak in the NBA.
PAYTON’S STEALS
Gary Payton II has emerged as a rotational piece this season and has really shined on the defensive end. With his steal in the third quarter on Thursday, Payton II has now recorded a steal in a career-high 10 straight games. He ranks first in the NBA in steals per 100 possessions amongst all players who have played a minimum of 100 minutes this season.
NINE IN A ROW
The Warriors have now won nine straight games against the Cavaliers, with their last loss coming on Dec. 25, 2016. The Dubs have also won 18 of the last 21 regular season matchups between the two teams.
UP NEXT
The Warriors won’t have a lot of time to look back on this one, as the team is back on the floor tomorrow night. Golden State will finish their four-game road trip against the Detroit Pistons on Friday at 4 p.m. The 4-10 Pistons are led by Jerami Grant. Cade Cunningham, the number one pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, has started to look more comfortable in the offense and has averaged 20.5 points, eight rebounds and seven assists over his last two games.
More Notables ...
- Golden State improved to an NBA-best 13-2 (.867) on the season (5-1 on the road) and 2-1 on the current four-game road trip.
- The Warriors used a 17-0 run to start the third quarter to overcome a 13-point deficit, ending the frame with a 36-8 advantage, the third-largest fourth quarter point differential in franchise history… The Warriors held the Cavs to the lowest-scoring fourth quarter in the NBA this season (tied for the lowest in any quarter this season)… The Warriors earned their fifth double-digit comeback win of the season.
- The Warriors matched a season high with 36 assists.
- The Warriors have won nine-straight games over the Cavaliers.
- The Warriors improved to 2-0 in the first game of a back-to-back this season.
- Golden State remains the only NBA team to score 100-or-more points in each game this season… The Warriors are now 7-0 when holding the opposition to fewer than 100 points.
- Up Next: The Warriors travel to Detroit to face the Pistons in the second game of a back-to-back set on Friday, November 19 (4 p.m. PDT), concluding a four-game road trip.
- Stephen Curry finished with 40 points on 15-of-27 from the field (9-of-16 from three), his 53rd career 40-point game (fourth this season), including 20 points in the fourth frame, his 35th career 20-point quarter (fourth in the fourth quarter)… The two-time MVP made nine 3-pointers, extending his 3-point streak to 140 consecutive games, the second-longest such streak in NBA history behind his own previous 157-game streak… Curry has hit at least nine threes in consecutive games for the fifth time in his career, recording his 38th career game with nine threes.
- Nemanja Bjelica finished with 14 points, scoring in double figures for the third time this season, to go with three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
- Draymond Green dished out a season-high 14 assists, his first double-digit assist game of the season.