After Christmas Day it all seemed worth it. Even though the general suspense of the regular season was pretty much gone already. We all knew that we would be able to witness two titans colliding four times in this regular season. And that these elite teams would be absolute favourites to meet in the finals for the third time. LeBron James and company had defeated the Warriors and just like the Spurs let the league know that a team with 2 MVP's and 4 All Stars could be beaten.
The doubts started to be highlighted on the team's interior defence, as they had no one to defend the Cavs inside...
or so it seemed. So as the Martin Luther King Day match up on Monday got closer, it seemed as though this match could slip away from the Warriors again. However the Cavs age is starting to become noticeable, this includes their best player, LeBron (32). The Champs seemed to enter the building tired after a modest road trip performance, and the GS crowd appeared to be as awake as ever.
Explosive start
The match was pretty much over as soon as it begun. The Warriors jumped out to an early 9 to 4 lead, fast break buckets and difficult defensive match ups allowed GSW to cleave through the Cleveland D. Kyrie Irving got into early foul trouble and the offence of the Cavs seemed reasonably pedestrian.
The splash brothers did start out reasonably cold which made the score respectable. But as the game went on the Trey Triplets began to pour on the threes, along with their perfectly executed screens and ball movement, the assists and points came so easily for GSW.
Lebron and company attempted to retaliate, but the addition of Korver in the offense appeared to need refining.
Also, JR Smith seems to be solely missed. The versatility of the Warriors offense eventually broke the Cavs down, and by the end of the first, it seemed like a blessing that they were only down 14.
Is Draymond Green the Warriors Dennis Rodman?
It got painful in the Second Quarter for Cav fans and players. By this point, it seemed clear that the Warriors had a point to prove.
The Cavs were forced into isolation plays and their assist numbers looked pitiful in comparison to their opposition. The Warriors kept the game at a faster pace than the Cavs could handle, 19 fast break points early into the second quarter speaks for itself. It also seems like Draymond took offense to LeBron's poster present on Christmas, when Lebron went for one of his freight train fast breaks, Draymond absolutely floored him! Much to the displeasure of Richard Jefferson.
It is hard to tell whether the GS Star is in The King's head, or that hard foul came from Draymond Green's anger at the finals loss. One thing is for certain, Draymond does not like the Cavs and especially not their leader.
After this it seemed as though the Cleveland Cavs found new fire and they began to slow the bleeding, bringing the score back within 14. However the Warriors turned up the defence again and LeBron could not seem to keep hold of the ball, he ended the game with 6 turnovers. By half time the Warriors went on a 22-7 run and put an exclamation point on their dominance.
Did they do too much?
The rest of the game was pretty much just more of the same if I am honest. The Warriors imposed their will on the Cavs from the get go, it almost seemed right for Kevin Love to go out in the 3rd. The question is what does that dominant display show? We know for certain now that GS have a solid dislike for the Cavs, we also know that offensively when the Warriors click on all cylinders they are almost untouchable.
However, my take away is that maybe the Cavs are in their heads, as they debated whether they should even play all their starters. That is some serious disrespect for ex-Champs. It almost seemed like it might be the Warriors conciliation prize for the lack of the chip. The next game will be incredibly telling and will answer a lot of these questions. I can't wait, especially if LeBron looks for basketball revenge on Draymond.
