Warriors make LeBron eat his words
| GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS | CLEVELAND CAVALIERS |
| 126 | 91 |
The Golden State Warriors crushed the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-91 yesterday morning (Singapore time), snapping a four-game losing streak against the reigning NBA champions.
In the season's second meeting between the teams that dueled in the past two NBA championship series, the Warriors started fast and never let up.
Before adoring fans at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Draymond Green notched his third triple-double of the season with 11 points, 11 assists and 13 rebounds for the Warriors, who led wire-to-wire to improve their league-leading record to 35-6.
The Warriors hadn't beaten the Cavaliers since Game Four of last June's Finals.
Cleveland rallied from 3-1 down in the championship series to deny the Warriors a second straight title and, in the first renewal of the rivalry this season, the Cavaliers rallied for a 109-108 victory in Cleveland on Christmas Day.
RIVALRY
That run of success may have prompted Cavs superstar LeBron James' comment on Sunday that he didn't really count the Warriors as rivals.
"Regardless of whether LeBron thinks, it's a rivalry. I know he wants to beat us," Green said.
"And we want to beat them.
"We've been the top two teams in the league. A team that you beat, that beat you... I see it as a rivalry, and a fun game to play in."
His shoulder hit me in the face. I'm all right. I'm a football player.Cleveland Cavaliers ace LeBron James, on the dramatic fall after tanglingwith Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green
It turned out to be even more fun than Green could have imagined.
The Warriors scored 78 points in the first half, building their lead to as many as 39 points in the fourth quarter.
Klay Thompson scored a game-high 26 points, including five three-pointers.
Kevin Durant scored 21 points and two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry had 20 to go with 11 assists.
In their 13th win of the season by 20 points or more, Golden State connected on 50.5 per cent of their shots from the field and shared 37 assists.
James led the Cavs with 20 points, but missed 12 of his 18 attempts.
"They put it on us, put it on us real good," James said.
"They were clicking on all facets of the game. This is a dangerous team. They've got so many different options." - AFP
OTHER RESULTS
- LA Clippers 120 Oklahoma City 98, Phoenix 101 Utah 106, Boston 108 Charlotte 98, Denver 125 Orlando 112, Indiana 98 New Orleans 95, Miwaukee 104 Philadelphia 113, Washington 120 Portland 101, NY Knicks 107 Atlanta 108.
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