Cleveland knocked off the Dubs in The Land, now it’s time to take it to the Bay.
This is a big home game for the Golden State Warriors today as they face the Cleveland Cavaliers in a rematch from an earlier season contest where the Cavs prevailed.
The Warriors do not like to lose to Cleveland after building their dynasty by overcoming the LeBron James-era of The Land. And the Dubs definitely don’t like losing at home in front of Dub Nation. This atmosphere should be electric in San Francisco!
Legendary Bay Area Warriors authority Monte Poole penned this clear review of Golden State’s struggles to get through Cleveland’s trees in their meeting earlier this season:
Confronting a brigade of defenders with wingspans between 6-foot-10 (Donovan Mitchell, Georges Niang, Caris LeVert, Dean Wade) and 7-foot-6 (Jarrett Allen), the Warriors shot 36.2 percent from the field in a 115-104 loss to the Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
Perhaps the only statistic more discouraging for Golden State than its 18-of-53 (34.0 percent) shooting inside the arc was missing 20 of 32 (37.5 percent) in the paint against a team that, to be sure, is a brutal matchup.
Size mattered.
Size size size! Hmmm, is tall ball the true antidote to small ball?
This is the Warriors’ first loss to the Cavaliers in 2,337 days, dating back to Game 4 of the 2017 Finals, nearly 6.5 years.
— WarriorsMuse (@WarriorsMuse) November 6, 2023
Kyrie Irving was still playing for the Cavs.
Our very own Joe Viray had these observations after the loss about the missed shots turning into easy transition opportunities for the Cavaliers:
Perhaps the most important one of all: The Warriors’ offense sputtered. They themselves didn’t get much efficiency in the half-court: 85.4 points per 100 half-court possessions. While they shot a respectable 16-of-41 (39.0%) from beyond the arc, they scuffled from two-point range: 18-of-53 (34.0%). They were an overall 44.7% on effective field-goal shooting. It doesn’t require nuanced analysis to conclude that more misses equals more opportunities for the other team to run the break and less chances for the Warriors to set their half-court defense.
“It never felt like our offense helped our defense or vice versa,” Steve Kerr said after the game. “We weren’t getting stops. We were taking quick shots, lot of bad possessions. We didn’t turn it over much, but we didn’t have good flow to our offense.”
The Dubs will need to find a way to generate offense through the thicket of height and length that Cleveland possesses. Fortunately the team does possess Stephen Curry, who a year ago today lit the Cavs up for 40 points.
One year ago today, on 11/11, Stephen Curry dropped 40, including 10 points in the clutch, to beat the Cavs. This was during their city edition debuts, at home.
— WarriorsMuse (@WarriorsMuse) November 11, 2023
Today, on 11/11, the Warriors are playing the Cavs, in their city edition debuts, at home. pic.twitter.com/Lnbw4j6dal
11/11, make a wish!
