Two guards combine for 48 points and 8 3PM in a win in Golden State. Sound familiar? Probably but it’s 2024, and the two guards are Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. The Splash Brothers are so 2017.
The game to begin with was more like a belly flop then it was a splash. Both teams were floundering while trying to find their shot, and it was anything but pretty. But one team found its footing and made a splash in the second half while the other struggled to keep its head above water.
The win is the Cavs seventh straight and puts them 8-0 versus the Western Conference. Their record will be put to the test as they continue their West Coast Road trip but for now, let’s talk Golden State.
Frantic. Frenetic. Sloppy. Disjointed. There’s a lot of words to describe a good part of the first half of the game for both sides. They combined for 34% FG%, 20 turnovers, and 18 fouls in the first half. A 46 to 38 Cavaliers lead is what some first quarter scores have been let alone at half time in Golden State.
The first quarter pace of 112 was the highest of the night. Golden State does its best to get teams to play their pace and style of play, and the Cavs were momentarily mesmerized. Their AST% was the lowest on the night and the TOV% was the highest of any quarter on the night.
The Cavs are at their best when their passing leads to buckets, and not individual play. They had just 5 assists on 10 field goal makes and puts a spotlight on how the first quarter looked.
Kenny is open about taking shots when you have an open shot, but the Cavs open shots were often quick shots. The organized offense and set plays were few and far between as the Cavs tried to manage how to deal with the pace and pressure the Warriors can put on teams.
The other side of the coin was the quick shots were often perimeter shots. The Cavs only took three restricted area field goals in the 1Q. Compare that to 6 for the Warriors and 11 FGA in the paint. The Warriors were beating the Cavs at their own game while the Cavs were losing at the Warriors.
So, it’s no surprise given those numbers that Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley had just four shots in the first quarter. When the starting center and power forward on the other side are both below 6’9” and Allen and Mobley are near 7’0”, those are too few shots considering the matchup.
Despite a size disadvantage, the Warriors finished the quarter 18 to 8 in paint points. Starting center Trayce Jackson-Davis also finished with 8 total rebounds (4 offensive) in the quarter while Jarrett Allen had just one.
Put this altogether and you get the Cavs trailing as they went into the 2Q. The last time it happened was nearly a month to the day on November 29. That was 13 games ago.
Luckily for the Cavs, the Warriors were trying to find their way as well. Stephen Curry had just 2 points in the first quarter and that didn’t change by halftime. Without Klay Thompson there to pick him up and without a true second or third threat, the Warriors couldn’t capitalize on extending their lead more than a few possessions.
The second quarter came down to who would step up alongside Mitchell and Garland? Going into the quarter, they were the only Cavs with more than one made field goal. The offense was struggling, and someone else was needed.
Enter Ty Jerome, and his ownership of the second quarter. His three-pointer at the 7:13 mark was the first field goal since 1:21 in the first quarter. Yes, the Cavs didn’t score a field goal for 5 minutes and they were only down 1 point.
The teams combined to go 2-for-12 on FGs and committed 5 turnovers in the first five minutes of the 2Q. Yikes.
That Jerome three-pointer after he entered set forth a quick 8-2 run with another Jerome three-pointer coming later.
It also turned into a larger run over the final 7-ish minutes of the second quarter where the Cavs went on a 20-8 run to end the quarter.
The Garland, Jerome, Allen and Dean Wade foursome were a +9 in just over 6 minutes, and helped break the seal that was on the rim.
Jerome put in 8 points and 1 assist while Garland put in 8 points and 2 assists. Just like Ricky Rubio and Garland did damage back in the day, the dual playmaking and shot making help jumpstart the Cavs offense.
And after being outrebounded by -5 in the first half, Wade and Allen combined for 9 rebounds in the 2Q and helped the Cavs to a +1 rebounding in the 2Q. That’s what teams with a size advantage should do!
Stop if you’ve read this before: The Warriors scored 11 points in the 2Q and shot 16.7% at home. Since when does that happen? Well, remember its 2024 and not 2017 anymore.
The Cavs took a 46-38 lead into halftime, but the teams also took a black eye on NBA offenses into the locker room. They combined for 21 turnovers and 18 fouls in the first half.
Brad Daugherty advised the Cavs to go TO the basket as opposed to their ineffective perimeter-oriented attack in the first half. For as much as their shots weren’t falling and looks weren’t there, the shift in going inside didn’t happen.
But they stuck with it and their perimeter approach is what unleashed a Cavalanche not many survive from. The Cavs started the quarter up 46-41 and in under five minutes they were up 66-44.
Mitchell started the run himself with a 9-0 run all on three three-pointers in a row. He would knock in two more for the quarter and get close to a career high for three-pointers in a quarter.
Wade and Mobley would knock in three-pointers of their own for a 12-2 run that would push the Cavs lead to 18 which would be the lead the Warriors couldn’t recover from the rest of the game.
The Cavs would push the lead to the biggest of the night at 26 points, but the Warriors weren’t going out without a fight.
Part of what helped the Warriors hang around was the Cavs early foul trouble. They picked up four fouls within the first two minutes of the quarter and put the Warriors into the bonus early. Golden State was 8-for-11 on free throws in the quarter.
I like how Kenny isn’t afraid to use his timeouts. Curry hit his first three-pointer on the night to cut the Cavs lead to 18, and Kenny couldn’t use his timeout quick enough. He had seen this story before and wanted to stop Curry before ever getting started. It was an 18-point lead when the Cavs were cruising but Kenny has been very sensitive to momentum and using his timeouts to change how games feel.
While we’re on the topic of shots, Max Strus continues to struggle with his. He was 0-for-4 from 3P until hitting his only three-pointer in the fourth quarter. Since returning he is 5-for-19.
The third quarter was the quarter of the three-pointer. The Cavs hit 8 of them while the Warriors just managed 3. It also helped the Cavs put up their highest scoring quarter with 37 points.
The quarter also was about Allen redeeming himself after a rough first half. He had 6 points, 5 rebounds and one heckuva dunk. After Jackson-Davis had 12 first half rebounds, he managed just four in the second half.
Foul trouble continued to follow the Cavs into the fourth quarter. Allen picked up his 4th and 5th while Mobley already had 4. This provided a potential opening for the Warriors, but Kenny worked his lineup magic again.
He went small with Georges Niang and Wade up front alongside Jerome, Mitchell and Sam Merrill. That lineup managed to go +7 in 2:35 minutes and help extinguish any Warriors hope for a comeback.
More important, the small ball Wade + Niang duo continues to pay dividends. They were a +6 in just over 5 minutes in the fourth quarter and allowed Kenny to rest both Mobley and Allen as they battle foul trouble. It could have been a completely different game otherwise.
Coming into the game, Wade + Niang without Mobley and/or Allen were a +56.5 net points per 100 possessions. This has been a super successful pairing in a super small sample size (66 possessions) but does have success in going back to last year.
It doesn’t relive the need for something else behind Frobley but it at least provides another viable in-game option should injuries or foul trouble persist.
In 25 minutes, Wade collected a career high 13 rebounds which also was a team high. He also knocked in two three-pointers and had 3 STOCKS (steals + blocks).
The starting lineup with Okoro has been really successful this year, and it’ll be curious how long Kenny keep Strus coming off the bench, but Wade’s size, defensive versatility to guard any position and rebounding feel just right as a connector piece between the bigs and guards. Now, if only he can stay healthy…
Merrill and Wade led the Cavs in fourth quarter scoring with 5 points each. They did just enough, for just long enough, to put the game out of reach and have Steve Kerr waive the white flag at around the 4:00 minute mark.
As a result, the Cavs bench saw some extended minutes and ten Cavaliers scored in the fourth.
After hitting just 6 3PM in the first half, the Cavs doubled it up with 12 3PM in the second half. They were just 2 3PM away from setting a record of five straight games with 20+ 3PM.
While doubling up on three-pointers, the Cavs also cut in half their turnovers from 11 to 5. Being more efficient, and better more protective of the basketball will always be a pathway to success.
Not only did the Cavs beat the Warriors at the three-point line, but they also beat them 28 to 15 on fast break points. They ranked 83rd percentile in transition offensively while the Warriors were just 18th percentile.
It feels weird to see the Cavs outpace and outshoot the Warriors to this extent when this is all the Warriors have been known for. But it is 2025 and the Cavs have their Steve Kerr in Kenny Atkinson.
If you spun the Caris LeVert Wheel of Play tonight, I would be genuinely curious to see where it landed. A +4 but 3-for-9, 2 turnovers and plays like these just make you wonder.
All of the Cavs starters playing under 30 minutes, and Mobley and Allen playing under 25 minutes, should help significantly as they have a back-to-back tomorrow against the Lakers who have been off since Saturday. Kenny has continually talked about depth mattering and this is one of those cases.
Up next: A 9:00PM (EST) Tuesday evening matchup in Los Angeles with the Lakers.
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