Six months after the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers produced the most-watched NBA Finals to air on ABC, a regular-season rematch between the teams helped the network rack up big ratings on Christmas Day. “If our defense shows up, we’re in pretty good shape to win games. We just show our versatility and try to win different ways”, reports Sports Illustrated.
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Golden State now owns an NBA-best 28-1 record after its victory over Cleveland.
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The Warriors’ superstar point guard, Stephen Curry, shot just 6-of-15 from the field to finish with 19 points, almost 12 below his league-leading season average of 30.8 points per game, but he found other ways to contribute, snagging seven rebounds and dishing out seven assists.
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And if Curry and the Warriors continue playing at the level they are now for the season’s remainder, it may very well include another award from the AP come this time next year.
While talking about the fans’ interest in the match Warriors interim coach Luke Walton said, “I think it’s good for the National Basketball Association…I wouldn’t call it a rivalry, but we are linked. It was just more less a Christmas game for us and a important test and for us going against a great Warriors team”.
He finished with 19 points, thanks to big-time baskets, after James nearly single-handedly got the Cavs, down by 10 with 3:48 to go, back within 81-77 with 2:15 left.
To win their 32nd consecutive home game against their toughest opponent yet in this remarkable start, the Warriors (28-1) needed a new formula.
Players from both sides downplayed the importance of this game prior to tip-off, but the “just another game” facade quickly gave way to truer feelings in the early going.
Not all teams can do it, but those who can aggressively play the Warriors enough to slow them down, turning the game into halfcourt drag, are having more success lately than we’re used to seeing.
“For us to have a full unit, we’ve got to practice, we’ve got to play some games where we know what we want to do, what lineups we want to play out there”, James said. A little bit of a sloppy game, we couldn’t get our rhythm and credit them for that.
Kevin Durant had 29 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Oklahoma City, who went into the game with nine wins from ten games.
Jimmy Butler scored 23 points and Pau Gasol 21 as the Chicago Bulls halted a three-game skid with a 105-96 triumph over the Oklahoma City Thunder, who had won three straight. Klay Thompson and Shaun Livingston had 18 and 16 points respectively.
Curry – three years James’ junior – can’t match his counterpart’s MVP count, but he began his tally in 2015.
[J.R. Smith] made 4-8 from three-point territory, accounting for 80% of the Cavaliers five three-point makes.
Spurs: Aldridge added 18 points and rebounds….
Kawhi Leonard was the Spurs’ top-scorer with 20 points.
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Irving scored 13 points in 26 minutes, but it took him 15 shots. But he missed a contested jumper on New Orleans’ final possession of regulation, and the Heat took control in the extra session.
