WITHOUT Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriros were able to survive their finals rematch against the Cleveland Cavaliers in their NBA Christmas day match-up, 99-92.
Both teams were without one of their best players with the Warriors Stephen Curry being unable to play due to the ankle injury he sustained when the Warriros went against the New Orleans Pelicans.
For Cleveland, Isaiah Thomas was still unable to play due to a hip injury but was reported participating in a full practice session with the team.
Finals Intensity
Both teams were brilliant in the defensive end so much to a point that there were a couple hard fouls early in the game like it was the Finals all over again.
Kevin Durant received a technical foul early in the first quarter as he complained with the officials how hard JR Smith had foul him on a three-point attempt.
Tempers still continued to rise when Jose Calderon and Durant exchanged words after a broken play. Dreymond Green earned his technical when he joined in the heated conversation for too long.
There were numerous controversial calls in the game with how both teams were defending each other especially in the last minutes of the game were Lebron James did not get the foul he wanted when he was driving to the basket to keep his team within the game.
Balanced scoring
With both teams being brilliant in the defensive end with Cleveland forcing Golden State to make 14 turnovers and the Warriors pressuring the Cavaliers to make 15, each team had key players that helped them in the offensive end.
The Cavaliers shot 31 percent from the field but were 41 percent from the three-point line making 15 shots. This is what kept them close to the Warriors who were shooting an impressive 46 percent.
Down to the wire game
The Warriors seemed to have the game under control after a couple of fast break and three-point plays made by the team. This is where Cleveland made a quick and furious 11-2 run with two minutes left in the fourth quarter to tie the game to 92 all led by James, Kevin Love and Jae Crowder.
By the next play, Durant missed a three-point shot but his rookie teammate, Jordan Bell was able to get the offensive rebound and passed it to Green who found the wide open Klay Thompson to shoot and make the three to push the lead back to three points.
Lebron James was blocked by Durant in the next play when he was going to the basket for a lay-up.
The game ended with the score 99-92.
Kevin Love led all scorers with his 31 points and 18 rebounds and had made 6 three-pointers. his teammate Lebron James had 20 points, 6 assists and rebounds but had turned the ball over 7 times.
The Warriors meanwhile missed their All Star point Guard Stephen Curry who would usually stack up their three pointers. The team was led by Kevin Durant who made 25 points and 7 rebounds and made 5 blocks during the game.
Klay Thomspon contributed with 24 points including the game changing three-point shot in the fourth quarter.
Dreymond Green recorded his first triple double of the season with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. (Frankl Glarino, USC AB Communications Intern/VoxPop Philippines)
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