The Golden State Warriors pulled off an unexpected upset of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night, winning 99-94. Despite missing Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, and Seth Curry, and facing a team that has three All-Stars in the starting lineup, the Dubs got a much needed win.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr changed things up. Pat Spencer moved into the starting lineup for the struggling Brandin Podziemski while Jonathan Kuminga got his first start in awhile
filling in for the injured Draymond Green.
Barring any single player catching fire and having a career-night offensively, the extremely shorthanded Warriors probably needed the game to get ugly to have a chance. They got exactly that in the first quarter.
Once again, the Steph-less Warriors were abysmal offensively in the first quarter. Spencer was the only starter who found some early momentum offensively, but two quick fouls forced him to the bench.
After keeping Donovan Mitchell quiet for most of the game, the Warriors were unable to keep him from eventually catching fire. Mitchell eventually cutting Cleveland’s deficit back down to 80-77.
Spencer finished with 19 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds in 30 minutes of action on 7-for-12 shooting from the field, including a trio of three-pointers. Quinten Post and Buddy Hield were the only other Warriors starters in double figures. Hield bad 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Post recorded 12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks.
Podziemski, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Moses Moody, and Gary Payton II were all solid contributors off the bench, but Gui Santos made a massive impact. The Brazilian forward had 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists in 26 minutes.
The Warriors led 92-82 with four minutes left in regulation, after back-to-back blown leads against the Thunder and 76ers, the Dubs hoped the third time would finally be the charm.
However, once again, Golden State’s limited offense found a drought as crunch time arrived. The Warriors failed to score on four consecutive possessions, including two turnovers, and Cleveland cut the deficit to 92-88 with 2:18 to go.
Spencer ended the scoreless stretch with a highly-contested driving layup, but Mitchell answered with a three to make it a one-possession game. Podziemski and Mobley exchanged layups to make it 96-93 in the final minute.
Spencer setup Gary Payton II for an open corner three that could have been the dagger. However, Payton missed the shot and Darius Garland drew a foul on the other end, Garland made the first, but missed the second free throw. The Warriors were able to get the clock down to 12.9 seconds before the Cavs used their first foul in the final two minutes.
After blowing a nearly identical situation against the 76ers on Thursday, the Dubs needed to in-bound the ball and make some free throws. Spencer used the team’s last timeout on the first try, and barely got the ball to Santos on the second. Santos, far from the team’s best shooter, split the attempts, giving the Cavs the ball with 7.8 seconds left trailing 97-94.
Mitchell tried to take a quick fadeaway three from the right wing, but he missed the shot and Spencer was fouled on the rebound. He made both shots to ice the game.
With the win, the Warriors returned to .500, improving to 12-12 on the season. They will quickly fly to Chicago to face the Bulls tomorrow night in the second half of a back-to-back, but they should get some reinforcements from some of the veterans who rested on Saturday.
