The Cleveland Cavaliers ran out of gas on Saturday evening. They very much looked like a team that was playing their eighth game in 14 days and on the second night of a back-to-back. They couldn’t get the offense going as they fell to the Golden State Warriors 99-94.
Even though the Cavs are in a tough part of their schedule, this was a disappointing loss. Golden State was without its top two scorers, Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, and its best defensive player in Draymond Green. This was a game that
the Cavaliers were expected to win despite the schedule.
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Cleveland’s offense let them down. On Friday, it seemed like they found something attacking the basket against the San Antonio Spurs. That didn’t carry over to Saturday. They couldn’t get to the basket, and when they did, they missed. Cleveland converted just 42.9% of their looks at the rim (1st percentile). On top of that, they once again couldn’t get the three-ball to fall as they went 23.8% from beyond the arc.
Despite the poor shooting, the Cavs had a chance to win this late. The Warriors pushed their lead to 13 points with just over five minutes left in the fourth. The Cavs clawed their way back with a 14-4 run over the next four and a half minutes.
Darius Garland was fouled with the Cavs down three with 21 seconds left. Unfortunately for Cleveland, he missed one of his two free throws. The Warriors then also split their free throws on the ensuing possession. Donovan Mitchell had a three-point attempt to tie with four seconds left. It was on line, but didn’t go.
Mitchell led the Cavs once again in scoring. He added 29 points on 11-26 shooting with three assists and two turnovers.
Darius Garland struggled once again. He provided 17 points, four assists, and three turnovers while going 6-15 from the floor. Garland still looks a step slow compared to how he plays when fully healthy. This is in conjunction with simply not getting the outside shot to fall, as he went 1-6 from three.
Evan Mobley provided 18 points and 10 rebounds on 8-19 shooting.
The Warriors had a well-balanced scoring night. All 10 of their active players got on the scorer’s sheet. Pat Spencer led the team with 19 points and seven assists.
The Cavaliers simply haven’t been able to establish any kind of momentum this season. Every time they seem to take a step forward, they take two back the other direction. They’re badly in need of some time to reset and hopefully get healthier.
Fortunately for Cleveland, they’ll get just that. They have just two games in the next week with their next coming on Friday when they travel to the nation’s capital to take on the Washington Wizards.
