Christmas Warriors

As the Golden State Warriors win streak kept on going, the hype began to point to one game that would be the streak buster—a December 25 Christmas Day show down with their rivals from the 2015 NBA Finals, the Le Bron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. Of course, the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Warriors in the finale of a 7 game road swing which punctured the streak. But there was still business to take care of when Le Bron James and his fully healthy crew came arrived at the O Arena. 

                Well, if the Warriors had to authenticate themselves this day, they did just that.  The Cavs were not at their best but they are tough and, unlike in the playoffs , they had a rusty Kyrie Irving and perennial All-Star Kevin Love, a rebounding machine with 18 total boards,  upping the state of this game. Yet the Warriors, down a number of key players and with all-everything Stephon Curry hobbling just a bit, managed to find a way to win.

Curry and fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson weren’t at the top of their games, largely due to the harassing defense that the Cavs provided.  This was a grind it out kind of game. Lots of contested layups, hard-fought jumpers and many rebounds were the order of the day.

In the end, three people made a difference in the outcome of this contest. There was Draymond Green, the big man who plays like he can start in any position on the floor.  Showing the ability of an All-Star and justifying his big off season contract, Green provided the hustle and determination with his drives to the hoop and his grittiness on the boards. His 22 points led the Warriors in scoring.

Shaun Livingston came off the bench and gave the struggling Warriors offense a needed lift. His hustle and burst to the basket along with key jump shots in an 8 out of 9 shooting performance was the offensive lift the Warriors desperately needed.  By the way, he guarded Le Bron, too.

But it may have been Le Bron who doomed the Cavs on this day. Normally James carries the team on his back. Today was no exception. Except that he wasn’t making all of his shots. He shot 10 for 26 and the Cavs as a team shot 31% from the field. Many of those missed shots led to free throws. There were a lot of free throws of which Le Bron simply did not convert, hitting 4 of the 9 he took. His stat line looked superficially okay, which included 2 dunks near the end of the game, but the Warriors made it difficult for him overall and that was the difference this day.

The Warriors celebrated Christmas at home with this win. They improved to 28-1 for this glorious start to the season and guarded their 14-0 home record which is now a streak of 32 consecutive wins at the O Arena stretching back to last season.

Fans can look to the January 18 rematch in Cleveland. Maybe the Warriors will be on another streak. They have yet to play the San Antonio Spurs who have quietly gone 25-6 this year. Nor have they met up with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Without starter Harrison Barnes, the team has found a way to win. But they are vulnerable and a bit lucky as a good Boston Celtics squad proved a couple of weeks ago in a 2 OT loss at home to Golden State. The next night, the Milwaukee Bucks handed the Warriors their lone defeat thus far.

Certainly the Golden State Warriors have been the story of the 2015-16 NBA season and reigning MVP Steph Curry has maintained and even improved his incredible play. They will lose another game. The home win streak will end, too. Until then we as fans will watch them in awe as they attempt to shoot for the Chicago Bulls all-time mark of 72 regular season wins.

At least on Christmas Day 2015 they were handed a present which they knew what to do with—another win, this time over a quality opponent.