On Friday night, the severely depleted Golden State Warriors upset the Cleveland Cavaliers by holding on to win 120-114. This is the reigning champions’ first road victory against a winning club this year.
Less than 24 hours after playing 43 minutes in an overtime loss to the Boston Celtics, Jordan Poole hardly looked worse for the wear. He dropped a game-high 32 points and hit five threes on 10-of-23 shooting, frustrating basketball’s top-ranked defense from the opening tip despite being the Cavaliers’ obvious defensive focal point with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins resting.
Poole drained triples on three straight possessions to open the game, a harbinger red-hot shooting to come for the short-handed Warriors. Golden State started 9-of-11 on threes and finished 23-of-43, outscoring Cleveland by a whopping 27 points from beyond the arc while making its third-most long balls in a game this season. Seven different players had multiple threes for the Warriors, while Poole, Anthony Lamb, Ty Jerome and Donte DiVincenczo all connected on at least three triples.
Jordan Poole drains the easy corner-3 👌pic.twitter.com/NopJaelUbm
— Warriors Nation (@WarriorNationCP) January 21, 2023
Golden State didn’t pull off this shocking upset courtesy of jumpers alone, though. Kevon Looney and JaMychal Green combined for 10 of the Warriors’ 16 offensive boards, helping their team overcome a sudden rash of second-half turnovers—13, to be exact—that gave Cleveland some life late.stu
But time ran out on the Cavaliers’ comeback when Jerome splashed a desperation, off-dribble three from the deep right wing with 1:39 left, putting Golden State up seven points. Cleveland, which played without Donovan Mitchell and trailed by 20 multiple times in the third quarter, got no closer than five before the final buzzer sounded.
Ty Jerome is CLUTCH 😤 pic.twitter.com/b3gXN189fI
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 21, 2023
“I don’t think we let our foot off the gas. I think we were just playing so well and shooting the ball so well to get that lead, and they’re a hell of a team. One of the best teams in the league, the No. 1 defense in the league,” Steve Kerr said after the game. “We kind of hung on for dear life down the stretch, but we got it done.”
The Warriors’ shocking win at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse—where the Cavs are now 19-5, still the best home record in the East—not only gets them back to .500 and tied with the Utah Jazz for sixth in the Western Conference, but clinched their first winning road trip of 2022-23. Just imagine how good Golden State would be feeling if it hadn’t collapsed against the Celtics in crunch-time.
“To win three out of five against good teams, with some guys out, guys coming back into the lineup. And then on top of that we had a lot bonding on this trip, to go to the White House and celebrate a championship, meet the President and the Vice President, really spend a lot of time together. Great week,” Kerr said. “I’m really hoping that this is kind of the boost that we’ve been looking for, and I think it’s all set up for us. We’re getting guys back, guys are finding their rhythm and playing pretty well heading home, so it’s time to go take care of business.”
Source: https://clutchpoints.com
