Tag: cavs

Warriors vs. Cavs listed in Bleacher Report’s ‘Biggest Rivalries of Every NBA Decade’

After facing off in four consecutive NBA Finals, the Warriors vs. Cavaliers earned a spot in Bleacher Report’s ‘Biggest Rivalries of Every NBA Decade.’

While it doesn’t have the fame of the Boston Celtics versus the Los Angeles Lakers or the Chicago Bulls against the New York Knicks, the Golden State Warriors built a steady rivalry with one Eastern Conference foe. After becoming the first NBA team to meet in four consecutive Finals, it’s fair to say the Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers held a memorable rivalry.

From 2015 to 2018, the Warriors faced off with the LeBron James led Cavs in the NBA Championship. Golden State bested Cleveland in three of the four Finals. To start the rivalry, the darling Golden State Warriors cemented their place at the top of the NBA pyramid with a win over Cleveland in the 2015 Finals.

In 2016, Cleveland put together a historic run to the title against a record-breaking Golden State squad. After blitzing to a 73-9 regular season campaign, the Warriors jumped out to a 3-1 lead against the Cavaliers in the Finals. James and Kyrie Irving stormed back to an improbable comeback in seven games to fuel the rivalry.

Adding more firepower to the clash, Golden State went on to add Kevin Durant alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala. With Durant on board, the Warriors went on to win back-to-back championships against Cleveland.

According to Bleacher Report, the Warriors battles against the Cavaliers ranked as the biggest rivalry of the 2010 decade.

Via @BleacherReport on Twitter:

Golden State’s feud with James Harden and the Houston Rockets were also considered in Bleacher Report’s rivalry rankings. When it came to individual contests, the matchups of James against Durant and Curry versus Kawhi Leonard made the cut.

With Curry and Thompson on the road back to the court and James linked alongside Anthony Davis in Los Angeles, Golden State could work their way towards another rivalry with a team led by the King.

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Report: Cleveland Cavaliers sign former Warrior Jordan Bell to two-year deal

Before the NBA’s transaction window closed, former Golden State Warriors big man Jordan Bell found a home with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Before the NBA continues the stretch run of the season in Orlando, a former member of the Golden State Warriors found a new home.

After bouncing around from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Memphis Grizzlies and the G League, Jordan Bell has agreed to a two-year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Via @ShamsCharania on Twitter:

In early February, Bell was traded from the Timberwolves to the Houston Rockets in a blockbuster 12-player deal. The Rockets then moved Bell to the Grizzlies for Bruno Caboclo and a pick swap. The Grizzlies waived Bell after two games. The former Golden State Warriors big man joined the Washington Wizards G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go.

Bell was selected No. 38 overall in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls then traded the Oregon Ducks standout to the Warriors for $3.5 million in cash considerations. In his rookie season with Golden State, Bell averaged 4.6 points on 62.7% shooting from the field, with 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and a block per game. During his rookie campaign, Bell started 13 games with the Warriors.

Since leaving Golden State over the offseason, the Oregon product averaged 3.2 points on 52.2% from the field, with 2.8 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per contest. In his lone G League appearance, Bell tallied 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field with six rebounds, five assists and a block.

With the NBA’s extended transaction window closing on Tuesday, the Cavaliers were able to sign Bell to one of their open roster spots. Bell will compete for a depth role behind Cleveland’s All-Star big man Andre Drummond.

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Warriors Playoff Rewind: Steph Curry nets Finals record 9 triples in Game 2 vs. Cavs in 2018

Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson combine for 79 points against LeBron James and the Cavs in game 2 of the 2018 NBA Finals.

As 22 teams are preparing for the NBA season to kick back into action, the Golden State Warriors will be watching from home. With a league-worst 15-50 record, the Warriors were eliminated from playoff contention prior to the league shutting down due to the coronavirus.

With no playoff hoops on the calendar for the first time in seven years, Warriors Wire is digging back through Golden State’s history. Warriors Wire is rewinding through Golden State’s playoff catalog to highlight memorable moments, standout performances and matchups worthy of a rewatch.

For the latest edition of Warriors Playoff Rewind, we look back at Golden State’s last run to a championship.

June 3, 2018

During their time together, the trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant have strung together a bevy of notable performances. In-game two of the 2018 NBA Finals, Golden State’s All-Star group added another superb combined effort to their resume.

After a tight overtime battle in the opening game of the Finals, the Warriors cruised to a victory at Oracle Arena behind big numbers from Curry, Thompson and Durant.

Curry notched a game-high 33 points with a record-setting nine 3-pointers in the Finals. The sharpshooting point guard swished 9-of-17 against the Cavaliers from beyond the arc.

After only shooting 9-of-27 as a unit, Curry matched the entire Cavaliers roster from beyond the arc in game 2. The two-time Most Valuable Player added eight dimes and seven boards.

Durant and Thompson rounded out Curry’s record-breaking performance, with each scoring 20 or more, respectively. Durant tallied an efficient 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting with nine rebounds, seven assists and two blocks.

Thompson tacked on 20 points to move Golden State’s trio to 79 combined in their 122-103 victory against the Cavaliers at Oracle Arena.

LeBron James led the Cavs with a near triple-double on 29 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the file with 13 assists and nine board. Kevin Love added a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. However, it wasn’t enough against Golden State’s high powered offensive attack.

Watch highlights from Curry’s historic Finals performance via YouTube:

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On this day: Celts win vs CLE in ’17 ECF, PHI in ’12 ECF; Watts born

On this day, the Boston Celtics beat both the Cavs and 76ers in East Finals series, and former Celtic forward Ron Watts was born.

On this day in in 1976, former Boston Celtics small forward Ron Watts was born in 1943 in Washington, D.C.

Watts would play his college ball with Wake Forest, and be drafted by the Celtics with the 17th overall pick of the 1965 NBA Draft.

The former Demon Deacon would go on to play for two seasons with Boston, though only 29 games total and just one his rookie season.

He would win a championship with the team in 1966, and would log a career 1.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game with the team before being drafted by the Seattle Supersonics in the 1967 NBA expansion draft.

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Collin Sexton is on pace to join Lebron and Kyrie in Cavs record book

Collin Sexton is on pace to become the third player under 22 in Cavaliers history to average 20 points per game. 

Not only has Collin Sexton continued to showcase himself this season, he is also on pace to become the third player under 22 in Cavaliers history to average 20 points per game.

During Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Bulls, Sexton recorded 26 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Right now, Sexton is the 3rd leading scorer in the NBA for March, even ahead of Lebron James.

Considering Sexton has been underrated all season, this proves that he’s just getting started, and deserves much more respect and appreciation.

He not only leads the Cavaliers in scoring, he is also ranked 2nd in the NBA for made field goal percentage.

Sexton and the Cavs take on the Charlotte Hornets on the road Friday at 6 PM CT.

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Celtics fend off resilient Cavs, win 112-106 in Cleveland

The Boston Celtics survived a resilient Cleveland Cavaliers — and several low blows — to come up with a road win Wednesday night.

The Boston Celtics came to Cleveland to face a Cavaliers franchise roughly as banged-up as they were Wednesday night, each franchise down several key players due to injury.

Boston came out a little slow and let Cleveland jump out to a 6-2 lead, but the Celtics quickly took control with a 10-0 run punctuated by a pair of treys from All-Star forward Jayson Tatum, forcing an early timeout.

The Cavs answered back with a 7-0 run of their own to push the lead down to 15-12 with 6 minutes and 30 seconds left in the frame, and would retake the lead with a 3-pointer from Kevin Love with just under four minutes remaining.

An Enes Kanter trip to the free throw line on the subsequent possession would erase that lead, and the Celtics would close the first quarter up 28-27.

The second quarter began with a trip for center Robert Williams III, though he missed both.

Forward Semi Ojeleye would hit a pair of rare treys, and two way guard Tremont Waters would hit a jumper in between them to give Boston a 36-27 lead.

As Tatum began to warm up, the Celtics began to pull away.

He and Ojeleye helped fuel an 8-0 run that would put the Celtics up 56-43 with 3:30 to go in the half before the SMU product went down with a knee to the groin that would send him to the locker room shortly before the break.

The Cavs would mount a comeback and erase most of their deficit, but were still down 58-52 to close out the half.

The penultimate quarter again began with a trip to the line, this time for center Daniel Theis, who converted one of two. Cleveland kept the pressure on, and would wrest back a 61-59 lead on a Collin Sexton layup with just under 10 minutes to play in the frame.

Time Lord would start to come alive on offense as Boston fought back, retaking the lead on a pair of buckets by the Louisiana native with some defensive help from Ojeleye, who returned to the game.

The Cavs stayed close throughout the quarter, Sexton tying it 75-up briefly before a Kanter basket, a midrange Tatum stepback and a last-second dunk by rookie Grant Williams would give Boston a 81-77 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Both teams battled bucket-for-bucket despite the Celtics losing rookie Romeo Langford early in the quarter to illness throughout the final frame, Boston holding a small lead for most of the fourth quarter.

Key late buckets by Tatum, Ojeleye and guard Marcus Smart helped the Celtics get some separation, and Boston would win a hard-fought game 112-106.

The Boston Celtics next take on the Utah Jazz at TD Garden at 8pm ET on Friday, March 6th.

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Preview: Despite injuries, Boston looks to end streak vs. Cleveland

After dropping a pair of games against the Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets, the Boston Celtics hope to right the ship against the Cleveland Cavaliers despite multiple players being out.

The 41-19 Boston Celtics hope to get back on track against the 17-44 Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday night after dropping games to the Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets over the last week.

That is, if they can field enough healthy players to do it.

Starting point guard Kemba Walker returned to action under a minutes restriction in the team’s Mar. 3rd loss to the Nets, and did not travel with Boston to Cleveland as he’s still not cleared to play back-to-back games.

To make matters worse, both forward Gordon Hayward (knee) and shooting guard Jaylen Brown (hamstring) were injured in the 129-120 overtime loss, and All-Star forward Jayson Tatum (illness) and reserve guard Javonte Green (ankle) are on the injury list as well — though mercifully as probable to play.

The Hospital Celtics aren’t the only outfit walking wounded into Wednesday night’s contest, though — the Cavs are reeling themselves from an assortment of injuries.

Starting center Andre Drummond (calf) and point guard Darius Garland (groin) join reserve guards Dylan Windler (leg) and Dante Exum (ankle) as scratches for the tilt, and big man Tristan Thompson (knee) is questionable as well.

Even if healthy, the Cavs would be the underdog in the contest, owning the league’s fourth-worst record, a three-game losing streak and just four wins over their previous ten games.

Conversely, Boston — despite the recent spate of losses — has won six of their last ten contests, and sit firmly in third place in the East.

As a result, online sportsbooks favor the Celtics with a -3 spread, which Boston should easily meet even in their banged-up form of the moment.

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Draymond Green on getting booed by Cleveland Cavs fans: ‘I love that’

Draymond Green was booed by the Cavaliers fans in Cleveland during pregame introductions.

For a moment, the Golden State Warriors rivalry with the Cleveland Cavaliers was one of the best in the NBA. The teams met four straight times in the NBA Finals, with Golden State taking home three championship banners.

Now, in 2020, the team’s are drastically different from those that battled deep into the playoffs. No LeBron James, no Kevin Durant and both “Splash Brothers” are dealing with long-term injuries. However, there is still bad blood between fans of the Cavaliers and one member of the Golden State Warriors.

In the Warriors’ first trip to Cleveland in 2020, when Draymond Green was announced to the home crowd, he didn’t exactly receive a warm welcome, in fact, it was quite the opposite. The home crowd booed Green as his name was announced during the away team starting lineups.

During Golden State and Cleveland’s battles in the NBA Finals, Green played 10 games in the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, averaging 10.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game.

After the game, Green was asked by reporters what he thought of the boos from the home crowd.

I love that — to come back here and they still boo me, it’s like man, that little chapter is over, but when they boo me, it just kind of takes me back — it puts you back in that mindset and that feeling that you had coming in here when those boos were really warranted — so yeah, that was good — that was exciting.

Against the 2019-20 Cavaliers, Green played like there was a championship on the line, tying his career-high for assists with 16, adding eight points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks to lead Golden State to a 131-115 victory in Cleveland.

Draymond Green’s 16 assists lead Warriors to blowout vs. Cavs, 131-112

Draymond Green racked up 16 assists in Cleveland with seven different Warriors scoring in double figures to break Golden State’s five-game losing streak.

It hasn’t happened much throughout the 2019-20 NBA season, but against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Golden State Warriors looked and played like the best team on the floor. Instead of a tight loss at the end of the game, the Warriors finished their night in Cleveland with a blowout victory, 131-112.

A monster third quarter from beyond the arc decided the game in the Warriors favor. Golden State hit a franchise-record 10 3-pointers on 10-of-14 long-range shooting in Cleveland to stretch their lead to 105-78 heading in the final period. The Warriors finished the third quarter scoring 44 points to the Cavaliers 19. Draymond Green added eight of his 16 assists in the third quarter, while Glenn Robinson III added 10 points.

In Cleveland, the Warriors had one of their better shooting nights on the season, with seven players scoring in double-digits on 53.9 % shooting from the field and 51.4 % from beyond the arc.

Golden State earned a much-needed win after dropping 15 of their previous 16 and will now have a chance to extend their winning ways when they play the struggling Washington Wizards next. 

Vintage Draymond Green

The Warriors’ former Defensive Player of the Year has had an up-and-down season mixed with injuries and inconsistent play. However, against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Green showed why he’s an All-Star caliber player. 

Behind his career-high-tying 16 assists, Green netted a near triple-double against the Cavaliers, adding eight points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks. 

Kevon Looney Returns

On top of the win, another positive note for the Golden State Warriors is the return of center, Kevon Looney. Looney’s missed the past 18 games with an abdomen injury and has missed more games due to a neuropathic condition that stunted the start of the season. 

Looney played 12 minutes in his return, tallying two points, four rebounds, two steals and a block. 

49ers Nick Bosa’s favorite sports moment of decade hurt the Warriors

If you’re a Bay Area sports fan, Nick Bosa may be pulling your heart in different directions, after stating his favorite sports moment of the decade.

Bay Area sports fans have been spoiled with championships over the past decade. The San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors have registered multiple championship titles across the past 10 seasons in the Bay Area.

Both the Giants and the Warriors are going through transition periods in 2019. Yet, another Bay Area sports franchise is taking the championship torch and running with it.

On Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks in week 17 of the NFL season to seal their first NFC West division title in years. The 49ers now own the number one overall seed in the NFC playoff bracket and will have home-field advantage through the tournament.

A large part of the 49ers’ success has been due to their tenacious defense, and in the middle of it all is their rookie first-round pick, Nick Bosa. Bosa’s added nine sacks in the regular season, and became a fan favorite with the “49ers’ faithful.”

While Bosa may help people forget about the Warriors’ 2019 struggles, his basketball takes might make Bay Area sports fans look the other way.

Bosa did an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Ian Williams, and was asked what his favorite sports moment of the decade was— his answer wasn’t pretty for Warriors’ fans.

“Gotta go with Kyrie’s three against the Warriors,” Bosa answered.

A crippling shot that ended the historic, 73-9 season for the Warriors in loss, but it wasn’t just the game that made that night special, it was HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” as well.

“That was a good night too—that was the ‘Game of Thrones’ Battle of the Bastards episode—so, that was just a great night of television.”

Bosa, originally from Florida, attended Ohio State University for college and was a freshman when the Cavaliers knocked off the Warriors in game seven of the 2016 finals.

Digging back into Bosa’s twitter, it looks like he predicted the Cavaliers extending the 2016 Finals with the Warriors to seven games after Cleveland’s win in game three.

After Bosa stated Irving’s shot was his favorite sports moment of the decade, the rookie sack specialist admitted he knew he was going to be in hot water in the Bay Area.

“But yeah, I’m probably going to get in trouble for that—I’m no basketball fan, but that was fun to watch,” Bosa told NBC Sports Bay Area.

If Bosa can lead the 49ers to their first Super Bowl appearance since 2012, it could mend the gap between his favorite sports moment of the decade, that came at the expense of the Bay Area’s basketball team.