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Tuesday, January 17, 2017
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OAKLAND – The Golden State Warriors will be seeking a measure of revenge against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. Again.
When the Cavaliers and Warriors meet in a nationally televised contest, it’ll be more than just a rematch of the 2016 NBA Finals, won in seven games by Cleveland.
It also will be a rematch of the Christmas Day game, which also was won by the Cavaliers.
The Finals’ win required a three-game sweep after trailing 3-1. The December victory came after the Cavaliers trailed by 14 points in the fourth quarter.
In both occasions, a late jumper by Kyrie Irving made him the hero.
The schedule gives the Warriors an advantage in the rematch of the rematch. They haven’t left Northern California in the last three weeks, and have had three days off since beating Detroit, 127-107, on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers will be playing their sixth road game in 11 days.
“They’re even more dangerous,” Cavaliers star LeBron James said Sunday of the Warriors, who added All-Star Kevin Durant in free agency over the summer. “They’re even more dangerous than they were last year, and that’s pretty hard to say because they were a damn great team last year. They’re even better this year.”
That’s one reason James has pushed the Cavaliers to get better. And they believe they have with the addition of veteran guard Kyle Korver, acquired in a trade with Atlanta on Jan. 7.
Korver shot just 2-for-10 in losses at Utah and Portland in his first two games for the Cavaliers, but rebounded with a 7-for-10, 18-point effort that contributed to a 120-108 win at Sacramento on Friday.
Golden State has gone 7-1 since the Cleveland loss, beaten only by Memphis in overtime.
“It’s more important that we play well,” Warriors forward Draymond Green responded after the Detroit win when asked which would be his preference Monday: Playing well or winning.
“We need to get better,” he continued. “We still have a lot of work to do.”
Green then paused for a moment.
“Of course,” he noted, “when we play well, we usually win.” (AP)
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Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James (23) stuns the Golden State Warriors with an impressive dunk during their 2016 Christmas showdown.
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