Warriors topple Cavaliers in a rematch of NBA final
OAKLAND, CALIF. — Even when all those longrange shots aren’t falling, the defendingchampion Golden State Warriors showed they are comfortable grinding out wins.
Draymond Green had 22 points and 15 rebounds and the Warriors got defensive in their NBA final rematch against Cleveland, beating the Cavaliers 89-83 on Friday.
“It’s good to have one of those every so often,” guard Stephen Curry said. “If our defence shows up, we’re in pretty good shape to win games. We just show our versatility and try to win different ways.”
Curry added 19 points, Klay Thompson had 18, and the Warriors improved to 28-1 by winning their 32nd straight regular-season home game.
Instead of doing it with three-pointers, defending champion Golden State maintained its edge over Cleveland by limiting the Cavaliers to 32 per cent shooting.
The Warriors were held under 100 points at home for the first time in more than a year in the regular season.
“It’s good to practice and get experience in that type of game as well where it’s low scoring, getting stops, knocking down free throws and executing in the half court,” interim coach Luke Walton said. “It’s great experience for us.”
LeBron James scored 25 points to lead the Cavaliers. They had their six-game winning streak snapped.
“We gave ourselves a chance,” James said. “If we play like that defensively, we’re going to be a very tough team to beat. Offensively, we just didn’t have it. No one had it.”
Heat 94, Pelicans 88, OT
MIAMI — Chris Bosh had 30 points and 10 rebounds, Dwyane Wade added 19 points to move into No. 3 on the NBA’s Christmas Day list and Miami survived some shaky moments to beat New Orleans. Hassan Whiteside grabbed 17 rebounds for the Heat.
Bulls 105, Thunder 96
OKLAHOMA CITY — Jimmy Butler scored 23 points, and Pau Gasol had 21 points and 13 rebounds in Chicago’s win over Oklahoma City.
The Bulls snapped a three-game losing streak. Kevin Durant had 29 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Oklahoma City, and Russell Westbrook added 26 points.