The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Cavs-Warriors rivalry fizzles quickly
After the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cavaliers in an epic six-game series in the 2015 NBA Finals, it was a foregone conclusion they would meet again in 2016.
After the Cavaliers evened the score in seven games in the 2016 Finals, it was also a foregone conclusion they would meet again in 2017 and then again in 2018 even after the Cavs traded Kyrie Irving in August 2017.
The Cavs and Warriors were so much better than every other team in those four years the regular season was almost boring. Get the first seven months out of the way so the real games could begin.
Right now, boring would look pretty good from a Cavaliers perspective.
The Cavaliers hosted the Warriors Dec. 5 at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavaliers were minus LeBron James, Kevin Love, J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver.
The Cavaliers did not bow to the defending champions. Six Cavs finished in double figures and Tristan Thompson snared 18 rebounds, but the Warriors ran away with the second half, outscoring the Cavs, 7141, in the final two quarters to win easily, 129-105.
The Cavaliers looked like the 5-19 team they are. The Warriors, 17-9, are still in championship form.
The Warriors, who won the NBA title in 2015, 2017 and 2018, played without an injured Draymond Green (toe).
Green and James, now with the Lakers after signing with them in free agency, were at the heart of the rivalry, more so than Warriors guard Steph Curry because James and Green never tried to hide their passion.
Normally WarriorsCavs would automatically be televised nationwide in prime time on ESPN or TNT. On Dec. 5 the game was televised only in each team’s local market.
“It’s just different walking into the building,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said in his pregame news conference. “Some of the best basketball I’ve ever seen in my life was played between these two teams over the past four seasons and obviously they have a new team, and so you move on. Part of me is a little nostalgic for that. I’ll miss that, but the other part, as the coach of the Warriors, I just want to go out there and win the game.”
Fans at The Q couldn’t even muster their normal contempt for Curry, who led Golden State with 42 points.
“I think what made this one unique was just that it was the same two teams four years in a row, which has never happened in the history of the game. And it was LeBron,” Kerr said. “You’re talking about one of the all-time greats.
“Maybe this is what other teams felt like when I was with the Bulls and they were playing us. You walk onto the floor and you look down and you see Michael Jordan. You know you have to find a way to win the game.”
Kerr didn’t have to remind anyone his Warriors beat the Cavaliers with James three of four times in the Finals.
Larry Drew, promoted to Cavaliers head coach when Tyronn Lue was fired six games into the current season, couldn’t hide from the contrast between what the Warriors still are and what his rebuilding team has become. But he did find a bright side.
“The honest truth?” Drew said. “I get Christmas off this year, so I’m excited about that.”
The Cavaliers and Warriors were a Christmas Day showcase game on television each of the past three years.
Drew said the Warriors will go down in history as being one of the greatest teams in NBA history. Rather than dwell on coming up short three times – the Cavaliers were eliminated in five games in 2017 and swept last season – Drew prefers to look back on the accomplishment it was to reach the Finals four straight times.
“I look back at the four years we battled Golden State and remember how intense those moments were,” he said. “The unfortunate part is we only came up with one, but I look back personally and say, ‘Wow! I was in the Finals four straight years.’ That’s something I’ll always remember.”
The game Dec. 5 was a reminder of how much work the Cavaliers must do to get back to being an elite team. Because as Kerr said so succinctly:
“It’s not a rivalry. It’s another game.”
Game 24 for the Cavaliers. Game 26 for the Warriors.
Reach Schudel at JSchudel@News-Herald. com. On Twitter: @jsproinsider