OAKLAND — Despite off-nights from both Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, the Warriors still managed to thrive in Game 1, smoking the Cavaliers 104-89 Thursday night at Oracle Arena.
Curry scored just 11 points and Thompson mustered only 9 on a combined 8-27 shooting effort. LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love combined for 66 points; Cleveland still lost by 15.
Surprisingly, Golden State’s star power took a backseat to its role players. The Warriors’ bench outscored Cleveland’s 45-10 on the night, saving the team from what would’ve been a worrisome Game 1 loss.
Powered by a blazing start from Harrison Barnes and Leandro Barbosa, the Warriors went up 14 points on the Cavaliers early in the second quarter. The backups never let up and churned out a devastating 21-4 run late in the third quarter that bled into the fourth, turning a 68-67 deficit into an 88-72 lead.
Barnes scored a team-high 9 points in the first half, bursting out of the gates with confidence, and finished with 13. Barbosa, aptly nicknamed the Brazilian Blur, attacked Matthew Dellavedova for 7 quick points early in the second quarter. It was Barbosa’s best game of the postseason as he scored 11 points.
The systematic takedown of the Cavs didn’t stop with Barnes and Barbosa. Literally everyone not named Curry or Thompson got in on the party.
Shaun Livingston matches up well against Cleveland and was outstanding as an attacking midrange scorer. He heard fans chanting “MVP!” when he left the floor midway through the fourth quarter as the team’s leading scorer with 20 points.
Andrew Bogut scored 10 points, patrolling the paint with his jump hook and box outs. The Oklahoma City challenge is paying dividends now. Draymond Green also turned in his eighth double-double of the playoffs with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Andre Iguodala, still the Cavalier killer, was as masterful as ever on the defensive end. He stripped a charging James on a drive in the paint, Thompson collected the loose ball and finished with a layup to give the Warriors a 43-29 lead with 6:22 left in the second quarter. Iguodala finished with 12points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
Cleveland had many defensive breakdowns on the night, almost focusing too much of their energy on stopping the Splash Brothers. Cleveland’s role players didn’t show up at all. J.R. Smith didn’t hit his first shot until 4:43 left in the fourth quarter. Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumphert and Dellavedova were mostly irrelevant off the bench, besides Delly striking Iguodala below the belt in the third quarter.
Cleveland has a ton of adjustments to sort through before Game 2, which you can hear on KNBR 1050 and KGO 810 Sunday at 5 pm.