Golden State Comes Up Short Again as LeBron Hits Game-Winning Shot

Another nail-biter by the Golden State Warriors. This time, to the Cleveland Cavaliers on a play that every person at Oracle Arena knew who would be taking the final shot of the game.

So, who did the Warriors send out to guard James? None other than center Ronny Turiaf!

The Warriors suffered their second straight game with a one-point decision at the buzzer. The Warriors lost a buzzer beater by Jeff Green of the Oklahoma Thunder on Jan. 22.

The return of guard Monta Ellis and the arena's chants of "Defense" and "Let's Go Warriors" did not seem to help. In the end, clutch James hit the shot that counted most to make the final score, 106-105.

The Warriors outplayed the Cavs in the fourth quarter. Getting to the free throw line 10 more times than the Cavs. They were also alert defensively, forcing James to go 4-14 from the field in the second half. 

In one play, the Warriors forced made James to pass to a wide open Ben Wallace from 17-feet away. Of course, Wallace hits the shot.

The addition of Ellis back into the Warriors' lineup is definitely going to help. Tonight, the 23-year-old guard looked great defensively and had the explosiveness to get by defenders. He just needs to get back to finishing and hitting that mid range jumper of his.

After watching the Warriors, there still remains hope to turn the season around and get to at least .500. In order to accomplish this, the team has to fix several flaws.

Firstly, once the team builds a lead in a game, it has to maintain by not allowing the other team back into the game. 

Secondly, they will need to value each possession and stop committing unforced errors.

Otherwise, if they had done all this, the Warriors wouldn't be at 13-31 right now. They would be at least 16-28.

Tonight, it was another one of those "What if…" for the Warriors, however.  What if the Warriors had a quicker defender to disrupt James' shot does he miss that shot? We will never know!

Yet, it definitely would have been a better result than having Turiaf come out on James. For one, Turiaf is playing James to drive and the pull up is definitely going to occur. So, there is no way that Turiaf, who is shading the wrong way, could get back to block the shot.

It was another wasted performance by the Warriors. With solid play from Anthony Morrow, glimpses of the old Monta Ellis, the two clutch shots over James by Stephen Jackson and the outstanding defense by Andris Biedrins, it definitely has to be disheartening for such a young team.  

At least the Warriors should have an easy time with the lowly Clippers next Sunday.