Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors: Postgame Grades and Analysis
Behind 47 points from the Splash Brothers, the Golden State Warriors cruised to a 112-94 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday at Oracle Arena.
The duo of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry led a balanced attack that registered 35 assists and included four other players reaching double figures.
Defensively, Golden State held Cleveland to just 13 assists and 40.7 percent shooting from the field. Without LeBron James, the Cavaliers were simply outmatched against the league's best team.
| Stephen Curry | A |
| Klay Thompson | B+ |
| Draymond Green | A- |
| Harrison Barnes | B |
| Marreese Speights | C+ |
| Rest of Team | B |
| Kyrie Irving | B- |
| Kevin Love | A |
| J.R. Smith | B+ |
| Timofey Mozgov | B- |
| Rest of Team | D+ |
Golden State Warriors
Stephen Curry: A
Curry did a great job of picking his spots, pulling up for jumpers when the space was there and looking for his teammates when the defense collapsed on his drives.
He shot 8-of-15 from the field on the way to 23 points and dished out 10 assists. Perhaps most importantly, his patience helped limit his turnover total to just one.
Klay Thompson: B+
The other half of Golden State's devastating combo led the team in scoring with 24 points. He shot 8-of-17 from the field and 4-of-10 from three-point range.
Defensively, Thompson wasn't his usually impactful self. It wasn't necessarily that he was bad against J.R. Smith, as the Cavs' 2-guard hit plenty of tough shots, but Thompson generally scores more than the guy he's matched up with.
Draymond Green: A-
"Draymond Green wearing all the plaids on one shirt pic.twitter.com/OIgWoOfa3E
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) January 10, 2015"
One game after registering his first career triple-double, Draymond Green went for 11 rebounds, 10 points and eight assists. His all-around game is looking more indispensable every day.
At one point in the second half, he grabbed a defensive rebound among three Cavs, dribbled to half court and then delivered a perfect alley-oop pass from about 50 feet away. You can probably count the number of power forwards capable of that kind of play on one hand.
And that's mostly an offensive play. He's stellar defensively, too. He's always in the right spots, which helped him get three blocks against Cleveland.
Harrison Barnes: B
Harrison Barnes' numbers don't really jump off the page, but he's been one of Golden State's most efficient players as a fourth or fifth option on offense.
He generally shoots only when he's wide open, in situations he actually creates for himself by moving without the ball.
His 11-point performance on 5-of-7 shooting was another example of his high-IQ play this season.
Marreese Speights : C+
As Andrew Bogut continues to recover from injury, Marreese Speights made another start, scoring 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting and grabbing eight boards.
His offense wasn't as efficient as usual, but he did pick up two blocks on the other end, offering some of the rim protection Golden State's been missing without Bogut.
Rest of Team: B
Bogut played 20 minutes off the bench and actually showed some flashes of the defensive ability that makes him one of the most valuable centers in the league when he's healthy.
In just 20 minutes, he grabbed five boards, scored four points, dished out three assists and had one emphatic block on a dunk attempt by Timofey Mozgov.
Justin Holiday was also good off the bench, scoring 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. David Lee added eight points and five boards. And Andre Iguodala went for five points and five assists.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Kyrie Irving: B-
It wasn't exactly the picture of efficiency, but Kyrie Irving's 23-point performance helped keep his Cavaliers in the game all the way to the end.
He struggled at times against the defensive system of the Warriors, which was able to disrupt most of the pick-and-rolls Irving ran. In those situations, he often resorted to trying to score himself, leading to difficult shots and a 9-of-23 performance.
"I feel like the Warriors blow up more handoffs than anyone in the league.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) January 10, 2015"
On the other end, he gave plenty of effort trying to stay in front of Curry but really couldn't slow him down enough to make an impact.
Kevin Love: A
Kevin Love may have thought he'd get a chance to be the alpha dog with LeBron James out, but he was third on the Cavs in shot attempts behind Irving and J.R. Smith.
It's a shame, because he was the most efficient of the three, scoring 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go along with his 14 boards.
He was doing all the things that made him a star in Minnesota, scoring in a variety of ways and dominating the boards, but he just continues to do it in a smaller capacity.
J.R. Smith: B+
Love may have been more efficient than Smith, but not by much. The Cavs' new shooting guard was actually pretty good in his second game with the team, scoring 27 points on 11-of-23 shooting and grabbing five rebounds.
He got a lot of his buckets with the trademark fadeaway and contested jumpers that have made him infamous, and he looked very comfortable with his new teammates.
Timofey Mozgov: B-
Timofey Mozgov, another recent acquisition for the Cavs, nearly logged a double-double in 27 minutes off the bench. He scored nine points, grabbed eight boards and generally clogged the paint on defense the way Cleveland wants him to.
Offensively, Mozgov showed off a skill set that should help him mesh with LeBron right away.
"Couple of nice plays by Mozgov in the pick and roll. People who haven't seen much of him will be surprised by him in that regard.
— Seth Partnow (@SethPartnow) January 10, 2015"
Mozgov already looks like a pretty good fit, and the more time he spends with the team, the better that fit will be.
Rest of Team: D+
Cleveland's starting center, Tristan Thompson, was the only other Cavalier to reach double figures. He finished with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting and grabbed nine boards.
Mike Miller, the fifth starter, scored zero points on 0-of-3 shooting. The rest of the team combined for seven points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Coming Up Next
The Cavaliers next game will be on the road against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. With LeBron on the road with the team, he could return for the game.
The Warriors, meanwhile, are off until Tuesday, when they'll be on the road to face the Utah Jazz at 9 p.m. ET. Golden State dominated in the first meeting between the two, winning 101-88.
Andy Bailey covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him @AndrewDBailey.
