CLEVELAND—Steve Kerr had a simple explanation for the Golden State Warriors’ 110-99 loss at Cleveland.
“The best player on the planet from the last five years had a huge night on us,” the coach said.
LeBron James dominated with 42 points in his first game against the Warriors this season, providing a reminder that he is once again very much a candidate for the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Most Valuable Player Award (MVP).
James’s 15-for-25 shooting performance happened to come on a Thursday night when Stephen Curry, the Warriors’ MVP candidate, was in the building.
Curry scored 18 points on five-for-17 shooting, with only four of his points coming in the second half. He also committed four turnovers.
“If I’m playing one on one against [James] and you just look at tonight, then I lost obviously,” Curry said of the MVP race. “But it’s about a body of work. It’s about what your team’s doing. It’s about just being consistent over the course of the season. And that’s my job.
“Tonight just wasn’t my best, and it won’t be the last bad game of my career, so I’ll be all right.”
James was four-for-nine from 3-point range, whereas Curry was three-for-nine, as the four-time MVP took over the game despite whatever defense the Warriors threw at him.
“I gotta be the MVP for these guys, the 14 guys in this locker room,” James said, downplaying that the presence of Curry had something to do with his big game.
James had 11 rebounds and five assists, and he had 24 points by halftime.
“Once he gets going, it’s tough to stop him, especially when he’s hitting those contested jump shots, step-back jump shots,” said Warriors forward Draymond Green, who took turns guarding James with Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala.
David Lee led the Warriors with 19 points as they fell to 44-11. Klay Thompson was held to 13 points. Cleveland has won 18 of its past 20 games, and if the two teams meet again this season, it will be in the NBA Finals.
The Warriors’ frustrations during the game could be seen on the face of Kerr, who took issue with the officiating. At one point, the rookie coach became so heated that he had to remove and toss aside his jacket after Curry couldn’t get a foul call.
Kerr had to be held back by Associate Head Coach Alvin Gentry before taking off his jacket. Eventually, his exchange with official Bennett Salvatore appeared to include Salvatore grabbing his arm. Security guards emerged nearby.
“Then we hugged and made up during the next time-out,” Kerr said, calling Salvatore a “great official.”
Said Curry: “That was a tough stretch where we felt like calls didn’t go our way which were pretty blatant.”
The Cavaliers ultimately shot 35 free throws compared with 19 for the Warriors, who didn’t help themselves by making only 10 of them.
The fireworks on the sideline got Warriors players excited, but the result wasn’t a rally after they had fallen behind 72-61 at that point. James proceeded to hit a three-pointer to start a run that gave the Cavaliers their largest lead at 16 points.
With less than four minutes left and the Warriors trailing by 11, James twice stole the ball from the Warriors and then sealed the win after backing down his defender and scoring to give the Cavaliers a 107-94 lead.
Curry missed each of his four shot attempts in the fourth quarter and was outscored by Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving, who finished with 24 points despite briefly leaving the game with a shoulder injury. Kevin Love added 16 points for Cleveland.
Green, who said the defense played on James was “great,” added that he didn’t consider the loss a measuring stick. The Warriors continue to maintain the league’s best record.
“We don’t need to measure ourselves against anyone,” Green said. “We know how good we are.”
In other NBA game, the Phoenis Suns defeated Oklahoma City Thunder, 117-113.
Diamond Leung / San Jose Mercury News
Image credits: AP