SAN FRANCISCO — “What if” has been the defining question of the Warriors’ season, and Golden State had to be left wondering the same after taking one of the NBA’s top teams to the wire but falling short once again with their superstar watching in street clothes.
The Warriors simply lacked the firepower to put away the Cavaliers, allowing a team playing its third game in four nights to score 18 of the final 29 points in a 118-111 loss.
The good news is the Warriors won’t be left wondering much longer, with Steph Curry reportedly set to make his long-awaited return on Sunday. In the meantime, an undermanned Warriors team put in a valiant effort but took its 18th loss in 27 games without Curry.
Gui Santos scored 25 and Brandin Podziemski sank a couple clutch 3s to finish with 23, but the Warriors had no answer for the closing power of James Harden and Donovan Mitchell.
Max Strus sank six 3s to finish with 24 points as Cleveland shot 44.4% from deep (16-for-36) and 51.2% from the field (42-for-82) to offset the Warriors’ 23 points off their 15 turnovers.
What it means
There’s little the Warriors can do at this point about their position in the Western Conference standings, so all that matters is how they’re able to integrate Curry over their final five games.
The loss dropped them to 36-41, guaranteeing only their second .500 or worse finish in Steve Kerr’s 12 seasons.
Turning point
Everything changed after Dennis Schroder delivered a hard foul on LJ Cryer early in the fourth quarter. Schroder fouled Cryer from behind under the basket and pushed him to the ground, earning a flagrant, and was assessed a technical only seconds later.
The play ignited the crowd inside Chase Center and the Warriors alike.
The Cavs were leading 94-87 at the time, but the Warriors used three technical free throws from Cryer and a pair of 3-pointers from Brandin Podziemski to take their first lead since the early moments of the first quarter with a 9-0 run that put them ahead 98-94 with 7:57 remaining.
Including calls against Draymond Green and Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson, there were three technicals and one flagrant called within a span of less than 30 seconds.
Cleveland held multiple leads of double digits early, but it was a battle from then on.
MVP: Gui Santos
Santos sank a clutch corner 3 that put the Warriors up 103-100 with less than four minutes to play and generally looked unbothered by a pelvic contusion that kept him out Wednesday night.
That was the last time the Warriors led, as Mitchell provided an immediate answer on the other end with his own triple and the Cavs outscored Golden State 16-8 the rest of the way.
Stat of the game: 54
The Warriors rested Kristaps Porzingis, De’Anthony Melton, Gui Santos and Gary Payton II in Wednesday’s loss to the Spurs with the intent of having them available against the Cavs.
The four players combined for 54 of Golden State’s points.
Everybody made an impact except Melton, who finished 2-of-12 from the field for five points.
Up next
Curry could be back in uniform the next time the Warriors take the court. After missing his 27th consecutive game with runner’s knee, Curry is set to be re-evaluated before Golden State hosts the Rockets on Sunday. If all checks out, it could be Curry’s first game since Jan. 30.
