The Cavaliers jumped out to an early 12 point lead in the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors, but it did not last long. The Warriors roared back thanks to the efforts of Stephen Curry to outscore the Cavs 29-16 in the second quarter, giving Golden State a 1-point advantage at halftime.
Coming out of halftime, the W's continued their hot shooting and quickly piled up a 15-point lead midway through the 3rd quarter. Despite Baron Davis' best efforts to drag the Cavaliers back into the game, Cleveland never got closer than 4 points down in the 2nd half. The backcourt tandem of Monta Ellis and Curry was simply too much for the Cavs to handle. The two Golden State guards combined for 47 points and 8 of 14 from downtown, while the Cavaliers' starting guards, Anthony Parker and Ramon Sessions combined for only 14 points on 4 of 18 shooting. Those simple stats do a pretty good job at explaining why the Cavs lost this one.
The Cavaliers are now 4-5 since the 26-game losing streak was broken and have become a surprisingly entertaining team. Baron Davis continues his inspired play, dropping 19 points and 6 assists. Ryan Hollins and Christian Eyenga are obviously loving Davis' new "Lob City" offense as each threw down several highlight-worthy alley-oops. Ramon Sessions struggled again Tuesday night, and Byron Scott mentioned during the post-game that he is getting close to starting Baron Davis at point guard.
Overall, the Cavaliers lost another game, but are no longer incredibly brutal to watch. The worst appears to be in the past and losing games is not necessarily a bad thing, as the Cavs look forward to the NBA Draft. J.J. Hickson suffered what appeared to be a gruesome finger injury late in the game, yet it turned out to be dislocated rather than broken. Fortunately, Hickson likely will not miss any time as the Cavaliers get ready to face the Milwaukee Bucks, tomorrow night at 8:00 PM ET at the Bradley Center.