The Cavaliers hung with the Warriors for 3 quarters, but not the 4th

The Cavaliers shot their best shot against Golden State but they still couldn’t outlast the Warriors. LeBron James was brilliant, Isaiah Thomas made good plays, Kevin Love was solid and Dwyane Wade made a ton of great plays.

But we all knew how this one was going to end. This was the first time in a long time the Warriors had their entire squad back healthy and it showed. They didn’t play their best game — the Cavs led most of the way. But once the Warriors grabbed the lead in the third quarter, they never looked back. And there was absolutely nothing Cleveland could do about it.

They built a lead of as many as seven points at the end of the half. Cleveland was spectacular defensively with pinpoint rotations, solid transition defense and great patience on the ball. They bottled up Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant early, only allowing two shots between the two in the first nine minutes of play.

James only missed two shots in the first half and finished with 20 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Things were clicking between him and Isaiah Thomas, and they combined on two lob attempts. They also ended the quarter with this beautiful play between Wade and Jeff Green.

Everything seemed to be going so right, yet the Warriors were still right there. A seven-point deficit for them is nothing — their offensive can explode at any moment. That’s exactly what they did in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors held the Cavaliers to 17 points in the quarter. They stood them up in the paint, forced them into tough threes, and made drives difficult. The next thing you know, Curry started hitting contested threes, Durant was making tough shots. The game was over.

The Cavaliers started a marathon by running sprints while the Warriors kept a steady pace and it showed.

But there’s a lot of work that needs to be done for the Cavaliers in the meantime. First, Isaiah Thomas has to get healthy. Though he scored 19 points today, he still took 21 shots and shot the ball poorly from the field. He made a few plays here and there for his teammates, but the Cavaliers are going to need his scoring to keep pace with the Warriors offense.

The Cavaliers still have James and if they play things right with matchups, they’ll always have a chance to succeed against any team including the Warriors. But it takes a lot to beat that team — their worst shot is nearly unbeatable. The Cavs have to be sharp with every minor detail, or else they’re cooked.

Hopefully, they figure things out if they see each other again. If not, we might be writing this same post once June rolls around.