Golden State Warriors 118-108 Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 talking points

On a packed Monday night schedule in the NBA for Martin Lurther King Jr. Day, the Golden State Warriors were in Cleveland for the second and last regular season meeting between the two teams. Both teams have played on this historic day for the past two seasons and each time, the Warriors have had the last laugh. This season was no different, the only difference being it wasn't a blowout, unlike the previous two occasions.

While the Christmas Day game was huge because it was the first time both teams were facing off since the 2017 Finals. This game on Monday night was huge because this was the first time both teams were coming into this match-up with no injuries. Stephen Curry and Isaiah Thomas had missed the previous game during the Holidays but both started this game and played a huge role as well in giving us a probably preview to the 2018 Finals.

So without further ado, let's dive into the analysis of this game with the five biggest talking points:

#5 Warriors turn the tables in the third quarter AGAIN

The Warriors were down by seven at the half but that didn't matter

The game went back-and-forth for much of the first half, with both teams exchanging leads up until just before the half. Using a mini-run, the Cleveland Cavaliers headed to the locker room at halftime up by seven points on their home floor. Couldn't ask for anything better, right?

Wrong, they were facing the defending champions. More importantly, they were up against a team, who are deadly in the third quarter. In 45 games so far, the Warriors have a league-best net rating of 19.5 in the third quarter. To understand how good that is, the second-best team, the Denver Nuggets have a net rating of 12.8. (Note: Only three teams have net rating above 10 - Boston Celtics (12.4))

This game's third quarter went as per the script. The Warriors came out red-hot, scoring 36 points while only allowing 27. Thus, turning a seven-point deficit into a two-point lead. If that wasn't enough, they continued their onslaught in the first half of the fourth quarter, which helped them win the game comfortably.

These third quarter turnarounds aren't just this season. Golden State has been doing this last year as well.

#4 Draymond Green getting the non-shooter treatment

Draymond Green

2016-17 stats: 10.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 41.8 FG% and 30.8 3P-FG%

2017-18 stats: 11.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.6 assists, 45.4 FG% and 30.5 3P-FG%

Warriors' death line-ups have been unstoppable for the past two years but the other thing that's been around for the past two years is the target on their back. Teams are finding news ways and adapting in order to dethrone the Dubs.

As clearly visible, Draymond Green is pretty much averaging similar figures to last season, even his shooting percentages are pretty much similar. However, teams are picking their poison and preferring to leave Green open as compared to Curry, Klay Thompson or Kevin Durant when the reigning champs shell out their small line-up to close the game. This happened quite blatantly in this game. The Cavaliers were allowing Green to shoot the long ball, and given that he went 0-of-5, their decision seems to be spot-on.

Oppositions have decided to keep the defender closer to the paint than to the Green, when he is at the 3-point line. This clearly messes with the Warriors' spacing on the floor but that doesn't seem to have affected their win-loss record so far. Nonetheless, Golden State will have to make some adjustment to counter this move come Playoff time.

#3 Defense still HUGE issue for the Cavs

LeBron James and Isaiah Thomas

The Cavaliers were coming off a three-game losing streak. If there was ever a right time (game) to make a statement, this was the game but no they doubled down and instead lost the game once again because of their defense. Cleveland is currently ranked 29th in the league in defensive efficiency with a rating of 109.4.

Not only in this game but even in the 2017 NBA Finals, they were able to stay close to the Warriors up until their offense was clicking. The moment there are more than a few empty possessions over three minutes or more, then they start losing the game because they can't stop the Warriors offense (any team for that matter).

In the fourth quarter of this game, they only scored 17 points while giving up 25. What's worse is that majority of those 17 points, had come in the last six minutes of the game because the team had gone 14-of-15 on field goals during the first six minutes of the fourth quarter.

#2 Can Isaiah Thomas really help the Cavaliers?

Isaiah Thomas

It's obviously a small sample size so far (5 games) but it's worth asking: Can Isaiah Thomas really help the Cavaliers?

The recurring issues for these Cleveland teams that have gone to the NBA Finals have been twofold - defense and shot-blocking. When these are covered, the Cavaliers are a force to be reckoned with and can even defeat the Warriors, like they did in the 2016 Finals irrespective of the circumstances.

Thomas was second to last among 468 players ranked in ESPN's Defensive RPM (the players' estimated on-court impact on the team's defensive performance) for last season. How is this player supposed to help the oldest team in the league to play better defense? Thomas has mentioned in various interviews about the lack of effort by the team but even if they were to give it all, he would be a liability because of his height, no matter how much he puts on the line.

Through his five games so far, he's averaging 13.6 points and 3.4 assists on 36.1% shooting from the field and 23.1% from beyond the arc. More importantly, the team is 2-3 when he's played this season and in the last three games, he has played (all losses), the team goes -16.3 points on average.

Again, this is a small sample size - just five games but there are stats that back the fact Thomas might not be beneficial to the Cavaliers' problem-solving attempts.

#1 Warriors register statement win, poised to repeat as Champions

Kevin Durant led the way once again, in this game against the Cleveland Cavaliers

The Golden State Warriors through 45 games are 36-9, the best record in the league right now. Up and down their roster, a lot of their players have missed games, which could have affected their team play on the court. Of the players that are part of their main rotation, only two have missed two or lesser games - Klay Thompson and David West.

The other members of the team's Big 4 - Curry (30 games played), Durant (37) and Green (39) have all missed sizeable numbers of games at different times in the season. Yet, the reigning champions are quite comfortably seated at the top of the league and not just in terms of record. In all the statistical categories that matter, they are tops or in the top 5 at least.

Their only matter of concern, a kink they still have to fix, is their turnovers which they have ample time to do. With this win, they have currently on a three-game win streak, all wins against quality Eastern Conference Playoff opponents - Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, and the Cavaliers.