NBA highlights on Nov. 11: Cavaliers beat Warriors twice in one week

The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors 118-110 at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California, on Saturday, sweeping the opponents 2-0 in the 2023-24 regular season.

The Cavaliers didn’t repeat their defensive policy of double-teaming Stephen Curry, which they stuck to in their last matchup on November 5. Instead, they tried to maintain one-on-one defense in every position and paid more attention to limiting the Warriors’ ball movement. The team had 13 steals and turned their opponents’ 20 turnovers into 32 points, outscoring the Warriors 32-8 on this front.

The Cavaliers have been no better than average in defensive rating (112.3, 15th) among all 30 teams this season because they have very distinctive strong and weak links in their defense. Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley enabled the team to shut down most attackers in the paint. However, the smallness of their back-court pair, Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, and their lack of a big wingman means that the Cavaliers are not good at containing strong guards or forwards who can attack off the dribble in the middle range.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, they don’t have such offensive resources. Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson and Jonathan Kuminga combined to shoot 13-for-35 from the field in Saturday’s game. Curry can beat most of the Cavaliers’ defenders on him, but their opponents’ defensive rotations were too quick for him to get much space to work, especially when he often had to play with at least two teammates who posed no threat outside the 3-point line.

That’s why Curry had to shoot as many as 14 triples, many of which were tough attempts right over the fingertips of the defender. He made four of them to get a court-high 30 points and reached 22,000 career points. The team’s rally in the third quarter came from his 13 points in that period, but there was only so much Curry could do when the rest of the team couldn’t provide enough support.

The Cavaliers also made good use of the Warriors’ defensive flaw, which is the lack of a reliable rim protector, especially after Draymond Green was ejected with two technical fouls in the third quarter. Curry, Thompson, Wiggins, and even Chris Paul tried hard to offer help defense around the hoop, but solid defense requires a big man who can fill the paint so their opponents can’t score 50 points at 52 percent field goal (FG) in the paint. The Warriors don’t have anyone like that. Kevon Looney is a top-class rebounder but not a qualified blocker; Darios Saric is too old and not athletic enough to do the job.

Other games on Saturday (away teams come first):

Milwaukee Bucks 97-112 Orlando Magic

Damian Lillard missed his second straight game for the Bucks because of a calf injury, and the team suffered their second consecutive loss at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. Giannis Antetokounmpo made 15 of his 22 FG attempts to drop 35 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and two blocks, but he also committed six turnovers. Moreover, only three of his teammates scored in double digits, and none of them reached even 15 points.

By contrast, the Magic had five players get double-digit points, and three of them scored at least 20. They tore the Bucks’ defense apart with energy and aggression, grabbing 15 offensive rebounds and earning 35 free throws. Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs combined to get 70 points and make 19 free throws.

Toronto Raptors 94-117 Boston Celtics

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis dominated the Raptors at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, with 77 points, 17 rebounds and nine triples. Tatum extended the Celtics’ lead to nine points (55-46) with 11 points and three assists in the second quarter. Then Brown and Porzingis took over from him in the third period. Porzingis went 5-for-6 from the field to add 12 points; Brown got 14 points. The Celtics led by as many as 30 points (103-73) in the second half.

Miami Heat 117-109 Atlanta Hawks

The Heat had no Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro or Caleb Martin at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday night, but they had no problem defeating the Hawks to secure their fourth straight win. Bam Adebayo shot 9-for-12 in FGs and 8-for-8 in free throws to get a double-double of 26 points and 17 rebounds. Jaime Jaquez Jr., this year’s No. 18 selection from the NBA Draft, contributed 20 points and four assists for the Heat.

Both the Hawks and the Heat delivered 23 assists in the game, but the Hawks committed six more turnovers (21-15), which enabled their opponents to score eight more points (23-15) by exploiting the Hawks’ mistakes. They lost by eight points in the end.