Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors celebrates during the second half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on November 18, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 104-89. Jason Miller/Getty Images/AFPÂ
The Golden State Warriors tightened the defensive screws in the fourth quarter and Stephen Curry saved 20 of his game-high 40 points for the final 12 minutes as the Western Conference front-runners rallied from a 13-point deficit to defeat the host Cleveland Cavaliers 104-89 on Thursday night.
Seeking a ninth win in their last 10 games, the Warriors began the fourth period down 81-68 before holding the Cavaliers without a point for the first 5:40 of the quarter.
In the meantime, Curry poured in 13 points, including three 3-pointers, and brother-in-law Damion Lee added a pair of two-point hoops in a 17-0 flurry that flipped the visitors into an 85-81 lead.
Steph CATCHES FIRE in the 4th quarter.
🔥 20 points (40 in the game)
🔥 4 threes (9 in the game)
🔥 36-8 @warriors closing run pic.twitter.com/wA6roNXwQr— NBA (@NBA) November 19, 2021
A three-point play by Darius Garland temporarily stopped the Cavaliers’ bleeding and made it a one-point game, but Curry added seven more points, Juan Toscano-Anderson seven and Lee five in a 19-5 finish.
The Cavaliers missed their first six shots of the period and mixed in five turnovers in the lead-losing drought. Garland had the team’s only two hoops in a period in which the hosts were outscored 36-8.
Curry’s 40 points featured 9-for-16 shooting on 3-pointers. The Warriors made 15 threes in the game, six in the fourth period.
Lee finished with 11 points off the bench, while Nemanja Bjelica provided 14 and Andrew Wiggins 12 for Golden State, which hasn’t lost a regular-season game at Cleveland since Christmas Day 2016.
Draymond Green contributed a game-high 14 assists in the win.
Garland paced the Cavaliers with 25 points, shooting 10-for-22 overall and 4-for-11 on 3-pointers.
Dean Wade and Kevin Love chipped in with 17 points each for the Cavaliers, who lost their third in a row as they continued to play without Evan Mobley and Collin Sexton.
The Cavaliers’ Ed Davis led all rebounders with 14, while Isaac Okoro and Ricky Rubio added 10 points apiece.
After the Cavaliers opened on a 10-0 run and the Warriors drew even before quarter’s end, the game was tightly contested until Love bombed in a pair of 3-pointers and was fouled on a third attempt, making all three free throws, to help Cleveland open a 77-65 lead late in the third period.
Wade beat the third-quarter horn with a tip-in to put the Cavaliers up 13 entering the fourth quarter, but it was Cleveland’s last field goal for almost six minutes.