Cleveland Cavaliers: What we learned in the home loss to Golden State

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CLEVELAND, OH – JANUARY 15: Kevin Durant #35 of the Golden State Warriors defends against LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 15, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Cleveland Cavaliers actually put in the effort, but effort isn’t enough against the Golden State Warriors.

The game was closer than the 118-108 final score would suggest. However, it remains clear that there is a large gap between the Cavs and Warriors. Fortunately for the Cleveland Cavaliers, they do have assets to try and close that gap at the trade deadline.

The Cavs started off well, but they ran into a wall in the second half, more specifically the fourth quarter. Cleveland went 6-of-23 (26.1%) from the field in the final frame. Besides that, the Cavs didn’t break out of their three-point shooting slump as they went 7-for-28 (25%) from deep.

LeBron James had another great performance finishing with 32 points, 6 assists, 8 boards, 3 steals, and 4 blocks. However, he didn’t have a great day protecting the ball as he totaled 8 turnovers.

Isaiah Thomas showed flashes of brilliance, but he is still trying to get his legs underneath him. He showed chemistry with James, but his shot still isn’t where he wants it to be. He finished the game with 19 points on 21 shots and went 1 for 7 from behind the arc.

Kevin Durant and Steph Curry led the way for the Warriors like they always do. Durant put up 32 points on 9-of-16 shooting with 8 assists. Curry also contributed 8 assists and finished with 23 points of his own.

The game was fun for three and a half quarters featuring 15 lead changes, but Golden State proved to be too much in the end. The Cavs can be good, but the Warriors are the standard in the NBA. There’s still a large gap between where the Cavs are and where they need to be in order to meet that standard.

Here’s what we learned from the loss.