A day after learning their starting center no longer would be with the team for the foreseeable future, the Cavaliers no longer were a team caught in the midst of turmoil.
Now, they’re just a team still trying to figure out how to win.
They continue to come close, but even without the suspended-turned-unwanted Andrew Bynum for a second straight game, the Cavaliers stumbled for the fifth straight time, this time a 108-104 overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors at The Q.
It was the Cavaliers seventh loss in their last eight games, as they fell to 10-20.
They have lost their last three games by a combined nine points – this time squandering a 17-point lead with 1:13 remaining in the second quarter – but were more encouraged after Sunday’s loss than frustrated at their almost-but-not-quite outings of late.
“I feel like we’re close,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “Obviously, these losses bother our guys, and they bother them in the right way. But we have to stay at it. All these experiences are great for us to go through, you just hope you can come out on the winning end on most of them. I’ve got to give my guys credit because they’re competing. I’ve just got to try to keep helping them at the end of games.”
They needed help in the middle of the game against the Warriors, too. At the end of the second quarter, Golden State scored eight unanswered points – including two 3-pointers by sharp-shooting guard Stephen Curry – to slice what had been a 17-point Cleveland advantage to nine.
And when the third quarter started, the Warriors hustle continued. An 11-5 surge sliced the Cavaliers’ lead to 69-66.
“Any time you have a lead and it’s cut like that, especially at the end of quarters, it’s tough to deal with,” Brown said. “But it’s part of basketball because there are good teams out there. (Golden State) is a good basketball team.”
The Warriors were led by Curry’s near-triple-double, as he finished with 29 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.
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