NBA Week 14 rewind: Domination never looked so easy

Key Games and Results of Week 14

The redeeming element of what proved to be a totally one-sided domination on Monday night is that the Warriors-Spurs matchup this season is far from over. In fact, they still have to play each other three more times. Which, for anyone who’s realized that the Cavaliers still look relatively underwhelming, gives us the best regular season series there is.

As for Monday’s contest, well, it was disappointing if you wanted to see a tightly fought battle. Even with Tim Duncan out, the Spurs should have been more resilient on defense. Yet, as the Warriors continued to rack up the score, Stephen Curry went head-to-head with Kawhi Leonard at times and came out on top, and they dictated the pace of the entire game, we witnessed just how great this team really is.

Yes, it’s only one game, but it still speaks volumes about the Warriors’ prowess.

The Spurs did help them out, though. In terms of executing their typical crisp ball movement and displaying their usual offensive patience, they were totally off. Whether guards would drive, look to pass and be swamped by a double team, or try to execute on the fast break against the speed of Golden State, their passes were erratic while the hands to catch them were often clumsy. It’s something we very rarely see from the Spurs, although with 26 turnovers, they proved that they’re only human.

The Warriors capitalized with 32 points off turnovers and out-shot the Spurs 51.8 percent to 41.9. Along with Curry’s 37 points and six three-pointers, five other scorers in double digits, 15 steals, and winning the rebound battle 45-38, the Warriors put on a masterclass.

The margin between these teams won’t be 32 next time. Though if that does happen, then we can probably call the West a wrap. No team should take out the Spurs that easily. However, even though the Warriors have only done so once, it still makes a statement how remarkable they can be.

Less than a week after watching them take on the Warriors, we got to see the Spurs tackle the kings of the East. They came out on top in their previous game against the Cavs with a 99-95 win on January 14, and despite their crushing loss to the Warriors on Monday, the Spurs still looked like favorites for this game. With David Blatt gone and Tyronn Lue in, not to mention a 96-83 loss against the Bulls, the Cavs were still dealing with some uncertainty.

This contest, however, ended up being one of their best of the season. Thanks to 14 first quarter points from Kevin Love and five assists from LeBron James, they jumped out to score 37 points in the opening period.

In fact, the second quarter was more of the same as the Cavs won 29-19. The absence of Tim Duncan was noticeable again, proving that at age 39 he’s still vital to San Antonio’s interior defense. That being said, the Cavs’ offense kept firing as Kyrie Irving was able to penetrate well and find teammates, while the likes of J.R. Smith and Love had a strong start from the perimeter.

They built up a 66-49 lead by halftime, which also happens to be the most points the Spurs have allowed in a half this entire season.

In the third quarter the Cavs kept pushing the pace. LeBron went at full speed to the basket whenever he got an opportunity, the ball moved well to find open shooters, and as Tristan Thompson sent Manu Ginobili to the floor with a block with two minutes to go in the third, LeBron finished a layup for the biggest lead of the night (19 points).

As the night came to a close it became the second straight game that the trio of LeBron (29 points, seven assists), Irving (21 points, six assists) and Love (21 points, 11 rebounds) all scored at least 20 points. Which, considering it didn’t happen at all in their first 18 games this year, is a good sign.

After the firing of Blatt and the Warriors seeming to be miles ahead as title favorites, the Cavs needed this victory in a bad way.

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