Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 takeaways from Game 1 vs. Warriors

2. Cavs hang tight in the third quarter

No matter how big a deficit they may face in the first half or how poorly they may be playing, the Warriors always find a way to blow teams out in the third quarter.

With a third quarter scoring margin of +130 in the playoffs and +371 during the regular season, Golden State leads that category by over double the amount of the next best team.

So when halftime came with the score all tied up at 56, many expected a classic Warrior avalanche to befall the Cavaliers, taking the same fate as so many teams before them.

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Funny thing, though, that avalanche never came, as Golden State only outscored the Cavs by six points.

While it’s never good to get outscored in any quarter, being down single digits to the Warriors heading into the final frame should be considered a win for the Cavs.

We’ve seen in past games Golden State struggle to close the deal, still trying to figure out who its closer is between Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.

A close game meant that the issue for the Warriors would arise once again, opening the door for LeBron’s greatness to carry his team to a victory.

It’s never mattered what happened in the first 24 minutes for Golden State. Once halftime is over, they morph into a completely different team, hell-bent on annihilating whoever tries to stop them.

For Cleveland to have a chance of stealing Game 2, the third quarter will be where they have to dig in on both ends, as coming back from a double-digit deficit has proven very difficult against this Warriors team, especially with only 12 minutes to pull it off.