The Cavaliers had a chance to win the NBA Championship on Christmas against the Warriors. That's false. What is true is that this was today's biggest matchup.
Neither teams were at their best. The Warriors struggled from beyond the arc, temporarily lost Steph Curry through calf issues, and had a very un-Warriorlike offensive outing. The Cavaliers' defense deserves credit, but their offense was even more shoddy. They shot 31.6 from the field—and 5-of-30 from three-point land—in their 89-83 loss.
Cleveland could've ran away with this one if a man named LeBron James was on point. It's not completely his fault Cleveland lost, but it would help if he was better than 4-of-9 from the charity stripe. Two of those missed free throws came during the game's closing minutes with the score at 81-77. The ugly airball from beyond-the-arc with 12.7 seconds left didn't help either.
Everything's fine, though. The Cavaliers are still sitting comfortably at first place in the East. James led the game with 25 points. However, his best moment was when he just used a stare to silence this one fan who tried to mock him.
Merry Christmas.
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