On Thursday, November 18, Golden State Warriors rallied from a 13-point third-period deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-89.
Stephen Curry scored 20 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter. Curry hit his fourth game of the season with at least 40 points. No other player in the league has had more than two 40-point games so far this season.
Curry made nine of his 16 three-point attempts, his fourth game with at least nine from behind the arc.
Draymond Green scored only four points, but gave the Warriors 14 assists as Damion Lee scored nine of his 11 points off the bench in the fourth to help turn the tide.
Curry, however, noted that the defense brought the difference for Golden State against a determined Cleveland team that missed four injured or sick starters in rookie Evan Mobley, Collin Sexton, Jarrett Allen and Lauri Markkanen.
"The only reason that we opened the game up is we went on a 13-0 run (to start the fourth) and they struggled to score.”
"Through 36 minutes we really struggled to get stops and then force them into tough looks and we were playing against set defense the whole night.
"They had a lot of energy, they're playing well, so in the fourth quarter, we just let it go, intensity and focus on the defensive end, that was a real good, feel-good win," Curry pointed out.
The Warriors, who trailed 81-68 to start the final period, pulled the level with a 13-0 run. They forced eight turnovers in the final period as they held the Cavaliers to 14.3 percent shooting.
Darius Garland led the Cavaliers with 25 points. Dean Wade and Kevin Love added 17 apiece.
In Miami, the Heat knocked Washington out of the top spot in the East, beating the Wizards 112-97 to join the Nets atop the conference.
Heat forward Jimmy Butler scored 32 points and Bam Adebayo, back from a two-game absence with a sore knee, added 20 points with nine rebounds.