The game between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers could be labeled as one hell of a rollercoaster ride. The game had constant power shifts throughout all four quarters, but it was the Cavs that got the last laugh, sending the Warriors home with their second loss in a row.

The Cleveland Cavaliers took the season series with ease after defeating the Warriors in their second matchup of 2023-24. The orchestrator of the Cavs’ win was none other than Donovan Mitchell, who crippled the Warriors by first targeting Draymond Green. Read more to find out.

1. Draymond Green’s ejection cripples the Warriors

The Cleveland Cavaliers won the game 118-110 against Golden State. Despite a stellar performance from Stephen Curry, the Warriors were not able to get over the hump. It seemed as if this was more like a Cavs vs Steph matchup instead of the two teams. No other player rose to the occasion to help out Curry and even Klay Thompson could not shake off his poor performance from the last game.

Donovan Mitchell not only led the Cavaliers in scoring but also displayed the depths of his basketball IQ for the win. Which entailed the ejection of Draymond Green from the game to handicap the Warriors.

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Donovan Mitchell Breaks Into Ugly Fight With Draymond Green After Countering Warriors Star in Heated Moment

Draymond Green was the best defender that the Warriors had. And without his presence on the floor, Golden State struggled on defense. The whole ordeal started when on a Cavs fastbreak, Green shoved Mitchell out of the way.

Mitchell came back to push him back, which brought Green’s initial shove in the eyes of the officials. Already playing with one technical, Green was penalized with his second technical foul, resulting in his ejection from the game. This was the first takeaway.

The second takeaway of the game was another altercation that involved Spida. Mitchell was almost injured at the hands of Chris Paul while going for an offensive rebound. Both guards jumped for the ball, leading Mitchell’s right arm to get entangled with Paul.

It seemed as if Paul yanked Mitchell’s arm as he was visibly in pain after that. However, that did not stop Mitchell as he stayed in the matchup and made sure to finish the game with a Draymond Green-less Warriors squad.

Onto the remaining two takeaways.

2. Warriors stay in the matchup due to their rebounding

The Golden State Warriors squad was a little behind in terms of shooting from the field and from beyond the arc when compared to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Another factor that sunk the Warriors was their poor ball handling. Not only did the Cavaliers have more steals than Golden State in the game, but the Warriors had double the turnovers as compared to Cleveland.

However, the team still had an advantage in rebounding even after losing Draymond Green.

The Warriors had more offensive and defensive boards which gave them more opportunities for second-chance points and fastbreaks. Unfortunately, apart from Stephen Curry, the team wasn’t able to capitalize on those second-chance shots much.

The biggest factor was no other star from the Warriors squad rose to the occasion to help out Stephen Curry. Curry led the team in scoring with a 30-point game. The second leading scorer was Klay Thompson with a mere 14-point performance.

Kevon Looney grabbed 13 boards for the game and tipped the rebounding scale in favor of the Warriors. The Warriors bench was huge in the rebounding factor as well. Given that the final score only had an eight-point difference, had it not been for the Warriors hitting the boards, the Cavs could’ve run away with the game.

Now we come to the third and final takeaway.

3. A solid squad around Donovan Mitchell

This win was a team victory for the Cavs as no single player’s performance stood out. Instead, the scoring was evenly divided among the starters and even the bench. Caris LeVert led the team in scoring while coming off the bench with 22 points.

This second game between the Cavs and the Warriors was quite a physical matchup that led to numerous mistakes on the Warriors’ end. The constant pressure led Cleveland to steal the ball away and score easy points on the fastbreak on numerous occasions.

Even though the Warriors had more assists for the game, it seemed as if the Cavaliers did a much better job of sharing the ball. The ball rotation was excellent and no player from Cleveland’s squad tried to force their shot. Instead, the team looked to make the extra pass in the hopes of getting a better look on almost every other offensive possession. 

Watch This Story – 5 times Draymond Green resorted to dirty fouls that occasionally got him ejected

The entire Cavs starting lineup scored in double-digits with respectable numbers. Though Caris LeVert led in the scoring column, the real hero for the Cavaliers was none other than Donovan Mitchell. Not only did Mitchell manage to get Green ejected, but also played through what seemed like a hyper-extended right arm.

Not to mention his 21-point outing with 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Mitchell got ample help from Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. Both players had 19 points each as the Cavs took care of the Warriors for the remainder of the season.

The Cavaliers’ front office has done a great job in surrounding exceptional talent and good role players around Mitchell. Something that they failed to do in LeBron James’ first stint with the team. Hopefully, the Cavs keep this core around for years to come as this squad does show promise.

Do you think this Cavs squad has enough talent and depth to challenge for a playoff spot this year?