NBA: Wounded Warriors maintain stride, beat the Cavs

The Golden State Warriors were without four of their key rotation players in Andrew Bogut, Stephen Curry, Carl Landry and Harrison Barners. That didn't stop them from picking up the "W." The Warriors took to the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland and dispatched the Cavaliers 108-95, despite a line-up that seemed more suited for a tune-up summer league game than a middle-of-the-season NBA encounter, Tuesday (Wednesday, PHL time). [Related: Warriors win in Bogut's return, but Curry injured anew] Sophomore sensation Klay Thompson was scorching hot, firing in a career-high 32 points on 13-of-24 shooting, 6-of-8 from downtown, along with seven rebounds, two assists and three blocks in 43 minutes. Warriors center Andrew Bogut, who made his return to the court Monday (Tuesday, PHL time) versus the Toronto Raptors, sat out the back-to-back game, part of the team's strategy as he works his way back to full health. Stephen Curry was out after tweaking his ankle, rookie Harrison Barnes was resting a sore left knee, while Carl Landry was listed as having a left shoulder contusion. Despite the absences, GSW improved to 28-17, while the Cavs continue to languish near the bottom of the Eastern Conference at 13-33. The Warriors stormed out to a 13-4 lead, three minutes and change into the game, with Thompson splashing in his first triple. In response though, Cleveland's youth brigade, led by 2012 number one overall pick Kyrie Irving, matched it with a 13-4 blast of their own, to knot things at 21-all, 41 seconds remaining in the first. A jumper by CJ Miles gave Cleveland their first lead of the game at the dawn of the second period, 25-23, and then a dunk by Tristan Thompson knotted things anew at 29-all, but Cleveland would get no closer after that. A 17-5 explosion by the visiting team, fueled by triples from Klay Thompson, Jarret Jack, and Kent Bazemore, put them up by 12, 46-34, 3:19 left in the first half. In the second half, the Warriors played well enough to keep the Cavs at arm's length until the final buzzer sounded. Bazemore and Draymond Green helped Golden State build their biggest lead, 16 points, 84-68, at the end of the third. Irving and Tristan Thompson made it an eight point affair briefly, with 4:06 left in the game, but five straight from Jack threw cold water on their rally and took the fight out of the home team. Jarret Jack, starting in Curry's place, compiled a double-double of 26 points and 12 assists, while All-Star David Lee padded his line with 20 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and two steals versus just a single turnover. The Cavs lost despite six players in double figures, led by rookie Dion Waiters and Tristan Thompson, who both had 18 markers. Kyrie Irving finished with 14 points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals. The Warriors shot 53.6 percent from the field, and a blistering 11-of-16 or 68.8 percent on three-pointers. They also won despite shooting a mere 10 charities, compared to Cleveland's 25 looks at the stripe. The Cavaliers on the other hand shot 42.9 percent on all attempts, 22.2 percent from downtown. - AMD, GMA News