On Sunday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors 115-104. The setback put the Warriors at 5-2 overall on the short season and was their first away from home. The Dubs are now 1.5 games back of the Nuggets for the top spot in the Western Conference rankings.

It was the Splash Brothers and Draymond Green who prevented a blowout victory for the Cavs in the first half, despite the fact that the Warriors’ bench has pulled its weight early in the season. The Warriors’ offensive onslaught was blocked all night by the length of the Cavaliers, who limited every player to a below-average shooting performance (with the exception of Steph Curry).

Curry scored 28 points to lead the Warriors, with seven of his 11 field goals coming from beyond the arc. To be fair, Steph still struggled against Cleveland’s excellent defense, committing six turnovers and making just one of his three attempts from inside the arc.

Regardless, the Warriors continued to attack the hoop despite Cleveland’s length. Although the Warriors shot poorly (35.8% for the game), they were able to stay in the game because to their ability to draw fouls and make their free throws at a high rate. On Sunday, the Warriors shot 30 attempts from the charity stripe, but only made 20.

Both third-year wing Jonathan Kuminga and rookie center Trayce Jackson-Davis contributed significantly to the team’s second-half surge. Jackson-Davis led the Warriors in plus/minus with +8 in just over 11 minutes of action, further strengthening his case to be a regular in head coach Steve Kerr’s rotation.

Throughout the first three quarters, the Warriors prevented the Cavaliers from breaking away, and they closed the gap to five and six points on multiple occasions in the final frame. Golden State, however, was unable to muster up the necessary offensive surge to either force a tie or grab the lead. Instead, Cavs’ All-Star guards Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell always appeared to come through with a big play to kill the Warriors momentum.