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What we learned as Pat Spencer fuels depleted Warriors' upset win vs. Cavaliers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

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Remember all those games where the Warriors played a team without multiple stars yet still found themselves on the losing side? Saturday night in Cleveland finally was the opposite for Golden State.

The Warriors, without Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, continued to show their competitive spirit. They only had 10 healthy players on the first night of a back-to-back while the Cleveland Cavaliers had their Big Three and the majority of their most important players. As the Warriors have learned time and time again, the game isn’t played on paper but on the hardwood. 

Behind the all-powerful Pat Spencer and a spunky bunch of role players, the Warriors pulled off a wild 99-94 upset win against the Cavs at Rocket Arena.

Spencer earned his first career start and continued to dazzle. The 29-year-old on a two-way contract scored a new career-high 19 points and was a plus-9 in 29 minutes. Spencer also had a team-high seven assists.

Scoring came up and down the Warriors’ roster. Gui Santos’ 14 points were second to Spencer, and five players scored in double figures.

Here are three takeaways from a huge Warriors win on the road.

Pat Spencer, Starting Point Guard

A major change was seen in the Warriors’ starting lineup with so many injuries. But the move wasn’t made solely because of a lack of players. Spencer on Saturday was rewarded with his first career NBA start after providing a needed spark with perhaps the two best performances of his career in back-to-back games.

Spencer on Tuesday tied his career-high of 17 points with three rebounds, six assists and one steal. He then followed that up with 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal. So, what did he do in his first start? 

The first quarter wasn’t easy because of two early fouls. But then Spencer got the Warriors going in the second quarter, pushing the pace, getting into the paint and assisting on three 3-pointers. That made Spencer a team-high plus-10 through the first half with four points, two rebounds and three assists as the Warriors led by nine points.

Winning time is Spencer time. He scored six fourth-quarter points against OKC, 12 in Philadelphia and another 12 in Cleveland with multiple clutch shots made. Spencer in the second half scored 15 points with two rebounds and four assists.

How JK, Podz Responded

During Steve Kerr’s pregame press conference, the Warriors coach laid out the best paths to success for Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, two former first-round NBA draft picks who have struggled as of late. 

“Well, JK, it’s always run the floor, take care of the ball – the turnovers have been an issue lately,” Kerr told reporters. “So I’m really urging him to get up the floor instead of, you know, holding back in the backcourt and asking for the ball. I want him to be the first guy down the floor, not the last.”

Kuminga was in the starting five after coming off the bench his past four games. He began by dribbling, dribbling, dribbling and missing between a couple fadeaways inside the arc, a missed three and a blocked layup. Kuminga missed his first seven shots and was the lone Warrior held scoreless in the first half, but he did have three rebounds and three assists. 

The game became easier for Kuminga in the third quarter, cutting to the hoop for easy points or getting to the free-throw line. Kuminga only played two and a half minutes in the fourth quarter. Though he did grab seven rebounds, Kuminga was just 1 of 10 from the field for four points.

“With Brandin, he’s got to get off the ball early,” Kerr continued. “When he gets into trouble is when he tries too hard to make plays on his own, instead of doing what he does best, which is to move the ball and be part of a five-man group that is really executing.”

Unlike Kuminga, Podziemski did not get the starting nod. All 10 healthy Warriors played in the first half, and Podziemski was the only one whose plus/minus wasn’t in the positive. Podziemski was a minus-1 going into halftime with five points, two rebounds and two assists.

Podziemski made a huge step-through layup with a minute and a half left and closed the game after not playing the entire fourth quarter Thursday night. The third-year guard ended as a minus-5, scoring 10 points and adding three rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Defensive Clinic

Great defense leads to offense, and that was the story for the Warriors in Cleveland. The Warriors’ defense was connected on a string and frustrated the Cavs for all four quarters. 

The Cavs came into Saturday night averaging 119.6 points per game, good for seventh in the NBA. They scored 36 in the first half and finished with 94. They average 15.3 made threes per game, good for fifth in the NBA. Their 10 threes made were five below their season average. None of this was by mistake. 

Donovan Mitchell averages 30 points per game and scored 29, but needed 26 shots. Nobody else scored 20 points for the Cavs. Evan Mobley (18 points) and Darius Garland (17 points) barely missed the mark. They also were a combined 14-of-34 shooting (41.2 percent). 

The Cavs’ 94 points was a season low. The Warriors quietly have cracked the top five in defensive rating and for the second straight game held their opponent to under 100 points.

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