The Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors are playing live on the NBA schedule on Friday night and the matchup on ESPN from Oracle Arena has GS coming in as one of the best teams in the league, while the Cavs just made some big trades and with LeBron James coming back, the team is ready to make a run and this matchup starts at 10:30 pm ET on ESPN and the WatchESPN website streaming online.
The Cavaliers come in after a loss against the Rockets and they now are playing on a west coast road trip. The team has the Warriors and Kings next and they are looking to stay above .500, as they are 19-17 right now and finding their footing. The Cavs have been playing without James and that has left Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love to handle things and they have been playing well.
Irving had 38 points against Rockets and Love added 16 rebounds and those two players have kept the team afloat without James. This is a tough matchup even with James in the fold, as the Warriors have been one of the best teams in the league and they could be the favorites to win the west. The team is 28-5 and they had a double digit winning streak during the season and they come in after a win against the Indiana Pacers.
The Warriors are first in the Pacific division, while the Cavs are second in the central division in the east. The team comes in after getting 40 points from Klay Thompson against the Pacers and they will next play on the road against the Utah Jazz. The team is ranked first in the league in points per game with 109 points per contest and they are sixth in rebounds, first in assists and 11th in points allowed. The Cavs have been struggling on defense and that is why they went after Timofey Mozgov and now they have him even though the price tag was a bit high.
The Warriors have Stephen Curry leading the way with 22 points per game and eight assists, while Andrew Bogut has returned from an injury and that could be big for the team. The Warriors are as deep as anyone and the Cavaliers come in struggling a bit and they are hoping that the return of James can help things along. Shumpert is coming back from a shoulder injury and JR Smith could help the offense until him and James return.
Check here for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors live coverage.