CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – John Beilein sat still in his chair and stared down at the table as reporters collected their recorders to head to the locker room Saturday night.
The Cleveland Cavaliers' head coach found himself at a loss for words and out of any plausible answers after watching his team get absolutely annihilated by the walking wounded known as the now 11-win Golden State Warriors Saturday night, 131-112, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
“I don’t have a lot of answers for you, I don’t,” a defeated Beilein lamented.
He hoped to avoid talking about it too before taking his seat in the media room.
“Fire away, get the big cannons out,” Beilein said.
Beilein admitted that he asked a member of the team's media relations staff if he had to attend his postgame press conference, and who could blame him after that performance.
“He said, yeah I do,” Beilein said, drawing laughter from reporters. “I asked him if I could plead the Fifth and he said I can’t and how that no witnesses could be called to this game. That tells you a little bit how I feel.”
The Cavs have had some ugly losses this season, but Saturday night took losing to an embarrassing level.
Golden State, bearers of the NBA’s worst record and losers of 10 in a row on the road, tore through the Cavs like they did in the NBA Finals in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Adding insult to injury, this time they did it without Steph Curry, Clay Thompson or Kevin Durant.
The Warriors scored the final nine points of the first half to take the lead into the locker room and they never looked back.
“That was a hell of a swing,” Beilein said.
They came out of the locker room and dropped 44 on the hapless Cavs in the third quarter alone and led by as many as 32 in the second half before a late run by Cleveland made the final score appear a little closer than it really was.
“I feel this hurts a little bit more because close to the same record and similar guys,” Collin Sexton, who scored 23, said. “Just hurt a little bit different. Plus, they blew us out. We have to take pride in that because it’s a recurring thing.
“Tired of getting blown out. Just have to dig down deep for four quarters and play hard the entire game.”
Golden State made 17 of 25 shots in that third quarter, including a franchise record 10 threes.
“I think we all need to help each other out,” Kevin Love, who scored 14 to go with 11 rebounds, said. “It’s not just the coaching staff. It’s on us because that wasn’t on him tonight or it wasn’t on our coaching staff at all. Not getting back at the end of that first half and that third quarter, we just laid an egg.”
Cleveland allowed the Warriors to shoot a blistering 53.3% from the field, including 51.4% from three. Between the uncontested layups, dunks and easy threes, Golden State assisted on 39 of their 48 field goals made.
For the Cavs, class was once again in session, as it has often been against Golden State since rallying from that 3-1 Finals deficit to win the NBA title in 2016.
“We need to play together,” Love said. “I keep saying that. You saw the basketball they were playing. They were driving and kicking. If they didn’t have the shot, they had the next shot for the guy – swing, swing, shot. That happened a few plays in a row and a few of us were sitting on the bench saying, ‘Wow, that’s good basketball.’
“We need to play that way.”
The loss was the 37th of the season for Beilein and the young Cavs, who at times take one step forward before taking multiple steps back this season.
“Every loss is hitting me really hard,” Beilein said. “It’s just trying to find solutions and trying to find a better way to get our guys to play harder and smarter, which will lead to wins.
“There’s some things that just happen because we’re young and then there’s some things that happen because of, just, persistence in our effort and then there’s some things happen because we’re just missing some pieces in the roster here and there.”
Beilein was asked if players are still all in and buying in.
“I can’t answer that,” Beilein said. “I think our guys have to measure themselves. Are they bought in to playing winning basketball? I don’t think it has anything to do with a particular coach or coaches or whatever.
“They just gotta go and play hard.”
