CLEVELAND–Playing on the road without their headliners Warrior Worried Cavaliers 99-94 Behind the two-way point guard’s career performance on Saturday night was the one-time college lacrosse star.
Stephen Curry, jimmy butler, draymond green, al horford And D’Anthony Melton Everyone was rescued with minor injuries. In Curry’s place, Warriors coach Steve Kerr opted to start pat spencerThe 29-year-old, who first appeared in the franchise’s G League program four seasons ago.
Spencer responded with 19 points in his first career start, including a pair of clutch fourth-quarter 3s and two free throws that clinched the win. He waved goodbye to the Cleveland crowd after making the Warriors’ fourth-down lead with 4.1 seconds left in the first foul shot.
“His coach realized that Pat is the motherf-er he is,” Kerr said. “It’s clear. Sorry. Am I allowed to say that?”
Kerr was referencing a viral celebration of Spencer two nights earlier in Philadelphia. Spencer made a 3 with 1:12 remaining to put the Warriors ahead by five. 76ers and yelled “I’m that motherf—er” twice to the crowd after Philadelphia called timeout.
In the 48 hours that followed, Spencer’s porn label and the attention it attracted became a playful inside joke with his Warriors teammates. Butler saw Spencer walking into Rocket Arena on Saturday night and pretended to move out of his way because “the star is coming.”
But the Philadelphia demonstration did not yield any results. The Warriors took a five-point lead in the final minute and Spencer threw a key inbounds pass. Kerr called it a “gut punch” loss, dropping Golden State to 11–12 before a tough back-to-back.
The Warriors were 8.5-point underdogs in Cleveland. The Cavaliers had Donovan Mitchell, evan mobley And darius garland All are available, but they looked sluggish for the second night in a row. The teams combined to score 30 first-quarter points. The Cavaliers missed 18 of their 21 3s in the first half and fell behind by double digits.
“It hurts when you’re missing shots,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I don’t know who would be happy in that situation.
“Give the Warriors a lot of credit. They came in there with a new, young group that had a lot of energy.”
The Cavaliers cut the lead to 82–77 with seven minutes remaining. Then Spencer yelled at the crowd again and hit consecutive 3s and the Warriors’ lead reached 11.
Spencer had his two-way contract converted at the end of the previous regular season, making him part of the playoff roster. But he was brought back on a two-way contract this season, his third consecutive campaign on the fringes of the Warriors roster.
Kerr said, “It’s fun to see a guy who has had to fight for everything finally get his moment and not only take advantage of it but grab it by the neck.” “This guy is a competitor.”
Spencer is known in the lacrosse community as one of the game’s greatest college players. He became the all-time Division I assists leader during his four-year career at Loyola University and was the No. 1 pick in the 2019 Premier Lacrosse League draft.
But Spencer quit lacrosse and spent his undergraduate years there Northwestern Pursued his hoops dreams through the basketball team and Warriors organization. Filling in for the injured Curry, Spencer has now scored 17, 16 and a career-high 19 in the last three contests, his most significant moments as a professional.
“He’s really improved his jump shot,” Kerr said. “That’s the big thing. Last year, he knocked down a lot of 3s, drove in, shot a lot of floaters. He’ll never be Steph, but he’s a threat out there.”
The win brought the Warriors back to 12-12 after briefly falling below .500 for the first time this season.
They’re expecting Butler, Green, Horford and Melton back on Sunday Chicago BullsCurry aims for Friday night at home against minnesota timberwolves For his return from a thigh injury.
