https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/warriors/article/warriors-draymond-green-ejected-donovan-18485401.php

The Cavaliers appear to have a bead on this Golden State Warriors team, at least early this season. They defeated them for the second time this week on Saturday at Chase Center, this time cruising to a 118-110 victory in a game they led by 17 points.

Saturday’s matchup was the first in a back-to-back set for the Warriors following a grueling four-game road trip, which ended Wednesday night in Denver. Klay Thompson said fatigue was a factor in their sluggish performance against Cleveland.

“A small part of it, but at the end of the day we still have a job to do and we didn’t do it very well tonight,” Thompson said..

Stephen Curry scored a game-high 30 points, but Cleveland’s length, athleticism and rim protection disrupted the Warriors’ offense in a way similar to Sunday’s outcome. Golden State shot just 41.1% from the field (13-of-38 from deep) and committed 20 turnovers, which led to 32 points for the Cavaliers. Head coach Steve Kerr said those turnovers had less to do with carelessness and more to do with the Cavaliers’ pressure.

Part of the Warriors’ offensive struggles on Saturday came down to fouling. Cleveland attempted 43 free throws and made 33 of them. Excessive fouling limits transition opportunities. And as Steve Kerr explained, it is difficult to find a rhythm on offense if the other team is consistently setting their defense.

“It’s been a tough matchup,” Kerr said. “Both times we’ve played them they’ve really taken it to us and dominated the game. So we’ll bounce back, we know we have to be better. We have to sharpen our offense in particular, but it felt like we reverted to our fouling ways.”

The Warriors’ bench outscored Cleveland’s 43-31, marking the 10th straight game where their reserves have outscored an opponent. However, all five Cavaliers starters finished in double figures, led by Donovan Mitchell’s 21, while Thompson (14) and Andrew Wiggins (13) were the two Golden State starters to join Curry in that regard. No Warrior other than Curry has scored more than 20 points in a game this season.

“Our bench has been great, for the most part, over the course of 10 games,” Curry said. “They have given us a lot of juice and has gotten us back into games, protected leads, built on leads, pretty much everything, so we have to be better.”

Cleveland dominated the Warriors in the trenches for the second straight meeting, outscoring them 50-34 in the paint and outrebounding them 55-45. Golden State has also been outscored 66-36 in two second quarters against the Cavaliers. Some of the Warriors’ frustration boiled over with 6:23 left in the third quarter, when Draymond Green was ejected after an altercation with Mitchell.

While Golden State was advancing the ball up the court, Mitchell intentionally body-checked Green, which led to a standoff between the two. Once Green and Mitchell were separated, the referees determined that Mitchell’s actions warranted a common foul, while Green was assessed his second technical foul and ejected.

However, it was revealed that Green’s second technical foul was not for that altercation with Mitchell, but for elbowing the Cavaliers guard a few plays before. The Warriors did not know such a retroactive ruling was possible.

CLEVELAND (118)

E.Mobley 6-10 7-7 19, Strus 6-9 2-2 16, Allen 2-6 8-9 12, Garland 6-13 4-6 19, Mitchell 7-22 5-6 21, Bates 0-0 0-0 0, Niang 0-4 0-0 0, T.Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Wade 2-4 2-2 8, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, LeVert 8-18 4-5 22, Porter 0-0 1-6 1. Totals 37-86 33-43 118.

GOLDEN STATE (110)

Green 3-4 0-0 8, Wiggins 6-12 0-2 13, Looney 1-2 0-0 2, Curry 9-24 8-8 30, K.Thompson 5-16 2-2 14, Jackson-Davis 0-1 1-2 1, Kuminga 2-7 8-11 12, Saric 2-5 1-1 5, Joseph 1-2 0-0 3, Moody 2-4 2-2 8, Paul 4-7 0-0 9, Payton II 1-4 1-2 3, Podziemski 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 37-90 23-30 110.
Cleveland 30 38 16 34 — 118
Golden State 31 21 31 27 — 110

3-Point Goals_Cleveland 11-30 (Garland 3-5, Strus 2-3, Wade 2-4, Mitchell 2-6, LeVert 2-7, E.Mobley 0-1, Niang 0-4), Golden State 13-38 (Curry 4-14, Green 2-3, Moody 2-3, K.Thompson 2-5, Joseph 1-2, Paul 1-2, Wiggins 1-4, Kuminga 0-1, Payton II 0-1, Saric 0-3). Fouled Out_Cleveland 1 (Wade), Golden State None. Rebounds_Cleveland 45 (Strus 8), Golden State 55 (Looney 13). Assists_Cleveland 23 (Mitchell 5), Golden State 26 (Paul 9). Total Fouls_Cleveland 24, Golden State 29. A_18,064 (18,064)

“I didn’t know you could take something from a previous play, but I guess I didn’t know the rules,” Kevon Looney said.

Green, who left with eight points, five rebounds and four assists in 18 minutes, got his first technical foul of the night with 7:46 left in the second quarter after arguing with a referee following a tie up on the baseline with Georges Niang. However, Green’s ejection provided a spark of sorts, as the Warriors outscored Cleveland 17-8 over the final 6:23 of the third quarter to make it an 84-83 game entering the final frame.

Kerr said it was the best stretch he has seen from Golden State’s first unit all season.

“There was more emotion. There was more force,” Kerr said. “That was the first time literally all season where that first unit has looked right, and it’s just because of the energy they all brought. … So our guys responded to that, and that’s what led to that great third quarter. We got our energy right, our spirit right and that was great to see, but it has to happen from the beginning.”