The Golden State Warriors will host the Cleveland Cavaliers in one of the most anticipated games of the year on Christmas Day. The Warriors are first in the Western Conference and have the best record in the league at 27-1 while the Cavaliers are first in the Eastern Conference with their 19-7 record.
The Warriors lone loss this season came on the second night of a back-to-back after a double overtime win the night before. The Warriors have won three straight games since that loss to the Milwaukee Bucks including Wednesday night's win over the Utah Jazz, and they look like the class of the NBA yet again.
Stephen Curry seems to be in the lead yet again for the MVP this season as he is having another ridiculously good season. Curry is the league leader in PER with his 32.6 which is two points higher than the next closest player, Russell Westbrook. Through 28 games Curry is averaging 31.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game while making a crazy 45 percent of his three pointers.
Curry has had a lot of help in getting this Warriors team to the top of the league from guys like Klay Thompson and Draymond Green but surprisingly the second most effective Warrior in terms of PER has been Festus Ezeli at 19.8. Ezeli has been in and out of the starting lineup as Andrew Bogut has dealt with injuries but he is typically the first big man off the bench and he provides a lot for this team. Ezeli is averaging 8.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in just 20 minutes per game.
On the injury front the Warriors are likely to be without Harrison Barnes in this game although there is a slight chance he plays. Barnes is listed as doubtful for this game and he has missed the last eleven but he should be back soon after this game if he can't go against the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers haven't been quite as dominant this season as the Warriors but they do come in as a hot team as they have won their last six games. Cleveland had a tough time in their last game against the Carmelo Anthony-less Knicks but they pulled out a win and now look for a small measure of revenge.
LeBron James is coming off a rough game against the Knicks where he shot just 9-22 from the field but overall he has been great again this season. James is averaging 26.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. James' three point percentage (26 percent) and free throw percentage (73 percent) could use work this season but he is still dominating games.
Kevin Love has had a nice bounceback year for the Cavs and they just reccently got Kyrie Irving back from his knee injury. Irving has played in two games and has looked very rusty as he went just 1-7 from the field against the Knicks. Irving is still on a minutes limit as he has yet to exceed 20 minutes so far this season so don't expect too much from him in this one.
With Irving back and Iman Shumpert also back in the lineup the Cavaliers have everyone playing now and they are all expected to be available on Christmas.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 5:00 P.M. Eastern time and to watch the live broadcast go here. For the Warriors radio broadcast go here and for the Cavaliers radio broadcast go here.
