The Cavaliers will play on Christmas Day for the 13th time in franchise history when they host the Golden State Warriors on Sunday afternoon at Quicken Loans Arena. Tipoff is at 2:30 p.m. (ET).
Cleveland is 6-6 all-time on Christmas, including a perfect 5-0 at home. The last time the Cavs played on December 25th at home was in 2008, which was a 93-89 win over the Washington Wizards.
The Wine and Gold improved to an Eastern Conference-best 22-6 this season with Friday night’s 119-99 blowout of the Brooklyn Nets at The Q.
Cleveland holds the best home winning percentage in the NBA this season at .882 (15-2). At The Q, the Wine and Gold are averaging 114.8 points and have scored at least 113 points in five of their last six home games.
Since March 25, 2014, Cleveland holds a 69-5 record when scoring at least 100 points at The Q (15-1 this season). They have also won 38 straight home games when shooting at least .500 from the field (7-0 this season).
Sunday’s matchup is not only a rematch of the previous two NBA Finals, but it is pits two teams atop their respective Conferences playing their best basketball of the young season.
The Wine and Gold have won nine of their last 10 games while the Warriors have been victorious in 11 of 12 contests.
Golden State added to drama of the matchup when they made the biggest free agent splash of the summer: adding former MVP Kevin Durant to an already lethal mix of offensive weaponry.
In his first season with the Warriors, Durant’s scoring and shot attempts have gone down but the lengthy forward has been extremely productive. Durant is the only player in NBA averaging at least 25 ppg while taking under 17 shot attempts this season.
Not to be outdone, the model of productivity and efficiency wears number 23 for the Wine and Gold. LeBron James has had at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in nine of his last 10 games, averaging 28.8 points (.539 FG%, .396 3FG%), 7.5 rebounds and 8.1 assists in 38.3 minutes over that span.
For live in-game updates, follow @cavs, @CavsJoeG, @CavsFredMcLeod, @MrCavalier34, @CavsJMike and @chones22 on Twitter.
Status Update: (Cavs) – J.R. Smith, (Right Thumb Fracture, Out), Mo Williams, (NWT), Chris Andersen, (Right Knee ACL Tear, Out)
Status Update: (Warriors) – None to Report
*Subject to change.
Cleveland and Golden State are the first opponents to meet in The Finals and on Christmas Day in back-to-back seasons.
Sunday is their first matchup since the 2016 Finals, when the Cavs defeated the Warriors 4-3. The Cavs became the first team in league history to overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win The Finals, earning their first NBA championship and ending a 52-year title drought for major pro sports teams in Cleveland.
The Cavs are 5-2 against the West this season and 41-11 going back to mid-January 2015. The Cavs have also won 25 of their last 29 home games against the Western Conference (5-1 in 2016-17).
The two teams will wrap up their 2016-17 series in a Martin Luther King Day matchup on January 16th at Oracle Arena.
On Sunday, the Cavs will welcome to the game 32 children from the City of Cleveland Recreation Department for a “Christmas Day Gift Giveaway.” The participants will take the floor with the Cavs and Warriors for the national anthem, and will afterwards be presented gifts by the players and head coaches from both teams. The kids and their chaperones will then enjoy the Cavs-Warriors matchup in suites provided by the Cavs.
Immediately following the game, the Wine and Gold travel to Detroit for a meeting with the Pistons on Monday night. Tyronn Lue’s squad then wraps up the calendar year – taking on the Boston Celtics in a nationally-televised meeting on Thursday before a New Year’s Eve tilt against Kemba Walker and the Hornets in Charlotte.
