CLEVELAND — Playing on the road without their headliners, the Golden State Warriors upset the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-94 on Saturday night behind a career performance from a two-way point guard who was once a college lacrosse star.
Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Al Horford and De’Anthony Melton all rested with minor injuries. In Curry’s place, Warriors coach Steve Kerr opted to start Pat Spencer, the 29-year-old who first showed up 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 as well as the two free throws that clinched the win. He waved goodbye to the Cleveland crowd after the first foul shot put the Warriors up four with 4.1 seconds left.
“His coach realized that Pat is that motherf—er,” Kerr said. “That became clear. Sorry. Am I allowed to say that?”
Kerr was referencing a viral celebration from Spencer two nights prior in Philadelphia. Spencer hit a 3 with 1:12 left to put the Warriors up five over the 76ers and twice yelled “I’m that motherf—er” to the crowd after Philadelphia called timeout.
In the 48 hours that followed, Spencer’s vulgar label and the attention it drew became a playful inside joke with his Warriors teammates. Butler saw Spencer on his way into Rocket Arena on Saturday night and made it a show to get out of his way because “the star is coming through.”
But the Philadelphia performance didn’t come with a payoff. The Warriors blew a five-point lead in the final minute. Spencer threw away a crucial inbounds pass. Kerr called it a “gut punch” loss, dropping Golden State to 11-12 before a difficult back-to-back.
The Warriors were 8.5-point underdogs at Cleveland. The Cavaliers had Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland all available, but they looked sluggish on the second night of their own back-to-back. The teams combined for only 30 first-quarter points. The Cavaliers missed 18 of their 21 first-half 3s and fell behind by double digits.
“It’s deflating when you’re missing shots,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I don’t know who would be joyful in that situation.
“Give the Warriors a ton of credit. They came in there with a fresh, young group that had a lot of energy.”
The Cavs cut the lead to 82-77 with seven minutes left. That’s when Spencer hit back-to-back 3s, yelling at the crowd again as the Warriors’ advantage ballooned back to 11.
Spencer had his two-way contract converted late last regular season, making him part of the playoff roster. But he was brought back on a two-way contract this season, his third straight campaign on the fringe of the Warriors’ roster.
“It’s fun to watch a guy who has had to fight for everything finally get his moment and not only seize it but grab it by the neck,” Kerr said. “This guy is a competitor.”
Spencer is best known in the lacrosse community as one of the greatest college players the sport has seen. He became the all-time Division I assist leader during his four-year career at Loyola University and was the No. 1 pick in the 2019 Premier Lacrosse League draft.
But Spencer gave up lacrosse, spent a graduate year on the Northwestern basketball team and chased his hoops dream through the Warriors organization. Filling in for the injured Curry, Spencer has now scored 17, 16 and a career-high 19 across the past three contests, his most substantial moment as a professional.
“He’s really improved his jump shot,” Kerr said. “That’s the big thing. Last year, he’d turn down a lot of 3s, drive in, shoot a lot of floaters. He’s never going to be Steph, but he’s a threat out there.”
The win moved the Warriors back to 12-12 after briefly dipping below .500 for the first time this season.
They are expecting to get Butler, Green, Horford and Melton back on Sunday at the Chicago Bulls. Curry is targeting Friday night at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves for his return from a thigh contusion.
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