Without Curry, Warriors make 23 3-pointers and beat Cavs

CLEVELAND, Ohio: The shots splashed through the net like they almost always do for the Golden State Warriors. However, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson didn’t launch any. Jordan Poole scored 32 points, Ty Jerome added 22 and the Warriors dropped 23 3-pointers while Curry and three other starters sat on the bench in a 120-114 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night.

Poole (5) and Jerome (3) combined for eight 3-pointers as the defending NBA champs ended a five-game trip with an improbable win. “We kind of hung on for dear life down the stretch, but got it done,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It was just one of those nights.

You play 82 games, so you know you’re going to have a few of these.” Following Golden State’s stinging three-point overtime loss Thursday night in Boston, Kerr rested Curry along with fellow first-teamers Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins. It didn’t matter. Even with their top players on the bench in street clothes, the short-handed Warriors came out firing and barely slowed down.

“The biggest thing is, even without our guys, we expect to win,” said Jerome, who is on a two-way contract with Golden State and Santa Cruz. “Everyone that played was good tonight and that’s awesome for us.” Darius Garland scored 31 points to lead the Cavs, who were without star Donovan Mitchell because of a strained groin and suffered their most embarrassing loss this season. Caris LeVert added 22 points and Evan Mobley 17 for Cleveland.

Afterward, Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff didn’t mince words in describing his team’s dismal performance. “We didn’t respect the game.