The sequel was not nearly as dramatic as the original as the Golden State Warriors again came out on top, leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers with a lump of coal for Christmas. Draymond Green collected 22 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists, Stephen Curry netted 19,and the defending champion Warriors ground out a 89-83 Christmas Day victory over the visiting Cavs in their highly-anticipated NBA finals rematch.
“It got the build-up and it almost felt like the finals,” said Curry, comparing the atmosphere to last June’s championship series. “But once we got on the floor it was business as usual.”
The Warriors, averaging a league-best 115 points per game, put up a season-low total. But their stingy defence held the Cavs to a frosty 31.6 per cent field goal shooting for the win.
“If our defence offence shows up we’re in pretty good shape to win games,” said Curry, who added seven rebounds and as many rebounds despite being slowed by a calf injury. “Our offence was nice at times but we answered at the other end. We got stops and pretty much grinded it out.”
The Warriors improved to 28-1, the best start in NBA history, but know they can play even better. “We’re 28-1 and we’re not playing well,” Green said. “That what excites me.”
Klay Thompson had 18 points and Shaun Livingston added 16 off the bench for the Warriors, who pushed their home winning streak to 32 dating back to January, including a 14-0 this season. “What you saw today was not high-scoring with a lot of runs, it was a lot of back and forth with a lot of defence,” Livingston said. “We’re comfortable with winning those types of games.”
LeBron James scored 25 points and JR Smith added 14 for the East-best Cavs (19-8) whose six-game winning streak ended. “I wasn’t very good offensively and it trickled down to everybody else,” said James, who made just 10-of-26 floor shots.  
“Through 48 minutes we followed our defensive game plan and made it tough on them but offensively we were out of rhythm and have to be better. Credit their defence, for sure.”
With neither club able to get much separation, the Warriors finally opened up an 81-71 advantage on a soaring Green layup with 3:48 left.  But the Cavs weren’t finished.
James answered with back-to-back power dunks and blocked a Thompson shot before Kevin Love’s (10 points and 18 rebounds) tip-in pulled the visitors to within 81-77 at the 2:15 mark.
With a chance to inch closer, James missed two free throws. Curry, then, sandwiched pair of nifty layups around a Smith 3-pointer to make it 85-80 with 57.6 seconds to play.
James made 1-of-2 free throws, pulling the Cavs within four but threw up an air-ball on a 3-point attempt with 12.7 seconds left.
Andre Iguodala and Green each made a pair of free throws to send the Cavs home empty again.
“They’re playing the right way,” James said, “They’re playing  cohesive and with great continuity.”

Miami Heat 96, New Orleans Pelicans 88 (OT)
Chris Bosh scored 30 points, Dwyane Wade added 19, and the two stars combined for 13 of Miami’s 16 overtime points, leading the Heat (17-11) past the visiting Pelicans (9-20) who wasted a 29-point, 16-rebound effort from Anthony Davis.

Chicago Bulls 105, Oklahoma City Thunder 96
Jimmy Butler scored 23 points, Spaniard Pau Gasol had 21 with 13 rebounds, and the visiting Bulls held off the Thunder to snap a three-game slide. The Bulls (16-11) carried an 18-point bulge into the fourth quarter, but had it cut to 99-93 with 2:38 remaining before regrouping.
Butler hit two free throws and Gasol added a layup, pushing the lead back to 10 with 2:03 left, and the Thunder suffered just its second loss in the last 10 games.  
Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City (20-10) with 29 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while Russell Westbrook finished with 26 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.

LA Clippers 94, LA Lakers 84
Chris Paul scored 23 points, Blake Griffin had 13 with 14 rebounds, and the visiting Clippers (17-13) held off a late rush to beat their co-Staples Centre neighbors for the eighth straight time.
Trailing by 28 early in the fourth quarter, the Lakers went on a 25-4 run to draw within 89-82 with four minutes left. But Wesley Johnson buried a key triple and the Clippers stopped their three-game slide.
Kobe Bryant, who plans to retire at the end of this season, had 12 points for the West-worst Lakers (5-12) in his final Christmas Day game.

Houston Rockets 88,San Antonio Spurs 84
James Harden fired in 18 of his 20 points in the second half, including key back-to back-triples in final 4.5 minutes, and the host Rockets (16-15) stopped the Spurs’ seven-game winning streak.
Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points for San Antonio (25-6.)