Golden State Warriors 118-108 Cleveland Cavaliers: 5 talking points

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Isaiah Thomas got his first slice of action in this hot rivalry

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On a packed Monday night schedule in the NBA for Martin Lurther King Jr. Day, the Golden State Warriors were in Cleveland for the second and last regular season meeting between the two teams. Both teams have played on this historic day for the past two seasons and each time, the Warriors have had the last laugh. This season was no different, the only difference being it wasn't a blowout, unlike the previous two occasions.

While the Christmas Day game was huge because it was the first time both teams were facing off since the 2017 Finals. This game on Monday night was huge because this was the first time both teams were coming into this match-up with no injuries. Stephen Curry and Isaiah Thomas had missed the previous game during the Holidays but both started this game and played a huge role as well in giving us a probably preview to the 2018 Finals.

So without further ado, let's dive into the analysis of this game with the five biggest talking points:

#5 Warriors turn the tables in the third quarter AGAIN

The Warriors were down by seven at the half but that didn't matter

The game went back-and-forth for much of the first half, with both teams exchanging leads up until just before the half. Using a mini-run, the Cleveland Cavaliers headed to the locker room at halftime up by seven points on their home floor. Couldn't ask for anything better, right?

Wrong, they were facing the defending champions. More importantly, they were up against a team, who are deadly in the third quarter. In 45 games so far, the Warriors have a league-best net rating of 19.5 in the third quarter. To understand how good that is, the second-best team, the Denver Nuggets have a net rating of 12.8. (Note: Only three teams have net rating above 10 - Boston Celtics (12.4))

This game's third quarter went as per the script. The Warriors came out red-hot, scoring 36 points while only allowing 27. Thus, turning a seven-point deficit into a two-point lead. If that wasn't enough, they continued their onslaught in the first half of the fourth quarter, which helped them win the game comfortably.

These third quarter turnarounds aren't just this season. Golden State has been doing this last year as well.

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