On Sunday night, the Golden State Warriors fell short against the Cleveland Cavaliers, 115-104. The Warriors fell to 5-2 on the young season after suffering their first road defeat of the year. In the Western Conference standings, the Dubs are now 1.5 games behind the Nuggets for first place.

The Splash Brothers and Draymond Green prevented the Cavaliers from winning by a wide margin before the end of the first half, even though Golden State’s bench has performed some heavy lifting thus far this season. Except for Steph Curry, all of the Warriors’ offensive players had below-average shooting nights due to the Cavaliers’ length restriction.

Curry scored 28 points to lead the Warriors, converting seven of his eleven field goal attempts from there. Granted, Steph still struggled against the excellent Cleveland defense, committing six turnovers and making just one of his two attempts from beyond the arc.

Nevertheless, the Warriors continued to attack the basket despite Cleveland’s length. Despite having a terrible shooting percentage (35.8% overall), Golden State was able to maintain momentum in the game by consistently drawing fouls and reaching the free-throw line. On Sunday, the Warriors attempted 30 free throws, but they only made 20 of them.

Third-year wing Jonathan Kuminga and rookie center Trayce Jackson-Davis both supplied some sparks off the bench in the second half. In just over 11 minutes of play, Jackson-Davis scored a Warriors record-tying +8 and is putting up a compelling argument to become a more reliable member of head coach Steve Kerr’s rotation.

Throughout the first three quarters, the Warriors prevented the Cavaliers from pulling away, and on multiple occasions in the fourth, they closed the gap to five or six points. But Golden State couldn’t muster up the extra run needed to tie the game or take the lead. Rather, the Cavaliers’ All-Star guards, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, consistently produced a huge play to stymie the Warriors’ momentum.

The second half of a back-to-back between the Dubs and the Detroit Pistons tomorrow night will cap off the team’s road trip. The first tip-off is set for 4:00 PM Pacific time.