The Golden State Warriors host the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Chase Center on Thursday, April 1, at 10:00 p.m. ET.
The Warriors are 36-40 and 10th in the West with a 21-16 home record, while the Cavaliers are 47-29 and fourth in the East with a 23-15 road record.
The Warriors are coming off a rough 127-113 loss against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, with the team making a 24-hour turnaround for this clash. The Cavaliers also fell to a 127-113 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. The last meeting between these teams came on December 6, 2025, with the Warriors winning 99-94 on the road. This is the second and final matchup between the inter-conference teams.
The Warriors played their last game with nine rotational players ruled out, with five entering this game as questionable. Brandin Podziemski will likely lead the team in Stephen Curry’s absence and is averaging 13.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists this season. Kristaps Porzingis will hope to play a big role in this game, averaging 17.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 11 games since joining the Warriors.
The Cavaliers are led by Donovan Mitchell, who’s expected to return to the All-NBA Team after averaging 27.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.7 assists this season. Evan Mobley has been a great second option, averaging 18.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks while leading the team defensively.
Injury Report
Warriors
De’Anthony Melton: Questionable (thumb)
Seth Curry: Questionable (injury management)
Gui Santos: Questionable (pelvic)
Quinten Post: Out (foot)
Stephen Curry: Out (knee)
Jimmy Butler III: Out (knee)
Al Horford: Out (calf)
Moses Moody: Out (knee)
Cavaliers
Jaylon Tyson: Out (toe)
Dean Wade: Out (ankle)
Why The Warriors Have The Advantage
The Warriors can’t claim to have any objective on-court advantages heading into this game. Their season statistics can’t really indicate anything concrete given the lack of consistency in play-style or rotation given the major absences they’ve had to face. The one reliable stat which indicates their style of play is their overall three-point shooting this season, converting 35.6% (18th in the NBA) of their 44.6 three-point attempts per game (first in the NBA).
If the Warriors can win this game, it’ll be because they caught fire from outside. Coach Kerr has been making the active players share the love amongst themselves, leading to balanced scoring performances from the entire team. That hasn’t led to wins but ensures all active players are in some rhythm at least so that when called upon, they can deliver.
Randomness will be the best weapon the Warriors can use, as they could use their lack of rotational consistency this season as a weapon to catch opponents’ defenses unaware. Unfortunately, that’s a pretty weak strategy and cannot work unless there’s some major shooting luck smiling down upon them.
Why The Cavaliers Have The Advantage
The Cavaliers are comfortably the better team this season without even factoring in the beaten-down nature of the Warriors with the injuries and the back-to-back turnaround they’re facing here. The Cavs have a 118.2 offensive rating and a 114.1 defensive rating on the season, proving that they can hang with the elite teams in the NBA. The Warriors don’t look close to an elite team, so the Cavaliers will hope to rely on their overall advantages to pick up a victory against a worn-down Warriors squad.
The Cavaliers are the fourth-best scoring team in the NBA this season with 119.3 points per game. They do msot of their damage off drives to the rim, with drives leading to a 52.5 FG%, the second-best in the NBA. The Warriors don’t have an interior presence in non-Porzingis minutes anyway, so the Cavaliers will look to maximize this advantage. Also, the addition of James Harden to the Cavaliers have made their offense a lot harder to predict, which won’t be good for the Warriors who will have a talent disadvanatge on the court.
The Cavaliers are a better team when it comes to rebounding (44.3 RPG) and dropping dimes (28.3 APG), which gives Cleveland a comprehensive advanatge over the Warriors in terms of traditional stats. In addition, the Cavaliers have been far more potent offensively since February, with a 121.2 offensive rating in their last 20 games. This boost comes at the perfect time, and will be hard for the Warriors to counter given their current state.
The on-court talent is clearly a huge advantage for the Cavaliers, who can claim to have the best player in every position on the court. While coach Steve Kerr has proven that his team is capable of upsets when outmatched like this, but the Cavaliers are still in the middle of a standings race, and will not lay down easily for the Warriors, who seem locked into the No. 10 seed in the West regardless.
X-Factors
Draymond Green has been ever-present for the Warriors through Curry’s recent injury, but his production hasn’t been as strong as anticipated. He’s averaging 8.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists over the season, but will be expected to put on a better performance to help the Warriors to wins when shorthanded. He did have a flash of great shooting in their loss to the Spurs last night (3-4 3P FG) but with Curry’s return on the horizon, watch out for Green to have a big game to get his rhythm bacl.
Will Richard was arguably the worst player on the court during last night’s loss to the Spurs, but the rookie swingman could be an x-factor if his shot can fall. He’s averaging 6.8 points and 2.6 rebounds this season.
Jarrett Allen might not be the All-Star center Cavaliers fans were celebrating a few seasons ago, but he’s more than proven he’s a great choice to be the starting center for the franchise. He’s averaging 15.4 points and 8.4 rebounds, and will look to dominate the interior against a weak Warriors squad.
Despite joining the team just two months ago, James Harden is already the conductor of the Cavaliers offense. His presence has given huge production boosts to centers like Allen and Mobley, while reducing the untenable load on Mitchell’s shoulders all season. Harden is averaging 23.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 8.1 assists, playing his role to perfection and making the Cavaliers look like potential Playoff threats with Harden orchestrating the show.
Prediction
The Warriors will give it their best but it’s hard to see how they can beat the Cavaliers in this one. Cleveland has an edge across the board while also having better-rested players in an overall healthier roster. The Warriors are putting out too many fires internally to be able to compete at the highest level against a motivated team like the Cavaliers, so it seems the result here will swing towards the road team.
Prediction: Warriors 108, Cavaliers 115
