Cleveland Cavaliers

Cavs smothering defense stifles Golden State to season-low 11 points in first quarter

Published Jun. 16, 2016 9:54 p.m. ET

foxsports

Coming out of the gate in Thursday night's Game 6, the Cavaliers energy was uniform with that of the crowd at Quicken Loans Arena.

It was a 31-point start for Cleveland, whose offense was as smooth as ever by moving the ball and knocking down shots with ease.

But what was done on the other end was even more remarkable, as the Cavs held the Warriors to just 11 points in the period. As a team, they went 5-of-22 from the field and only hit one three-pointer on nine attempts.

It was a season low for Golden State (regular season and playoffs) and the least amount scored in the opening quarter of an NBA Finals game in the shot clock era (since 1955).

The wine and gold's defensive energy carried over from Game 5, as in the fourth quarter at Oracle, Cleveland held the Warriors to only 13 points on their way to a win that forced another game and sent the series back to Northeast Ohio.

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