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The Cheat SheetBy Alex Putterman on

Monday was Martin Luther King Day, and the NBA celebrated with a very full slate of games, including a pair of juicy headliners.

And though Warriors-Cavs and Clippers-Thunder didn’t quite deliver the drama we expected, there were plenty of storylines, from a vengeful rout to a questionable flagrant foul call to a potentially devastating injury.

Here’s The Cheat Sheet.

Warriors crush the Cavaliers, exact some revenge

OAKLAND, CA - JANUARY 16: Draymond Green #23 high fives Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors during their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at ORACLE Arena on January 16, 2017 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – JANUARY 16: Draymond Green #23 high fives Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors during their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at ORACLE Arena on January 16, 2017 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Entering Monday night, the Warriors had lost four straight games to the Cavs: three in last spring’s NBA Finals and one last month on Christmas Day.

Well, Golden State got its revenge in a big way, absolutely demolishing Cleveland at Oracle Arena. The Warriors led 37-22 at the end of the first quarter and 78-49 at halftime. Here are some Vines that indicate how this game went:

It’s hard to even pick a player of the game because there were so many great performances. Steph Curry had 20 points and 11 assists. Klay Thompson led all scorers with 26 points. Kevin Durant put up 21 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. And Draymond Green had a triple-double with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists… and added five blocks for good measure.

On the other side, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love combined for 40 points on a putrid 13-43 shooting.

The 35-point loss—which came a year almost to the day after the day after Golden State beat Cleveland by 34 on Jan. 18, 2016—was the worst home defeat of LeBron’s career.

But the story from this game that seemed to incite the most passion had little impact on the final score. We’re going to need to take a second to talk about…

Draymond Green hits LeBron, gets called for a flagrant foul, then mocks LeBron for flopping

OAKLAND, CA - JANUARY 16: Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors fouls LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers at ORACLE Arena on January 16, 2017 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – JANUARY 16: Draymond Green #23 of the Golden State Warriors fouls LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers at ORACLE Arena on January 16, 2017 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

In the second quarter of the Warriors’ win, Green collided with James, who reacted dramatically, flailing his arms backward. Green was called for a flagrant 1, which was upheld on review. Here’s a clip in realtime:

And here’s a slowed-down version:

Green made no secret of what he thought about LeBron’s reaction:

As you might expect, Green’s hard foul, LeBron’s reaction and the refs’ decision to whistle Green for a flagrant inspired plenty of the-NBA-was-better-back-when-players-were-men opinions.

After the game, LeBron said he wasn’t hurt on the play, comparing himself to a football player.

You’d think a football player would be able to take a hit without flailing backwards, but that’s none of my business.

Clippers blow out the Thunder, but Chris Paul goes down

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 16: J.J. Redick #4 of the LA Clippers gets help from Austin Rivers #25 after a foul on his three pointer during the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center on January 16, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 16: J.J. Redick #4 of the LA Clippers gets help from Austin Rivers #25 after a foul on his three pointer during the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center on January 16, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

The good news for the Clippers: They beat the Thunder 120-98 on Monday night for their seventh straight win. Like the Warriors, they opened up a big lead early and never looked back. DeAndre Jordan dominated on both ends with 19 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks and two steals, while J.J. Redick added 20 points of his own.

The bad news: Chris Paul, in the midst of an excellent performance was removed from the game, reportedly due to a sprained left thumb.

Now this isn’t the worst-case scenario for Paul and the Clippers, but it’s still got to make L.A. fans nervous. Blake Griffin has been out since mid-December with a knee injury, and Paul missed time earlier this season with a hamstring issue.

The Clippers need everything to break right in order to have a shot in the Western Conference playoffs, so hopefully for their sake they’re getting the injuries out of the way now.

Quick Hits

– Joel Embiid continues to be a star on the court and a star on social media.

– Three Oregon football players were hospitalized after a set of offseason workouts. As a coach, that’s probably how you know it’s time to tone things down a little.

– Could Louisville lose its NCAA membership over academic issues?

– Good Morning America brought back that guy who embarrassed himself at the national title game by not being able to throw a football. Guess what happened.

– Steelers receiver Antonio Brown used Facebook Live to record coach Mike Tomlin calling the Patriots assholes after Pittsburgh beat Kansas City on Sunday. Social media creates the weirdest controversies.

– Bill Belichick was not fazed:

– The Cubs visited The White House on Monday in Barack Obama’s final public event as president. We at The Comeback noticed the one Cubs name Obama seemed careful to avoid.

– Dexter Fowler brought the president sneakers, which is a pretty badass thing to do.

– We ranked the 10 best WWE Royal Rumble matches ever.

– Hafthór Björnsson, who plays The Mountain on Game of Thrones, can throw refrigerators. Of course he can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC0oj7BcWiI

One last moment of procrastination

In honor of another great night of basketball…

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

View all posts by Alex Putterman