LeBron James: Cleveland Cavaliers can benefit from beatdown

LeBron James called the 132-98 loss to the Golden State Warriors a butt kicking. He also urged teammates to leave the loss Monday on the court while being aware of how much work remains for the Cavs to reach a championship level.

The Cavaliers trailed by 30 points in the second quarter and the lead for the Warriors jumped to 43 on a Steph Curry 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.

"It's just not the end of the world," said James, who posted a career-worst plus-minus of minus-34. "It's still a basketball game. I don't take it that far."

James and teammates said before the game they were perturbed by Curry's comment that he hoped the visiting locker room still smelled of champagne - the Warriors clinched the NBA Finals in June in six games.

But James, in his 13th season, denied it was a bad night at the office with some deflective humor.

"I don't know, I've never been to an office," he said.

James did say he takes seriously measuring stick games against elite teams. The Spurs and Warriors are now 3-0 against the Cavaliers this season.

"Against the top teams you want to play well, and we haven't done that," James said. "We're 0-3 versus the top two teams in the West. We're 0-1 against the Bulls so far. We've got to play better basketball."

The Cavaliers are 28-11 in 2015-16, compared to 22-20 at this stage last season. James said the experience - even painful ones such as Monday night - can benefit the Cavaliers in the second half of the season.

"We are a young basketball team," James said. "We had some success last year, but as far as experience, we don't have much together. So we still have to continue to put it together.

"But the best teacher in life is experience. And it's good to go through it."