The Spurs closed the game out by repeatedly attacking Kevin Love, and that was that.
Advertisement
“Having 18 turnovers for 19 points against this team, who executes so well and don’t make many mistakes themselves, we’ve got to take care of the ball a little bit more”, James said.
“We just played better defense in the second half”, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
The team’s last loss at home came against the Cavaliers on March 12 past year when Kyrie Irving scored an National Basketball Association season-high and career-high 57 points in a 128-125 overtime victory.
But just as impressive as his offense was, so was his defense on Kyrie Irving, who finished with just 16 points.
Yet San Antonio battled back from that early deficit behind excellent play from the still-spry Tony Parker. “They play different than most of the teams”.
“All together, it was a heck of a win because we gave away the first quarter”. San Antonio missed three of its first four shots and looked out of sync but found its stride via a 9-2 run that cut the Cleveland advantage to 13-11 at the 5:39 mark.
Much attention will be on the Spurs defending their streak against the Cavs on Thursday.
Tony Parker had 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting, while Leonard finished with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Cleveland (28-10) limited the Rockets to a season-low points total while Houston (21-20) shot just 35.1 per cent (26 for 74) from the floor, including 6-for-25 shooting from behind the three-point arc.
Cleveland led by 17 entering the fourth quarter and an 8-2 spurt early in the quarter extended it to 76-55 with about 9 1/2 minutes left. “Everything isn’t going to be flawless all the time and that’s what we’re starting to realize and we’re just helping each other out”. “I’ve got a long way to go”. “We had a hard time getting it going in the first half”. Shots that I thought were open and good shots for us. J.R. Smith scored 17 points, including 10 in the first quarter before fighting some foul trouble in the second half.
“It definitely helps that Kawhi and LaMarcus are here and playing great”, Parker said. He is working his butt off on Kyrie Irving who is a great player.
Being ultra aggressive defensively isn’t exactly a revolutionary way to get wins, but it nearly always works.
The Cavaliers led 46-35 at halftime.
Cavaliers: Cleveland is 22-5 against the Western Conference during the regular season dating to last season, including 8-4 this season…. Thompson has appeared in 325 straight games, making him the NBA’s active leader after DeAndre Jordan sat out for the Clippers with pneumonia. The Cavs and Spurs are riding extensive streaks so one of them will have to give by night’s end.
It was and the Spurs passed, beating Lebron James and the Cavaliers 99-95 for their 32nd straight win in a row at home.
San Antonio adjusted out of a timeout, so the Cavaliers used their muscle instead.
“Can’t they send somebody else out here?” “I talked to him to see how he was feeling and also felt that he was OK”, Blatt said…. “They were just playing with more energy”.
Center Joakim Noah also had and effective night – pulling down 16 rebounds, dishing out eight assists, had two steals and six points for Chicago (23-15) which ended a three-game skid.
Advertisement
RAPTORS 106, MAGIC 103: Kyle Lowry scored 24 points, Cory Joseph added 19 and Toronto won in overtime at London.
