Spurs Erase 15-Point Deficit to Beat Cavaliers

The Cavaliers close out their longest trip of the season in a city where they haven’t won in almost 10 years when they visit the rolling Houston Rockets on Friday night.

Two buckets by West in the first 1:07 of the fourth quarter granted San Antonio the lead again, and Parker followed with a finger-roll layup to put the Spurs up 78-75.

The Cavs fell 99-95 to the San Antonio Spurs last night, and that is a big part of why it is just one point favorites in tonight’s affair. “We could have executed better but it’s tough to do against San Antonio”, forward LeBron James told reporters after seeing an early 15-point lead dissipate.

The Rockets are scoring 104.1 points per game this season and Trevor Ariza, Marcus Thornton and Terrence Jones all average double-figures for Houston. It happened last season, but the injury-depleted Cavs lost to the Warriors. The Spurs hold a plus-16.1 points per game differential at home, on pace to be the second best of all time behind the 1995-96 Bulls’ 17.1. Cleveland comes in at 27-9 which is tops in the Eastern Conference, while San Antonio comes in at 34-6 which is second best in the National Basketball Association but also second in the Western Conference.

Going into this game all talks were on how many match-ups were on the floor. “Of course, when you have a guy like LeBron, the whole team plays different”. “We were not guarding the pick-and-roll very aggressively so we are lucky that that happened in the first quarter”. He managed to attempt seven free throws, but only two came after the first quarter.

Cleveland committed 18 turnovers that resulted in 19 points for the Spurs.

Kawhi Leonard was fantastic with 20 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds for the silver and black. Paul Millsap scored 23 points to lead the Hawks.

Irving was limited to 16 points on 6-for-16 shooting this time, but the game was just as intense.

After trailing early and just barely pulling ahead in the first quarter, the Cavs pulled away in the second half and beat the Rockets 91-77 on Friday. “Their defense did a good job keeping me off balance”, James said. “I was rolling, so they went with me”.

“Tony has carried us a lot this year because of his two-way play”, Popovich said. That’s not easy to do, and he still was aggressive offensively.

The Spurs took control of the game at the opening of the fourth quarter when they went on an 13-2 run to get the lead to 10 with 7:20 left. Spurs bench outscored Cavaliers 35-12.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs’ first meeting of the season was everything we could have asked. Jordan had played in 360 consecutive games before missing Wednesday night’s home victory over Miami. TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager received a standing ovation late in the first half when he was welcomed back to San Antonio.

Sager also received a warm welcome during his in-game interview with Popovich, but only after some ribbing.

“It’s just the confidence I have in him and he has the confidence in his self”, James said.

And it’s not just that the Spurs are winning at home – they’re doing it easily. Cleveland has won eight straight for a second time this season.

Cleveland ended a six-game losing streak to the Rockets with its first win in Houston since March 26, 2006.