Insane stat shows how dominant the San Antonio Spurs have been

San Antonio is 34-6 on the year, 22-0 at home and 28-12 against the spread.

In the all-important postseason, though, Duncan has gotten the better of James, with San Antonio winning 11 of its 16 games against James’ Cavaliers and Heat, with the Spurs sweeping Cleveland in 2007 and knocking off the Miami Heat in five games in 2014, one year after James’ “Big Three”-era Heat outlasted San Antonio in an all-time-classic seven-game series”.

Leonard not only shined on the defensive side of the ball, he added 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win and this put-back slam that got the fans on their feet. If the Rockets want to neutralize the World’s Best Player as best they can, the primary burden falls on Trevor Ariza.

The Spurs looked unsure on offense early, so they went to an old standard in Parker’s drives to the basket. “But after that I thought we hung in, consistent, patient”, said Gregg Popovich.

If there’s one team in the Western Conference capable of giving the Golden State Warriors a run for their money, it’s probably the San Antonio Spurs.

The victory also allowed the Spurs to extend their regular-season home victory streak to 32 games, dating back to an overtime loss to the Cavaliers last March, and granted them their best-ever start after 41 games in franchise history.

Westbrook finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth triple-double of the season.

LeBron James had 22 points and Tristan Thompson added 18 points and 14 rebounds for Cleveland, which had won eight in a row. James (19 points, seven rebounds, seven assists) and Irving (23 points) excelled while forward Kevin Love chipped in a double-double (11 points, 13 rebounds) as Cleveland closed a season-long, six-game road trip 5-1. Cleveland collapsed in the second half at San Antonio on Thursday night, but the Spurs feature the league’s top defense.

“Five guys have to be locked in on him”, James Harden said. One had better results than the other. “They are always in the right position to make the most out of every possession”. “We had time to adjust things and after that, I think they scored 65 in the other three quarters, so a great way to pick up the defense and then offensively you know it’s tough”. Parker’s short jumper with 1.9 seconds to play brought San Antonio to within 50-44, the closest it has been since the game’s first two minutes, and set the stage for the second half.

Cavaliers head coach David Blatt thought the miss might have been on objective, that Popovich told Parker to miss so Aldridge could get the rebound. “When he’s aggressive like that from the onset, it really gives us an advantage because he’s such a hard cover”. COVERS POWER RANKINGS: Cavaliers (-9.5) – Rockets (-1.7) + home court (-3) = Rockets +4.8 DANCE TEAM WAR:ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (27-10, 16-20-1 ATS, 17-20 O/U): The loss to San Antonio was just the third in 17 games for Cleveland, which was outscored by 16 points during the final three quarters and also committed 18 turnovers. The rest of the quarter featured seven ties and six lead changes.

San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard, center, tangles with Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova, right, and Cavaliers center Timofey Mozgov, of Russian Federation, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, in San Antonio.