NBA Cavaliers vs. Spurs Picks & Predictions for January 14

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

“Obviously, coming into this building, they’re never going to make many mistakes”.

“We just played better defense”, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

He seemed resigned to his fate, taking just three shots in 18 second-half minutes as Cleveland sent multiple bodies his direction defensively.

Stephen Curry poured in eight three-pointers en route to 26 points, but it was aging Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant who drew the spotlight in his likely last appearance at Oracle Arena.

Facing a 32-20 first quarter deficit against the hot hand of J.R. Smith, the Spurs countered with a 24-18 second quarter to convert the game to a see-saw battle. The reigning MVP made eight threes for the eighth time this season and the 18th time in his career, the most in National Basketball Association history.

In other results, Toronto foiled Orlando, 106-103; Chicago repulsed Philadelphia, 115-111; Memphis edged Detroit, 103-101; and Sacramento upended Utah, 103-101. They haven’t won more than two games in a row since late November and could use a win over the Knicks continue capitalizing on a six-game home stand that ends with NY on Saturday and New Orleans on Monday.

The San Antonio Spurs extended their winning streak to 10 games and remain unbeaten at home following Thursday’s highly anticipated contest against the Cleveland Cavaliers, whose eight-game streak was snapped in the 99-95 defeat.

Instead of folding on defense in the fourth period as they did in their previous home loss to Cleveland, San Antonio rallied in the final quarter Thursday. San Antonio, like Golden State, has proven to be a dominant force in their division and look like a lock to go deep into the postseason. “We’re playing for each other, that’s the most important thing”, guard James Harden told reporters. Of course, when you have a guy like LeBron, the whole team plays differently. Kawhi (Leonard) did a very good job of making him play uncomfortable. “It was a heck of a win because we gave away the first quarter”.

James had 37 points in the Cavaliers’ last visit to Toyota Center on March 1, but missed two free throws in the final seconds of overtime in a 105-103 loss. Cleveland shot just 39 percent, 23 percent from 3, but grabbed 17 offensive rebounds.

Leonard finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks as the Spurs out-scored Cavs 55-45 in the second half to seal the victory.

In the first, the Cavaliers were being patient on offense with their pick-and-rolls, by either getting James and Irving to run the sets, which would force a mismatch when the Spurs had to quickly switch either onto Kevin Love (who could shoot outside or drive), or Tristan Thompson or Timofey Mozgov (who can both roll to the basket and dunk alley-oops). On the season Aldridge is second on the team with his 16.2 points per game and leads the team with his 9.1 rebounds per game.

Damian Lillard played like the All-Star that he is, scoring 33 points and adding 10 assists as the Trailblazers beat the Nets 116-104.

Rookie forward Trey Lyles scored a career-high 19 points for the Jazz, and Gordon Hayward had 21 despite shooting 4 for 17 from the field.