Spurs beat Cavaliers 99-95 for 32nd straight win at home

They were up 50-44 at halftime, with the Spurs finally taking the lead for the first time, 57-55, with 7:50 left in the third when Leonard capped an 11-0 run with a three-pointer.

CAVALIERS: LeBron James will co-produce and star in a reality TV series called “Cleveland Hustles”.

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.

The San Antonio Spurs are off to the best start in franchise history – and given franchise history, that’s some serious ball.

San Antonio has the home court advantage in this one, and it has yet to lose this season on its home floor, as the Spurs are 22-0 there. “And Pop definitely puts those guys in the right position every single possession”, James said.

Back in San Antonio, the Spurs (35-6) extended their home winning streak to 23 games to begin the season.

The Cavs held the Rockets to a season low in points with just 11 from Harden on 2-for-10 shooting.

Instead of folding on defense in the fourth period as they did past year, San Antonio rallied in the final quarter on Thursday.

They knew that their next opponent, the Spurs would give them a good challenge though.

Going into this game all talks were on how many match-ups were on the floor.

“We realized we were giving them too many open looks”, said Manu Ginobili of the Spurs’ defensive slip in the first quarter. “Of course, when you have a guy like LeBron, the whole team plays different”.

Cleveland’s first quarter start could hardly have been more impressive, finishing the first quarter up 32-20 with contributions from all of their key role players.

The teams shot nearly identical percentages for the game, Cleveland hitting 46.3 percent (38-82) of its shots and the Silver and Black converting 38 of 83 field goal attempts for 45.8 percent. Each of their last four wins have had four different players in Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge and Tony Parker lead the team in scoring.

Patrick Beverley was probably the second brightest spot on the Rockets tonight, as he actually shot 3-4 from three-point range. “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”. “But after that, I thought we hung in, were consistent, were patient, and did a pretty good job”.

Pelicans 109, Hornets 107: Ryan Anderson scored 21 of his season-high 32 points in the first half and Anthony Davis iced the game with an alley-oop dunk off a feed from guard Jrue Holiday with two seconds left to lift the New Orleans Pelicans to a 109-107 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night at the Smoothie King Center.

“Tony has carried a lot this year because of his two-way play”, Popovich said.

Being ultra aggressive defensively isn’t exactly a revolutionary way to get wins, but it nearly always works. The Spurs have shown that they are capable of beating the tough teams like they did the Cavaliers today.

Cavaliers: Cleveland is 22-5 against the Western Conference during the regular season dating to last season, including 8-4 this season….

Tristan Thompson, now the league’s active leader in consecutive games played, had 18 points and 14 rebounds. Watch Cavaliers vs Spurs online free live streaming on Thursday night. After Varejao knocked down a jumper, Irving took a pass from Varejao and made a layup, which gave the Cavaliers a 31-23 lead and forced the Rockets to call a timeout.

TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager received a standing ovation late in the first half when he was welcomed back to San Antonio.

Bryant, battling a sore Achilles tendon, scored just eight points but departed to a standing ovation from Oakland spectators who don’t expect to see him again before he retires at the end of the season.

“Can’t they send somebody else out here?”

Second and fourth in the National Basketball Association at the moment for most wins so far this season, the Spurs and the Cavaliers are both highly-placed in their respective conferences.

The Cavaliers come into this game on a tear, as they have won their last eight games in a row including Tuesday night’s overtime win in Dallas.