Wrap-Up — The Cavaliers can say that Saturday night’s 117-103 victory over the five-time NBA Champion Spurs at The Q was just “one of 82.”
It wasn’t.
Just over two weeks ago, these same Spurs overcame a 15-point deficit to sink the Cavaliers in San Antonio. Four nights later, the Warriors crushed Cleveland by 34 points at The Q. And just last Saturday night, the Wine and Gold suffered tough home loss to the Bulls after making a mid-season coaching change the previous day.
For a team that came into Saturday’s contest with a 12-3 record in January – and the Conference’s top mark at 33-12 – it had been a pretty dramatic month.
All that seems like a long time ago as the Cavs won their fourth straight on Saturday night – handling the heavyweight Spurs in convincing fashion as Tyronn Lue’s new up-tempo offense continue to rumble on – with Cleveland averaging an impressive 115 points per game during the streak.
San Antonio boasted the league’s top scoring defense coming into the nationally-televised rematch, limiting opponents to 90.6 points per game. On Saturday, the Cavaliers eclipsed that mark by the end of the third quarter.
For the second straight game, the Big Three all topped the 20-point plateau. Kevin Love staked Cleveland to a lead in the first quarter, LeBron James staved off San Antonio’s run in the third quarter and Kyrie Irving sealed the deal in the fourth. ]
LeBron notched 16 of his game-high 29 points in the third quarter, going 10-for-17 from the floor on the night – adding a game-high seven assists and a pair of steals.
Always the focus of attention, James was the source of an odd early storyline – playing the first half of the first quarter in the wrong shorts.
In a pregame equipment mix-up, the four-time MVP wore the Cavaliers’ regular gold shorts instead of the “Miracle of Richfield” era Hardwood Classics, featuring the signature horizontal piping. After a timeout with 5:07 to play in the period, James returned with the proper threads and all was right in the world.
Kevin Love was in total sync in the first quarter – uniform and all. After notching 19 of his 29 points in the first half in Friday’s victory in Detroit, Love was all business from the opening tip again on Saturday. In the opening period, Love went off for 14 points – going 5-of-7 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
On the night, Love finished with 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting, going 3-of-6 from deep – doubling-up for the 22nd time this season with a game-high 11 boards.
Kyrie Irving did his work late, tormenting Spurs rookie Jonathon Simmons to net 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter. Irving went 5-for-7 from the floor in the final period and 9-for-17 overall, adding six helpers and a pair of steals.
Irving’s frequent backup, Matthew Dellavedova, shared the floor – and the scoring load – in the fourth quarter, netting 10 of his 15 points down the stretch, going 4-for-6 from the field in the period and 6-of-10 overall.
Tristan Thompson didn’t have a huge statistical night, but finished with 10 points and seven boards. He also managed to get San Antonio’s All-Star big man, LaMarcus Aldridge, into serious foul trouble – picking up his third personal with 3:09 remaining in the first quarter, forcing him to sit the remainder of the first half.
Including J.R. Smith’s 10-point effort, it marked the sixth time this season that all five Cavalier starters finished with double-figures.
Turning Point — Getting LaMarcus Aldridge into foul trouble early was a critical moment of the game. But it was the Wine and Gold’s ability to ward off San Antonio’s runs in the third quarter that preserved the victory.
Aldridge hit two straight jumpers to start the second half, igniting a 8-0 run that cut Cleveland’s 17-point halftime lead to just nine – 66-57. But LeBron and Kyrie answered right back, snuffing the Spurs surge with a quick 6-0 run to make it 15.
Kawhi Leonard’s turnaround jumper with 4:29 to play in the period got the Spurs back to within 10 at 76-66. But Kevin Love and Matthew Dellavedova hit back-to-back triples to balloon Cleveland’s edge back to 17 points – and San Antonio didn’t get close than 12 the rest of the way.
By the Numbers – 8,443 … days between the last time a Cavaliers club scored at least 114 points in four straight games and their current run – achieving the feat back in December, 1992.
Quotable – Kevin Love, on the Cavaliers’ impressive offensive run …
“Guys aren’t thinking out there, they are just playing. Over the past week I’ve mentioned how devastating we are when we are playing downhill especially with LeBron (James) and Kyrie (Irving) handling the ball so much. I think we did a good job of that tonight. We played with pace, got good shots and on the defensive end we got stops when we needed them.”
Up Next – The Cavaliers hit the road for the final time before the All-Star Break this week – traveling to Indiana for a Monday night matchup with the Pacers, who they topped, 101-97, at The Q back on November 8. After that, it’s off to Tobacco Road for a meeting with the Hornets, who Cleveland defeated the day after Thanksgiving in Charlotte. The Cavs return home for a weekend back-to-back against Boston and the Pelicans and close out the season’s unofficial first half with a pair of California clubs – the Kings on February 8 and the Lakers – in Kobe Bryant’s final visit to Cleveland two nights later.
