The Cavaliers took care of business this week – winning three straight, including last night’s convincing win in Motown – to set up tonight’s huge nationally-televised rematch with the Spurs at The Q.
After dropping the first game of Tyronn Lue’s coaching tenure, the Wine and Gold have been awfully impressive on the offensive end – averaging 114.3 points per game over their three-game run. On Friday night, the Big Three went to work on the Pistons and two-thirds of that group, a pair of three-time All-Stars who didn’t get selected this season – Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving – were at their best. Love finished with 29 points – his highest scoring output since late November. Kyrie heeded Coach Lue’s call to be more aggressive and was in attack mode all night, adding 28 points – his second-highest scoring night since his return in late December.
But the Cavaliers’ explosive offense will be challenged on Saturday night, going against the toughest scoring defense in the NBA. The Spurs had an interesting week heading into tonight’s contest – falling by 30 on Monday night at Golden State and taking it out on Houston two nights later, drubbing the Rockets by 31 in San Antonio. In Cleveland’s last meeting with the Spurs on January 14, the Cavs ran out to a 15-point lead before San Antonio cut it to six at intermission – outscoring the Wine and Gold 55-45 in the second stanza to get the win.
After a wild week for both franchises, all eyes will be on tonight’s matchup at The Q.
With the first half of his season reduced to just a 19-game body of work, Kyrie Irving was left off this year’s All-Star squad. But he definitely played like one on Friday night in the Motor City, going 11-for-19 from the floor for 28 points, adding four boards and a pair of assists.
Kyrie needed a breakout performance heading into Saturday’s battle in Cleveland after averaging just 12.0 points per game in his previous three – shooting just 36 percent from the floor over that span. After his record-setting 57-point explosion against the Spurs at the AT&T Center last march, Gregg Popovich’s squad flummoxed Kyrie in this season’s visit, holding him to 16 points on 6-for-17 shooting.
Of course, Kyrie will have his work cut out for him on Saturday night, going against future Hall of Famer, Tony Parker. The 14-year veteran’s scoring average has taken a slight dip this season, but still leads all NBA guards in field goal percentage. In the Spurs’ win over Cleveland two weeks ago, Parker led all scorers with 24 points, going 11-for-18 from the floor, keeping San Antonio in the game as the Cavs threatened to blow things open in the first half.
While still a very dangerous trio, San Antonio’s Big Three has, in many ways, given way to a new generation of stars – none brighter than Kawhi Leonard.
The NBA’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year and current MVP candidate was named the sixth Spur to start in the All-Star Game. The quiet superstar comes into Saturday’s game as the league’s three-point percentage leader. He ranks eighth overall in steals and is among the Association’s top 20 in scoring, field goal percentage and free throw percentage. Leonard – who earlier this season became the second-fastest player to reach 200 career wins – was his rock-solid self in the first meeting with Cleveland – doubling-up with 20 points, 10 boards, five assists and a steal.
He’ll resume his rivalry with a 12-time All-Star starter on Saturday night, taking on LeBron James in the very definition of a marquee matchup. LeBron has flourished under Tyronn Lue’s new system, shooting 64 percent from the floor (25-of-39) over the course of Cleveland’s three-game win streak, averaging 8.6 assists over that stretch. LeBron led the Cavaliers with 22 points on 9-for-17 shooting in the January 14 contest in San Antonio, but the Spurs were able to keep him from putting together any type of big run.
LeBron and Leonard have had some epic duels on the NBA’s biggest stage and they’ll be back in the spotlight on Saturday night.
The Spurs don’t go with a traditional lineup, especially with their franchise’s cornerstone, Tim Duncan, on the shelf with a sore right knee. With their 15-time All-Star out of the lineup, San Antonio will slide All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge into the starting “center” spot and stat second-year swingman Kyle Anderson at the 4.
Aldridge, who was named to this fifth straight All-Star game on Thursday, has notched 14 double-doubles this season and has led the squad in 13 games so far this season. Normally, he’d be matched up with Kevin Love – and those two will square off at certain points again tonight. But he’ll also lock horns with another Texas alum in Tristan Thompson throughout the night.
Thompson – who’s been named the starter until further notice by Tyronn Lue – was outstanding against the league’s leading rebounder, Andre Drummond, on Friday night, holding him completely in-check while doubling-up with 11 points and 14 boards. (Timofey Mozgov was almost as impressive off the bench, finishing with 12 points and eight boards.) Thompson was very good against the Spurs earlier this month, finishing with 18 points and a game-high 14 boards. He’ll have to be just as good on Saturday night if the Cavaliers hope to avenge that loss.
Both the Cavaliers and Spurs are so loaded with stars in the starting lineups that it’s easy to forget how deep both squads are – (although that’s one of the primary reason they boast the league’s second- and third-best records).
In the January 14 meeting, Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard did the heavy lifting, but David West came off the bench to torment Cleveland down the stretch, going 5-for-7 from the floor and finishing with 13 big points. Led by West, Boris Diaw, Patty Mills and Manu Ginobili – the all-time leader in NBA history with at least 15 points and five assists off the bench – the Spurs can go with two hockey lines of star power. San Antonio’s second unit has already had a game where it combined for 70 points and, on the season, lead the NBA in five statistical categories. The Cavaliers can counter with a great group of reserves as well.
Matthew Dellavedova matches up well with his Boomer teammate, Mills. Iman Shumpert can guard four positions and Timofey Mozgov has been very good since being moved to the bench – shooting 80 percent (12-of-15) from the floor over his last three games. Former Spur, Richard Jefferson, was outstanding earlier this week, going a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and finishing with 14 points against the Suns. Mo Williams will look to get a nice run and Lue might need to turn to Anderson Varejao if David West does what he did to Cleveland on January 14.
It’ll be all-hands-on-deck when these two heavyweights square off on Saturday night.
