Wrap-Up – In a battle between two of the league’s true heavyweights – one, a winner of eight straight, the other having rolled off nine – something had to give.
The Cavaliers came into San Antonio on the final days of their longest trip of the season, having topped their first four foes. But the Spurs are a different animal and they proved it on Thursday night, methodically erasing Cleveland’s 15-point lead and pulling away in the final period for the 99-95 win at the AT&T Center.
The Wine and Gold were in control through most of the first three quarters, but cooled off to start the fourth. The Spurs opened up a 10-point edge in the final period – the same margin they had last year in San Antonio before Kyrie Irving put on one of the greatest scoring displays in team history to steal an overtime win.
Irving got Cleveland as close as four – 97-93 – on a three-pointer with 17.9 to play – and it looked like the Cavs might pull off another miracle when Tony Parker missed two free throws on the other end. But LaMarcus Aldridge snagged the second miss and drained two tosses from the strip e to seal the deal.
All five Cavalier starters notched double-figures and two of them – Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love – doubled-up in Thursday’s thriller.
LeBron led Cleveland with 22 points, going 9-for-17 from the floor to go with seven boards and five assists.
Thompson – who claimed the mantle of the league’s current iron man with L.A.’s DeAndre Jordan missing a game after 360 straight – followed up with an 18-point, 14-rebound performance, going 7-for-11 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the stripe.
J.R. Smith continued his strong road trip with 17 points, going 7-for-13 from the floor. Smith knocked down four of their first five shots and led everyone with 10 points in the first quarter. But he went scoreless in the second and was limited in the third, picking up three personal fouls in the period.
Kyrie Irving didn’t have the same mojo against the Spurs in this year’s trip to San Antonio, but still finished with 16 points on 6-for-17 shooting. Cleveland’s three-time All-Star also had his hands full on the defensive end, with Anthony Parker leading all scorers with 24 points, 20 of which he poured in before intermission.
Kevin Love rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures, tallying his third straight double-double with 10 points and 12 boards.
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View photos from San Antonio.
LBJ gets the and-one.
Watch final game highlights.
San Antonio brought the highest-scoring second unit into Thursday’s contest and they did their part on Thursday – combining for 35 of the Spurs’ 99 points. The Cavaliers’ reserves – one game after dropping 34 points in Dallas – combined for just a dozen against the Spurs.
Both teams shot 46 percent from the floor, but San Antonio took twice as many free throws as the Wine and Gold (22-11) and forced Cleveland into 18 turnovers that the opportunistic Spurs converted into 19 points.
Turning Point -- After leading by as many as 15 points late in the first quarter, the Spurs rode a red-hot Tony Parker to trim that lead to six just before halftime. San Antonio went on a 13-5 run to start the second stanza and went on to take a five-point lead.
But teams went back and forth throughout the third, but San Antonio caught fire to start the final period just as the Cavaliers were cooling off. The Spurs went on a 13-2 to give themselves their first double-digit lead of the evening, and the Wine and Gold were in catch-up mode – not the place a team wants to be against the five-time champs – for the rest of the night.
By the Numbers – 324 … Consecutive games that Tristan Thompson has played in, now the longest current streak in the NBA. The next-longest run in the NBA is Sacramento’s Ben McLemore at 202 straight.
Quotable – LeBron James, on the squad’s execution in Thursday’s loss …
”I think we could’ve executed better, especially versus this team. You are able to do certain things versus other teams that you’re not able to do versus the Spurs, and the Golden States and the better teams in our league. It’s very tough to prepare in a regular season game how you would in a postseason matchup. They did a good job of taking us out of our sets, but we also had some really good looks that just didn’t go down for us.”
Up Next – After Thursday night’s loss in San Antonio, the Cavaliers round out their longest road trip in four seasons when they travel to Houston for a Friday night showdown at the Toyota Center. Last year, the Rockets were the only Western Conference team to sweep the Wine and Gold, including a contentious overtime affair in Houston in early March. The Cavs return home after that matchup, but it doesn’t get much easier when they get there, as they welcome the Warriors back to Cleveland for the first time since their Game 6 victory in the NBA finals. After the Cavs attempt to avenge their Christmas Day loss to Golden State, it’s right back on the road for a Wednesday night meeting in Brooklyn.