Key: Homestand Finale
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The Cavaliers have an opportunity to close out the final extended homestand of the season in style on Sunday night, with a chance to sweep the season series against Western Conference foes in back-to-back nights.
On Saturday night, the Cavaliers snapped a four-game win streak in stellar fashion, dropping the heavyweight Nuggets for the second time this season – overtaking Denver in the fourth quarter and holding on late for the win despite being without starters Andre Drummond and Darius Garland. Three heroes from the 2016 Championship squad – Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love and Matthew Dellavedova – all had big nights in the victory.
The Spurs come to Cleveland desperately needing a win to keep their Playoff hopes alive – trailing Memphis by 4.5 games with just over a month to play in the season. San Antonio didn’t do itself any favors on Friday night, surrendering 41 points in the first period and 45 more in the third in a blowout loss to the Nets. Gregg Popovich’s squad trailed by as many as 33 points before intermission and never got closer than 15 points in the second half.
Behind a big night from Kevin Love, the Cavaliers knocked off the Spurs in overtime earlier this season – getting their first win in San Antonio since Kyrie Irving’s 57-point performance in a 2015 overtime win.
Key: Changing of the Guard
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The Spurs might not be having their usual success as a team, but DeMar DeRozan simply keeps chugging along – averaging 20-plus points in his seventh straight season and his numbers have been even better since his arrival in San Antonio via the Kawhi Leonard trade.
This year DeRozan – the 9th overall pick in 2009 – is shooting a career-high 53 percent from the floor and is near career-highs (posted last year) in rebounding and assists. This year, he leads the Spurs in assists and scoring, having posted nine 30-point games and 32 of 20-plus (although just two since the All-Star Break).
DeRozan finished with 21 points in the early-December loss to Cleveland – on par with his 19.0 career average in 46 games against the Wine and Gold.
As good as DeRozan was in San Antonio’s loss on December 12, Collin Sexton was that much better – finishing with 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting, adding a pair of assists and a steal.
Sexton’s assists numbers have gone up since then – as has his scoring average and three-point percentage.
The Young Bull’s rapid ascension continued on Saturday night – following up his career-high 41-point performance against Boston with a 25-point effort against Denver, going 11-of-19 from the floor to go with six boards, five assists and a pair of steals.
Over the past six games, the sophomore from Alabama – who still hasn’t missed a game in his NBA career – is averaging 28.8ppg on 56 percent shooting from the floor and 49 percent from beyond the arc. Over that six-game stretch, Sexton has shot better than 55 percent from the field in five games.
Key: Large, In Charge
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Somehow, Tristan Thompson is able to be flashy and blue-collar at the same time. It’s a formula that’s worked since his arrival in 2011 and helped seal Cleveland’s first Championship in 52 years.
Thompson doesn’t always put up monster numbers, but he makes winning plays when they count. Saturday night’s final moments were a perfect example – swatting Nikola Jokic’s potential go-ahead layup attempt with under three minutes to play, missing a pair of free throws with 20 seconds to go, then saving the day with a huge defensive stop and defensive rebound at the buzzer.
When the smoke cleared, Thompson – in his first game back after missing the previous three with a sore left knee – had finished with nine points, a game-high 13 boards, five assists and a pair of blocks. More importantly, he held All-Star big man Nikola Jokic – Denver’s leader in scoring, rebounding and assists – to just eight points, eight boards and eight helpers.
For much of Sunday night, Tristan will tangle with fellow Canadian Trey Lyles, who’s been very good of late.
Lyles finished with a quiet three-point, two-rebound showing off the bench in the December 12 meeting with Cleveland, but he’s averaging 16.3ppg over his last four games as a starter, posting back-to-back 20-point games against Orlando and Indiana.