The Wine & Gold tipoff their five-game roadie on Thursday in the Lone Star State against the San Antonio Spurs. Tipoff from the AT&T Center is set for 8:30 p.m. (ET).
The Cavs will look to get back into the win column after dropping their last three games including Tuesday's loss to the Boston Celtics at The Q. Despite the loss, the Cavs showed resilience throughout the game.
Cavs Visit Spurs
From where to catch all the action to Thursday's game notes, Cavs.com has you covered.
FOX Sports Ohio
WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 FM La Mega
Joe G.'s guide to a victory.
Learn more about Thursday's matchup.
Guess the score and win tickets!
On Tuesday, Cleveland continued to excel at some crucial areas of the game including bench play. The reserves poured in 45 points compared to Boston's 40 and they have now recorded at least 40 points in five straight games. The bench is averaging 42.8 points on the season, which is good for the sixth-best in the NBA.
The Wine & Gold are shooting well from both the free throw line and the three-point arc tallying an NBA-best .826 (276-334) from the charity stripe while knocking down the seventh-most three-pointers per game in the NBA since February 8 at 13.6.
Rookie guard Collin Sexton once again led his squad in scoring on Tuesday night with a game-high 24 point performance against the Celtics. The Young Bull has scored at least 20 points in nine of the last 10 games, averaging 24.6 points on .547 (93-170) shooting from the field, .508 (32-63) from beyond the arc and .903 (28-31) from the charity stripe in 35.7 minutes per contest over that span.
Jordan Clarkson finished with 18 points on 7-11 (.636) shooting, two rebounds, five assists and one steal in 30 minutes as a reserve versus the Celtics. Clarkson has now tallied double-digits in scoring in a season-high 15 consecutive games (since February 25).
Sexton and Clarkson will look to continue to lead the Cavs on Thursday night when they tipoff against the Spurs (43-32). San Antonio has cooled off recently after tallying a nine-game winning streak earlier this month. Heading into Thursday's showdown with Cleveland, Gregg Popovich's squad is 1-3 in their last four games.
In their latest meeting, the Spurs suffered a heart-breaking overtime loss to the Charlotte Hornets. DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge both had outstanding games as DeRozan posted 30 points on 12-24 shooting while Aldridge tallied a 20 points and 15 rebounds. Marco Belinelli added 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Thursday night's showdown will be the first time the Cavs and Spurs meet this season. They'll round out their home-and-home series next month on April 7 at Quicken Loans Arena (3:00 p.m. ET).
Where to Catch the Action
TV: FOX Sports Ohio
Tune in for Cavaliers LIVE on FSO for pre-and-postgame coverage starting 30 minutes prior to tipoff and immediately following the conclusion of the game.
Radio: WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 La Mega
Programming Note: On Thursday, FOX Sports Ohio is airing the Blue Jackets – Canadiens game (7:00 p.m.), the Cavs – Spurs game (8:30 p.m.) and the Reds – Pirates game (4:00 p.m.). To view channel information, CLICK HERE.
For live in-game updates, follow @cavs, @CavsJoeG, @CavsFredMcLeod, @MrCavalier34, @CavsJMike and @chones22 on Twitter.
Probable Starters/Status Update*
#2 - Collin Sexton
#20 - Brandon Knight
#16 - Cedi Osman
#0 - Kevin Love
#13 - Tristan Thompson
G
G
F
F
C
#11 - Bryn Forbes
#4 - Derrick White
#10 - DeMar DeRozan
#12 - LaMarcus Aldridge
#25 - Jakob Poeltl
Status Update: (Cavs) - John Henson (Left Wrist Surgery, Out),
Matthew Dellavedova (Concussion, Out),
JR Smith (NWT)
Status Update: (Spurs) -
Ben Moore (NWT, Out),
Dejounte Murray (Right ACL Tear, Out)
*Subject to change.
Head-to-Head Matchup
As mentioned, the Cavs and Spurs will meet for the first time on Thursday night with their final matchup taking place on April 7 in Cleveland. Thursday's matchup tips off a five-game tour of the Western Conference for the Wine & Gold.
While the Cavs haven't had a ton of success against the Spurs in the past, they're last win in San Antonio (January 30, 2016) was a 117-103 drubbing of the Spurs. In that game, all five Cavs starters scored in double figures including Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson who tallied 21 and 10 points, respectively. Love also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for a double-double on the night. Matthew Dellavedova also had a rock-solid game off the bench tallying 15 points, five boards and three assists.
Fast forward to 2019 and the Cavs and Spurs will both look to their reserves for an extra boost of offense on Thursday night. Cleveland holds the edge over S.A. in bench points this season averaging 42.8 ppg to the Spurs' 35.2 ppg.
On Deck
Following Thursday's duel in San Antonio, the Cavs round out the week with a trip to Tinseltown on Saturday afternoon to battle the Clippers at 3:30 p.m. ET. Cleveland will then tipoff next week with a game against the Phoenix Suns on Monday (April 1) before playing the Sacramento Kings on Thursday (April 4). The Wine & Gold round out their roadie the very next night against the Golden State Warriors.
The Cavaliers return to The Land on April 7 to take on the Spurs at 3:00 p.m. (ET) before concluding the regular season on Fan Appreciation Night (Tuesday, April 9) against the Charlotte Hornets at 7:00 p.m. (ET).