Wrap-Up – San Antonio came into Saturday’s game having won seven straight over the Cavaliers and nine straight overall. The beat went on in both categories, as the methodical Spurs used a big second quarter to pull away from the Wine and Gold for the 126-96 win on Saturday night at the AT&T Center.
Andrew Bynum led four Cavaliers in double-figures with 16 points. Kyrie Irving followed up with 15 points on 7-for-17 shooting, adding four assists and a steal. Matthew Dellavedova, getting his second straight start, went 6-for-8 from the floor for 14 points. Dion Waiters came off the bench to net 11 points and Anderson Varejao tallied nine points and six boards with the second unit. Mike Brown emptied his bench by the end of the third period and that provided some of the game’s silver lining. Sergey Karasev notched eight points and five boards, Anthony Bennett went 4-of-5 from the floor for a career-high nine points and Carrick Felix scored his first points as a pro.
The Spurs shot 58 percent from the floor and a gaudy 67 percent from beyond the arc, with Danny Green going 5-for-7 from three-point range.
Turning Point – The Cavs trailed by just nine after one period, but the Spurs came out on fire in the second, opening the quarter on a 9-2 run to put Cleveland into catch-up mode. The Wine and Gold never quite recovered. Before Andrew Bynum hit two straight jumpers in the final 37 seconds of the half, the Cavaliers had scored seven points in the quarter. It didn’t get much better in the second stanza.
Game Ball – Andrew Bynum – The eight-year veteran was one of the Cavaliers’ lone bright spots on Saturday. He got his first start in the second half of a back-to-back in a year-and-a-half and looked very sharp in his 21 minutes of action, going 8-for-15 from the floor with six boards and a blocked shot.
By the Numbers – 584 … Days since the last time Andrew Bynum was able to start both games of a back-to-back.
Quotable – Head Coach Mike Brown, on Saturday’s loss in San Antonio …
”We didn’t do anything well. I think the only positive that we got out of it is that we got to see how to play the game of basketball the right way.”
Up Next – It doesn’t get any easier for the Wine and Gold, but at least they’ll face off against the Miami Heat on their home floor and have three days to prepare for the NBA Champs. After the Thanksgiving Eve battle with LeBron and Co., the Cavaliers head to Boston for the first half of another weekend back-to-back – taking on the Celtics on Friday and returning to The Q to face off against the Derek Rose-less Bulls on Saturday night.