The San Antonio Spurs dug themselves into too deep of a gap for them to climb out of Monday evening in opposition to the Cleveland Cavaliers. After trailing 34-19 within the first 12 minutes, the group performed properly the remainder of the way in which however simply couldn’t shut the hole. The Spurs (14-44) misplaced their thirteenth consecutive sport as their winless Rodeo Street Journey rolled on in opposition to the Cavaliers (38-22), falling 117-109.
Six Spurs scored in double-digits, together with all 5 of the starters, nevertheless it simply wasn’t sufficient to counter Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell. The previous Utah Jazz star shined with a game-high 41 factors whereas capturing 60 p.c from the ground. Round him, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen dominated the glass as they every recorded a double-double. The 2 bigs mixed for 32 factors and 21 rebounds. For San Antonio, latest acquisition Devonte’ Graham had a powerful evening with a game-high eight assists from the bench. He contributed 12 factors of his personal to assist Keldon Johnson who led the Spurs with 25 factors.
Shut However Not Sufficient for the San Antonio Spurs
From the onset, no person gave San Antonio an opportunity on this one. They opened as 16.5-point underdogs in Cleveland, and it seemed early like they could lose by much more. After trailing by 15, they picked it up by way of the center two frames, nevertheless, and gave the Cavs all they may deal with. By the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Spurs trailed by 10 factors, however they had been surging after falling behind by 20 factors. With just below 10 minutes left within the sport, it was a four-point affair and it was wanting like San Antonio would possibly steal a win. After all, they didn’t enter the evening 0-38 when trailing after three quarters for no motive, and any hope that they had proved false.
What actually did the Spurs in down the stretch was falling into foul bother. That they had Cleveland within the bonus for the ultimate 9 minutes of the sport and the house group took benefit. Inside two minutes from that time, the Cavs went to the free-throw line 4 instances for a 6-0 scoring run. That gave Cleveland the respiratory room they wanted and so they by no means let San Antonio nearer than eight factors once more.
There are a variety of positives the Spurs can stroll away from this one with, going into their last sport earlier than the All-Star break. Regardless of the drawback in measurement, Cleveland solely out-rebounded them by one, 36-35. San Antonio additionally gained on the three-point line, out-shooting the Cavs 38 p.c to 32 p.c, although Cleveland made yet another basket. The Spurs additionally shot 50.6% from the ground, which isn’t shabby for going through the fourth-best group within the Japanese Convention.
UP NEXT
With the 2023 NBA All-Star Weekend simply days away, the Spurs have only one sport left earlier than the break. On Wednesday, they’ll journey to Charlotte to face the Hornets (16-43) who simply snapped their seven-game dropping streak on Monday evening in opposition to the Atlanta Hawks. The beginning rotation for Charlotte went wild with 4 of the 5 gamers scoring greater than 20 factors. Main the way in which was LaMelo Ball who scored a game-high 30 factors. San Antonio can have their palms full if the Hornets don’t cool off over Tuesday. Charlotte linked on 20 three-pointers (54%) off of 36 complete assists.
Wednesday’s sport would be the first assembly of the 2 groups for the reason that season opener again in October. A contest that appears a lifetime in the past, the Hornets took that sport 129-102 with out the companies of Ball. That loss sparked a run by San Antonio who gained 5 of their subsequent six video games after that earlier than the dropping settled in.
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