DeMar DeRozan returned after losing the last four games, helping the San Antonio Spurs to win their third game followed by the fourth this season.
Until the final frame, the Spurs were proud and were on their way to get some rest for their starters before a SEGEBABA tomorrow night in Milwaukee. Unfortunately for Spurs, the Cleveland Cavaliers decided to show up to work in the fourth period and made San Antonio fight all the way to the final bell to pull this one; 116-110.
The Spurs, for the first time, started the game strong, including a 7-0 start with buckets for all three of the 29º general choices; Keldon Johnson, Derrick White and Dejounte Murray. Not everything was going well, as at the other end Jakob Poeltl suffered two early fouls and was forced to stay on the bench. Drew Eubanks came in and did what he normally does and even gave a nice dunk after a great movement of the ball from the rest of the Spurs. This led to a Cavs timeout, as the lead was 16-8, halfway through the first quarter. The timeout worked for JB Bickerstaff and his team in a 30-second, 5-0 run that caused Gregg Popovich, now furious, to ask for his team’s first timeout. At the end of the quarter, the missed turns and shots cost both teams, as the Spurs led at the end of the first period; 25-22.
Pop still recovering from the poor second half of the first quarter put Tre Jones at the start of the second to try to get a response from his team. Tre only took 90 seconds, but it was a +6 on the floor and did its job when the Spurs started to perform. An 11-0 streak changed the lead to double digits in the middle of the quarter. The Spurs ended the time with a flurry of dunks, layups and 1’s, with San Antonio rising 12 at halftime.
The third quarter started with the return of DeMar DeRozan putting his mark on the game with 8 consecutive points pushing the Spurs’ lead to 18. The home team and San Antonio exchanged buckets throughout the quarter until Patty Mills got into the fight and hit three to give Silver & Black its biggest advantage of 22. Cleveland finished the frame better by recovering it to 15 with a good defense and shots on the offensive side.
The Cavs needed something to help them get back into the game and showed a sense of urgency and pace at the start of the 4thº rushing the Spurs at both ends of the court, something very similar to what we saw San Antonio do in their return win against the Bulls two days ago. The Spurs were struggling to match the energy of Cleveland, so what did the Spurs do? They turned to their lighting in a Keldon Johnson bottle to help bring a bump. This worked perfectly, especially during a play in which KJ managed an offensive rebound and hit an e-1 that raised his team. If you go back and look at the piece, note DeMar’s reaction and excitement and energy, all because of a play by Keldon Johnson.
The Cavs did not stop fighting and, with 5 to the end of the game, reduced the advantage to single digits for the first time since the 1st half. Then, Pop turned to his two biggest bucket collectors; DeMar and Dejounte. These two exchanged some clutch points before a three Patty Mills extended the lead to double digits. The Cavs started to get desperate and introduced a full court press, which wreaked havoc for San Antonio, as the upsets and bad decisions allowed Cavs to gain a little bit of confidence and crush the leadership little by little. Fortunately, the time ran out for the young Cleveland team and San Antonio won by 6 points.
Game notes
- Spurs win the third consecutive time for the 4º this season. Interestingly, the Spurs have not had a consecutive winning streak for more than three since just after the 2019 Rodeo Road Trip and ended on March 20. So a win tomorrow would not only be San Antonio’s longest winning streak of the season, but also the longest in exactly two years.
- There was no Lonnie Walker IV in the rotation tonight. This was intriguing, as he was not on the injury report and had started in the absence of DeMar DeRozan. We got some clarification after the game, as Pop said that Lonnie is “Okay, but just a little hurt”. We hope to see SkyWalker tomorrow, as your fresh legs can be useful in SEGABABA.
- JB Bickerstaff, what were you doing using your challenge so early? This may have been more intriguing than Lonnie not being in the rotation. The Cavs coach challenged just 7 minutes into the first, due to a clear Jarrett Allen foul. It wasn’t even as if Allen was in trouble. The referees only needed to take a look at the monitor before they knew it would not be knocked over. What a waste of challenge.
- KELDON “BIG BODY” JOHNSON. A career night for Keldon when he had his first 20-20 game of his professional basketball life. 23 pts and 21 rbs for the two-way threat. He also played for about 40 minutes, which shows how much Pop was relying on him tonight as a difference maker. Keldon needed a game like this too, since he’s been stagnating since the All-Star break, as the other players have been getting their stats and moments. Tonight, Keldon made it his own.
- 20 points and 7 ast for DeMar DeRozan on his return. He played 36 minutes and was solid all the time. Not spectacular, but with his usual impacting self. We miss you DeMar. White and Murray’s starting defense had 39 points combined, which is a big bonus if we can get that kind of scoring production from them every night.
- My Free Hit Theory. Tomorrow night, the Spurs will play against the Milwaukee Bucks on a second night in a row. This will be the Spurs’ fifth and final away game on this trip. The Spurs beat the three teams they were supposed to face and lost to the team they were unlucky against. Spurs now have six games over 0.500 and, regardless of tomorrow’s results, they will also end this trip with over 0.500. The Bucks is also coming out of a two-day break after an OT win against the 76ers. If the Spurs lose tomorrow without problems, we are underdogs facing one of the best teams in the league, who is also well rested. That’s why this game is a blow for San Antonio, come on, play without pressure, without stress, play your game. You don’t lose anything, you win however, STATEMENT. If the Spurs win tomorrow night, that is a statement to the rest of the league that San Antonio can play with the big boys, even on a second night with two backs against a team that has just had a 2-day break. As the Spurs took care of business in the last three games, now give the Spurs a free hit tomorrow night, where it looks like a loss won’t hurt, but a win would be a “‘You better start respecting us now” message to the rest of the league, the national media and everyone involved in the NBA.
Next game: @Bucks on Saturday, 20:00 CT at FSSW.
I DO. AN AFFIRMATION.