On their home floor, the Spurs earned a win against LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs' first meeting of the season was everything we could have asked. Using a dominant fourth quarter after trailing most the game, the Spurs toppled Cleveland 99-95 at the AT&T Center on Thursday.
Due to a backloaded schedule, the three clear-cut contenders -- these two plus the Warriors -- had to wait until January to play each other. It's alright; this was worth the wait. San Antonio pushed their winning streak to 10 games, just two games back from Golden State, while the Cavaliers, who entered with eight straight wins, fall to 27-10 on the season.
Cleveland entered the third quarter with a one-point lead after having led virtually the entire night, but their lead quickly disappeared as San Antonio sprinted out to an 11-2 run to open the frame. David Blatt reinserted LeBron James after a shorter rest than usual, but it was too little, too late: the avalanche had tipped over the edge.
Cleveland's first quarter start could hardly have been more impressive, finishing the first quarter up 32-20 with contributions from all of their key role players. But after a good second quarter, the Cavaliers limped into halftime, allowing Tony Parker to go on a personal 6-0 run heading into the locker room, giving him 18 in the first half and putting San Antonio down just 50-44.
The third quarter was more of the same, as San Antonio slowly chipped into the lead. By the fourth, the Cavaliers had used up all their answers for the Spurs, with Tim Duncan carrying them to the finish with a couple of key buckets late.
Tony Parker continues a sensational season
Coming into the year, it was Parker who was San Antonio's supposed weakness. Nobody was sure if the old veteran would be able to keep up with the newborn roster that included LaMarcus Aldridge and an MVP-caliber Leonard, especially after he has shown sign after sign of slowing down over the past few years.
Instead, Parker scored 24 points on Thursday, showing his typical array of dazzling finishes and lightning-bolt drives that has made him such a sensational player over the years. Although he's playing the fewest minutes of his career, Parker is shooting 53 percent and nailing 45 percent of his shots behind the arc, all while averaging more than five assists. On a stacked Spurs team, that's all San Antonio needs him to do.
LeBron vs. Kawhi was everything we wanted
With all due respect to Kevin Durant, are these not the two best forwards in the NBA? At the very least, you can say they're the most all-around dominant, and it showed nearly every step of the way. Early in the first quarter, James beat Leonard, only to see Leonard recover and block his layup attempt off glass. James would get the better of him a couple plays later, and the two continued to alternate back and forth, trading moments of spell-binding athleticism. With 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and the win, Leonard clearly had the upper hand on Thursday, but we sure wouldn't mind this being a seven-game Finals series just to see those two duke it out night after night.
Never change, Pop
In playoff-like atmospheres like the AT&T Center was on Thursday, rotations usually shorten as each individual possession becomes more and more valuable. While both coaches clearly remembered this was a regular season, for Cleveland you saw Kevin Love and LeBron James hit 37 minutes apiece in a nine-man rotation.
Then there's Gregg Popovich, who opened up his rotation to use 11 players, including a fourth quarter stint for second-year Kyle Anderson and nine minutes for Jonathon Simmons. And, of course, because Popovich always knows which buttons are the right ones to push, it worked. Simmons provided a burst of energy and Anderson didn't make mistakes. Even David West got extended chances off the bench, scoring 13 points and finishing with a game-high plus-16. Once again, Popovich remains the Spurs' biggest advantage over virtually any team they face.
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