The San Antonio Spurs were assigned a tough task with a three-game road trip against Eastern Conference playoff teams. After a blowout loss to the Detroit Pistons, the Spurs gave the Eastern Conference’s best team, the Cleveland Cavaliers a run for their money. They fell just short in the fourth quarter in a 124-116 loss.
San Antonio went with a smaller lineup in the fourth quarter, while the Cavaliers played through their center, Jarrett Allen, who punished the undersized Spurs. Allen had a game-high 29 points and 16 rebounds, leading Cleveland to victory.
The Spurs gave the Cavs all they could handle, though. They aggressively defended Cleveland, forcing them to shoot 46.5% from the field and 35.4% from three. San Antonio caused the Cavs to cough the ball up leading to 14 turnovers.
San Antonio’s backcourt showed up in a big way. Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell both added 22 points and made big-time shots down the stretch. Castle had a well-rounded game, attacking the glass for 11 rebounds and finding his teammates for 8 assists.
Now the Spurs will head to Boston for a game against the defending champion Celtics on Saturday night.
Observations
- Castle scored his 1,000th point on Thursday night. He’s the 9th fastest Spur to hit that number in franchise history.
- Vassell has hit 49 threes in the month of March, which is the most a Spur has ever made in a month, surpassing Danny Green’s record of 45. He drained 4 threes on Wednesday night.
- Keldon Johnson was a real spark plug off the bench, finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals. His aggressiveness on both sides of the ball helped the Spurs keep pace with the talented Cavaliers.
- Donovan Mitchell had 14 points in the win. A lot of those came from the Spurs overhelping on his drive, where he could find cutters or spray out to shooters. Mitchell’s ability to get to the basket against a one-on-one defender is so hard to guard and could be something the Spurs can somewhat replicate with De’Aaron Fox next season.
