Down two with a chance for the Cavaliers to tie, LeBron James turned the ball over with a few seconds remaining Wednesday night, sealing a 92-90 victory for the San Antonio Spurs at The Q.
Cleveland (5-5) dropped its second consecutive game.
Tim Duncan and Boris Diaw, who combined for 38 points and 16 rebounds, led San Antonio (7-4).
The Cavaliers brought the energy from the jump, unlike in Monday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets. However, they were not as polished as they had hoped.
Turnovers got them off to a terrible start in the opening quarter, coughing up six possessions that resulted in nine points. The Spurs’ defense had some part to play, but most of the turnovers careless, leading to a 23-20 San Antonio lead after one quarter.
In the second quarter the Cavs picked up the intensity as guard Kyrie Irving went on a tear, scoring 10 of his 20 points. Their defense buckled up, limiting the Spurs to 16 field-goal attempts. Cleveland hoisted 25 shots and went into the half up, 47-44.
The Cavs were 12-for-31 from the field at the half, although center Anderson Varejao (6-of-9) and rookie Joe Harris (2-of-3) shot well.
A classic fired-up moment from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich: He called a timeout 19 seconds into the third quarter following a Kevin Love layup. Cavaliers players were thrown off, looking around to see what had happened.
Popovich absolutely let his guys have it during that 20-second timeout. Utilizing a small backcourt, Popovich relied on Corey Joseph on the offensive end to pick up the team’s morale.
The backup point guard supplied eight of his 10 points off the bench in the third, igniting a third quarter where the Spurs shot 55 percent on 12-of-22 shooting and outscored the Cavaliers, 28-22.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
