The Cleveland Cavaliers can inch closer to clinching the best record in the Eastern Conference if they can beat the San Antonio Spurs on Friday in a late-season, interconference game in the Alamo City.
The Cavaliers (61-15) have a five-game lead over the defending champion Boston Celtics in the East race with six contests left to play. Cleveland has won two straight games and five of its past six, a stint that includes a 124-116 win over San Antonio at home on March 27.
Cleveland’s most recent outing was a 124-105 home victory over New York on Wednesday. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to pace the Cavaliers, with Jarrett Allen adding 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the floor, Darius Garland hitting for 17, De’Andre Hunter tallying 16 off the bench, Evan Mobley scoring 13 and Isaac Okoro racking up 11.
Cleveland produced a 15-2 run that bridged the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth and held New York without a field goal for the first 2:48 of the final period.
The Cavaliers’ magic number to cement the top seed is now two, meaning any combination of two Cleveland wins or two Boston losses would give the Cavaliers the crown.
“I’m not paranoid,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said. “But you know how hard this league is. Every game is so tough. It’s tough to win in this league. There’s no guarantees. We’re not guaranteed the first seed by any means. We still got work to do.”
The Spurs (32-44) head home after a 113-106 win at the undermanned Denver Nuggets on Wednesday behind Stephon Castle’s near triple-double (15 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists) and a team-high 20 points from Harrison Barnes.
Sandro Mamukelashvili added 16 points and 10 rebounds, Chris Paul scored 17 points, Blake Wesley hit for 15 and Julian Champagnie had 14 points for San Antonio, which snapped a five-game losing streak. Denver played without six of its top seven players, but the Spurs needed a 13-2 run early in the fourth quarter to help secure the win after surrendering a 14-point third-quarter lead.
San Antonio was also short-handed in the second game of a home-road back-to-back, as Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan did not play due to injuries.
“It was a good team win,” Barnes said. “A lot of guys are working extremely hard for their moment and the opportunity to get into the basketball game. Obviously, (we were) down a lot of bodies but I was proud of the way that all of the young guys stepped up and made plays.”
San Antonio is running out of time to work its way into the West play-in tournament. The Spurs are in 13th place, three positions and four games in arrears of the 10th-place Sacramento Kings with six games to play.
After Friday’s game, San Antonio plays four straight on the road before finishing the season at home against Toronto on April 13.
–Field Level Media
