San Antonio hasn’t lost at home this season, recording a NBA-best 22 victories on their own floor, and haven’t tasted defeat in their last 31 regular-season games at the ATT Center.
San Antonio will face a stiff challenge from LeBron James and Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.
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SCHEDULING
The second half of Cleveland’s six-game road trip takes them through the Lone Star State with Thursday’s matchup in San Antonio being the highlight of the NBA schedule. The Cavaliers took the first three on the trip rather convincingly with victories over Washington, Minnesota and Philadelphia. Their Texas trek had them in Dallas Tuesday and takes them to Houston on Friday, with a game against the Spurs, who haven’t lost on their own floor this season, sandwiched in between. Cleveland extended its winning streak to seven straight games and 13 of 15 with Sunday’s win over the 76ers. It was also the Cavs fifth consecutive win on the road, improving them to 11-8 away from The Q.
The Spurs will play their third game in four nights when they host Cleveland on Thursday and face a big challenge in extending their homecourt winning streak. San Antonio gets Wednesday off after playing back-to-back in Brooklyn and Detroit, and will attempt to remain unbeaten at the ATT Center this season in their 23rd game, and win for the 32nd straight time dating back to last year. The Spurs are 27-12 ATS overall and 16-6 ATS at home this season.
INJURIES
There’s been some puzzling news taking place in Cleveland regarding Mo Williams, who informed media members last week that he’s playing with a partially torn ligament in his right thumb. However, no official word has come from the team regarding the supposed injury. His role has dipped dramatically with the return of Kyrie Irving and the Cavs have used Matthew Dellavedova as the primary backup point guard.
KEY MATCHUP
LeBron James is playing with a chip on his shoulder and the Cavs are excited about that. You see, the best player in the game really doesn’t need any added motivation, but he has it. On the court James is motivated by a Finals loss last season when the Cavs played without Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving and took the Warriors to six games before falling. Off the court, LBJ is regularly slammed on social media, though I don’t know why. James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday after leading the Cavs to four wins by averaging 26 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.0 assists, and perhaps most notably, shot 58 percent from the field. James had his best game of the week Sunday, when he amassed 37 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds in a win over Philly. He poured in 34 points with 10 boards against the Wizards and flirted with a triple-double by compiling 13 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists against Minnesota. The Spurs will have a difficult time matching up with a motivated King.
ODDS AND PREDICTION
The Cavaliers will have to score some points to knock off the Spurs and that ain’t easy to do against the best defensive team in the league. Houston is the only team to reach 100 points against San Antonio in the last 11 games, and the Rockets lost by 18. The Spurs allowed 79 points twice in that stretch, including Monday to the Nets when the Spurs won their eighth straight and 15th in their last 16. San Antonio has back-to-back games on the road before hosting the Cavs following an off day. That could mean trouble for a veteran group like the Spurs, but they cruised to an easy win over Brooklyn on Monday with no one playing more than 30 minutes. Coach Greg Popovich has his team running smoothly and he will outcoach Cleveland’s David Blatt, though LeBron will make it a close game.
San Antonio 106, Cleveland 101
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