The Spurs had a bounce-back performance in their visit to Cleveland but couldn’t secure the win. The Silver and Black went toe to toe with the best team in the East for most of the game, but couldn’t close out strong with a small unit and lost to the Cavaliers 124-116 in a fun matchup.
After being walloped by the Pistons in the first half of their latest game, the Spurs came out motivated to avoid embarrassment against the Cavaliers. The effort was there early on, as San Antonio made hustle plays and dominated the boards. The offense wasn’t the sharpest in the half court mostly because Mitch Johnson’s strategy was to have Chris Paul go at Darius Garland, which didn’t seem like the best idea, but transition opportunities, some drives by Stephon Castle and some big shots from Devin Vassell prevented the Silver and Black’s attack from being too anemic. The big issue the visitors had was that they simply couldn’t stop Donovan Mitchell from driving, often after a pick-and-roll, and finding open shooters. It was a close opening frame that finished with Cleveland leading by six.
After trading buckets for a minute, the Cavs took control. San Antonio’s second unit struggled with scoring due to spacing issues and left shooters open for Mitchell, who finished with a career-high 14 assists, to find. The home team carved out a 16-point lead and the threat of another disastrous first half felt real. Fortunately, once Mitchell checked out, Cleveland couldn’t find another engine. Garland couldn’t buy a bucket and there was no dribble penetration to get San Antonio in rotation. The intensity from the Silver and Black increased on the defensive end, and the transition and early offense opportunities returned with it. A bench group that had struggled early came alive and kept chipping away at the deficit. At the break, the Silver and Black only trailed by five.
The Spurs avoided a bad first half, but a third-quarter collapse seemed in the cards. A few terrible defensive possessions forced Coach Johnson to call a timeout and, fortunately, the visitors got back on track. The defense improved, with Biyombo having a strong game, and the balanced scoring continued. San Antonio ran every opportunity it had, which helped supplement an inconsistent half-court offense, which allowed the Silver and Black to tie the game before both teams went through. Once the lid was off the rims, the two sides traded buckets for the most part, as neither could string together stops. With fewer mistakes and with a more aggressive Mitchell, the Cavaliers would have probably created a bigger buffer, but heading into the final frame, they were up just three.
Elite teams can adapt on the fly, and that’s what Cleveland did in the fourth. The Spurs started strong and took the lead by keeping Mitchell’s drive-and-kick game contained. The response was to go to Jarett Allen after getting Jeremy Sochan switched onto a perimeter defender, and the big man feasted. Still, past the halfway mark, the score was close, but then the visitors went even smaller with five perimeter players on the floor. Allen only became a bigger problem, as no one could stop him without fouling him. A couple of big Vassell threes and a few buckets from the forwards kept San Antonio in it until the final minutes but the tiny unit couldn’t secure a defensive board down three with 1:47 to go, the Cavs got a three from that possession and no one could pull off any heroics to change the result.
### Game notes
* Devin Vassell, who finished with 22 points, has scored 20 or more in four straight games. The shooting slump seems over, and he has continued to show more effort on defense. As always, it’s important to remember that it’s late March and a lot of teams don’t take the games as seriously — the Cavs rested Mobley, for example — but there have been a lot of encouraging signs from Vassell’s play lately.
* Stephon Castle also scored 22 points, but while it took Vassell 15 shots to get there, the rookie needed 23 field goals. At times he forced things, but in the second half he seemed to second-guess himself after getting good looks, and that extra second cost him some buckets. He had 11 rebounds and eight assists, and if he had made more than two of his six free throws, his stat line would look better. He’ll be fine.
* Out of the three starting veterans, Biyombo was arguably the one who played best. He was only on the floor for 15 minutes but had some good defensive plays and scored efficiently inside. Paul and Barnes didn’t do much of note.
* The decision to go extra small with no big on the floor was a little strange, but it wasn’t terrible. Sochan can’t space the floor, even though he made one of his three outside shots, and he couldn’t do much about Allen, as he was switching screens. Mamu and Biyombo would have gotten cooked on switches. The problem is the Spurs are not big enough on the perimeter to get away with a lineup like that. It’s something to address in the offseason.
* Keldon Johnson helped out on the boards and drove to the rim to get a 17-10 double-double, but missed four of his five three-point attempts and has made just five of his last 20. He needs to find his stroke from outside.
### Play of the game
Bismack Biyombo dunking on Jarrett Allen in 2025. The NBA is full of surprises.
### Up next: vs. Boston Celtics on Saturday
The Celtics are a nightmare to guard. A win would be nice, but unlikely. A more realistic goal would be to keep them under 125 points.