After four consecutive defeats, the Spurs, desperate for a win, have regained their momentum at home and are challenged by the Cavaliers during their two-game winning streak.
On the Spurs side, Kelden Johnson returned to the starting lineup, McDermott returned, and the team once again had home advantage, and Popovich was ready to end the losing streak.
On the other hand, on the Cavaliers side, although Okoro returned from injury, the team still used the previous starting lineup out of caution, and the Cavaliers also tried to play steadily and win 3 consecutive games on the road!
Finally, after four quarters of competition, with a perfect start of 17-9, the Cavaliers, who were mainly anti-guests, successfully suppressed the Spurs in the first half and achieved a slight score advantage.
Although after returning from the second half, Murray ushered in the outbreak in the third quarter, scoring 10 points in a single quarter and leading the Spurs to play a wave of counter-attack and successfully narrow the score gap.
However, in the final final battle, Garland + Osman + Markkanen successively attacked the inside line, helping the Cavaliers stabilize their position and lock in the victory.
In the end, the Cavaliers, who withstood the pressure, also narrowly defeated the Spurs 114-109 on the road, which was worth the trip to win 3 consecutive wins and also gave the opponent Spurs a 5-game losing streak!
On the road in this game, the Cavaliers' caution was rewarded, and the whole team played a team performance of 4 people scoring in double figures.
In the case of the main forces such as Markkanen + Lefu + Ottoman, continuing their stable performance, the new king Garland of the team, and the play of the twin towers allen + Mobli, are particularly critical!
Garland exploded in the game, starting 37 minutes, shooting 4 three-pointers on 11-of-25 shooting, and scoring a game-high 32 points, plus 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.
Among them, his heroic performance of scoring 14 points alone in the last quarter not only became a difficult existence for the Spurs to solve, but also helped the Cavaliers to defend the victory almost single-handedly!
In addition, as the two major internal pillars of the team, the performance of Aaron + Mobley in this game is also indispensable.
Allen was very efficient, shooting more than 60% of the 7-of-11 shooting, and delivered a double-double performance of 17 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
The good partner Mobly is also a good offensive and defensive campaign, starting 37 minutes, contributing 15 points + 6 rebounds + 3 assists + 1 steal + 1 block.
Obviously, in the face of the Spurs' inner line, which is not highly advanced in the lineup and only has Peltel + Randell town to guard, the Cavaliers' Aaron + Mobley in this game can be described as fully playing the advantage and power of the twin towers, hammering the Spurs' inner line!
On the spurs side, the team's offensive and defensive ends were completely suppressed in this game, and finally swallowed a 5-game losing streak, which obviously made it difficult for home fans to accept.
But for the Spurs, this battle, the team is not completely without highlights, after all, as the core defender of the team, Murray's performance in this game is indeed remarkable!
Murray played well, playing 33 minutes, scoring a team-high 30 points on 14-of-23 shooting, plus a quasi-triple-double with 14 rebounds and 8 assists.
Although it did not help the Spurs defend the home stadium, there is one thing to say, the wonderful confrontation between Murray and Garland in this game is indeed a feast for the eyes!
Only in the face of the lack of height of the lineup, this campaign worked hard for a whole game, but Murray, who was difficult to support, seemed to have no choice but to drink and hate.
For the Spurs, rationally speaking, after the team suffered 5 consecutive defeats, head coach Popovich also seemed to recognize a reality: in the next schedule, if the Spurs did not take the initiative to make some changes, then the team's goal of impacting the playoffs would probably be farther and farther away!