San Antonio at Cleveland, Final Score: Spurs hang around in 124116 loss to the Cavaliers
Mar 27, 2025
David Richard-Imagn Images
San Antonio almost upsets the Eastern Conference’s best on their home court. The San Antonio Spurs were assigned a tough task with a three-game road trip against Eastern Conference playoff teams. After a blowout loss to the Detroit Pistons, the Sp
urs gave the Eastern Conference’s best team, the Cleveland Cavaliers a run for their money. They fell just short in the fourth quarter in a 124-116 loss.
San Antonio went with a smaller lineup in the fourth quarter, while the Cavaliers played through their center, Jarrett Allen, who punished the undersized Spurs. Allen had a game-high 29 points and 16 rebounds, leading Cleveland to victory.
The Spurs gave the Cavs all they could handle, though. They aggressively defended Cleveland, forcing them to shoot 46.5% from the field and 35.4% from three. San Antonio caused the Cavs to cough the ball up leading to 14 turnovers.
San Antonio’s backcourt showed up in a big way. Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell both added 22 points and made big-time shots down the stretch. Castle had a well-rounded game, attacking the glass for 11 rebounds and finding his teammates for 8 assists.
Now the Spurs will head to Boston for a game against the defending champion Celtics on Saturday night.
Observations
Castle scored his 1,000th point on Thursday night. He’s the 9th fastest Spur to hit that number in franchise history.
Vassell has hit 49 threes in the month of March, which is the most a Spur has ever made in a month, surpassing Danny Green’s record of 45. He drained 4 threes on Wednesday night.
Keldon Johnson was a real spark plug off the bench, finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals. His aggressiveness on both sides of the ball helped the Spurs keep pace with the talented Cavaliers.
Donovan Mitchell had 14 points in the win. A lot of those came from the Spurs overhelping on his drive, where he could find cutters or spray out to shooters. Mitchell’s ability to get to the basket against a one-on-one defender is so hard to guard and could be something the Spurs can somewhat replicate with De’Aaron Fox next season.
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