Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 31 points to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists, leading the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers to a 117-101 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
Evan Mobley added 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who have won 13 of their past 14 games. Jarrett Allen collected 26 points and 16 rebounds for Cleveland, while Caris LeVert scored 10 points off the bench.
Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 22 points, followed by Victor Wembanyama’s 19 points and 14 rebounds. Keldon Johnson tallied 17 points for San Antonio, which lost its fourth straight game. Zach Collins scored 10 points for the Spurs.
After San Antonio held a brief first-quarter lead, Cleveland went on a 17-5 run to take a 27-16 advantage with 1:53 left in the period.
Jeremy Sochan’s dunk cut the Spurs’ deficit to three points at the 8:47 mark of the second quarter before Cleveland finished the first half on a 30-11 run, jumping out to a 67-45 lead at the break.
Cleveland’s big men dominated the first half, as Allen collected 20 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Mobley’s 19 points. The tandem combined to shoot 16-for-20 from the floor in the opening half. Mitchell and LeVert added 10 points apiece in the first half for the Cavaliers.
Johnson paced San Antonio with 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting off the bench in the first half.
Back-to-back layups from Allen and Mitchell to start the second half pushed the Cavaliers’ lead to 26 points. San Antonio responded with a 12-0 run, including eight points from Vassell, that cut the deficit to 14.
From there, the Cavaliers ran away with the game. A 9-2 run aided by a Mitchell 3-pointer and dunk gave Cleveland a 90-67 lead with two minutes left in the third quarter. Isaac Okoro’s layup at the third-quarter buzzer made the score 92-71 entering the final quarter.
With the Cavaliers leading 115-98 with less than a minute left, Mitchell took exception to a hard screen from Collins, resulting in Mitchell pushing Collins. Both players were ejected from the game.
Cleveland has won six of its past seven against San Antonio dating back to April 2021.
–Field Level Media
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