Cavs look listless in losing by 29 points
The Cavaliers admitted having heavy legs, but there’s something far weightier on the minds of the defending NBA champions.
Cleveland is in the midst of one of its worst stretches this season, and there is little time to fix it.
Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points and the host San Antonio Spurs dismantled the ailing Cavs 103-74 on Monday night in a showdown that turned into a letdown for Cleveland.
“The way we’ve been struggling, (the Spurs are) the last team that you want to play,” said LeBron James, who was fine after taking an elbow to the neck. “A well-oiled machine like this, they exploit everything that you’re not doing well at that point in time of the season, and right now, we’re not playing good basketball.”
James, who finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in 29 minutes, said he will play Thursday at Chicago.
Cleveland (47-26) dropped its second in a row, set a season low for points and fell a halfgame behind Boston (48-26) for the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Cavaliers have nine games left, all against teams in the East.
San Antonio led by as many as 33 to the delight of the soldout crowd, and the Spurs’ bench outscored the Cavaliers’ reserves 49-24.
“We did a good job coming out early and then keeping our foot on the pedal,” Leonard said.
Cleveland, which was already without injured Iman Shumpert, received more bad news Monday morning when it was announced that Kyle Korver will miss at least two more games with a sore left foot.
“You lose Korver and Shumpert off your bench and things tend to change,” Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue said.
Kings 91, Grizzlies 90:
Darren Collison scored 23 points and made two crucial free throws in the closing seconds as host Sacramento handed Memphis its fourth consecutive loss.
Jazz 108, Pelicans 100:
Rudy Gobert had 20 points, 19 rebounds and five blocks as host Utah swept the season series 3-0 after dominating from the perimeter for four quarters.
Thunder 92, Mavericks 91:
Russell Westbrook and visiting Oklahoma City erased a 13-point deficit in the final four minutes and guaranteed the first losing record for Dallas in 17 full seasons under owner Mark Cuban. Dallas’ Seth Curry was a late scratch with a left shoulder injury.
Knicks 109, Pistons 95:
Derrick Rose scored 27 points, Kristaps Porzingis had 25 and host New York snapped a five-game losing streak and handed Detroit its fourth straight loss, falling 1½ games behind Miami for the eighth East playoff spot.
Raptors 131, Magic 112:
DeMar DeRozan, named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week earlier in the day, scored 36 points and Cory Joseph had 15 points and 13 assists as host Toronto won its sixth straight game.