Cavs listen, learn in visit to prison in Grafton

Members of the Cavaliers and the organization spent several hours visiting offenders in the Grafton prison.

But Collin Sexton made a free throw for the Cavs and San Antonio didn’t get off a last-second heave in time.

It was the second straight close win for the young Cavs, who beat Denver, 104-102, on March 7. Cleveland improved to 5-5 under coach J.B. Bickerstaff.

Sexton scored 26, Larry Nance Jr. 19 and Matthew Dellavedova had 14 and 11 assists. Dellavedova has an NBA-high 38 assists in his past four games.

DeMar DeRozan scored 25 and Rudy Gay 19 for the Spurs, who played their sixth straight game without center LaMarcus Aldridge because of a strained right shoulder.

Sexton’s two free throws gave the Cavs a 118-116 lead with 3.2 seconds left in regulation. But after a timeout by San Antonio, Gay dropped a 20-foot jumper to tie it with one second left. Gay twice tied the game in the final 1:02 with 3-pointers.

The first half turned into a prolonged free-throw shooting contest as the officials called 33 fouls, leading to a combined 46 free throws by both teams. San Antonio made its first 15 and went 21 of 23 from the line, while Cleveland finished 20 of 23.

With Drummond back in the lineup and Aldridge out for San Antonio, the Cavs attacked the rim and led by double digits for much of the first half. But the Spurs, who made just 1 of 11 3-point attempts in the first half, warmed up from the outside and scored 41 in the third to carry a 91-87 lead into the fourth.

Trail blazing women

On International Women’s Day, both teams could celebrate their female assistant coaches: Becky Hammon with the Spurs, Lindsay Gottlieb with the Cavs.

Hammon became the first female coach in NBA history in 2014. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said the former WNBA guard has been an asset throughout her six seasons.

“Becky has been exactly who we thought she’d be: She’s a leader, she’s intelligent, she understands the game as far as how it all works,” he said. “Everyone respects her.”

Gottlieb is in her first season with the Cavs after a successful run at Cal.

“She’s really good at her job,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “She has a way of teaching by putting people at ease first. She has a really calming demeanor and you know by how she treats you that she’s about the right things.”

Tip-ins

SPURS » San Antonio is the only current team with three players who have scored at least 16,000 points: DeRozan (16,246), Aldridge (19,575) and Gay (16,030) . ... Popovich lamented Brooklyn’s decision to part ways with coach Kenny Atkinson. “When this happens, most of the time it’s circumstances beyond someone’s control — and that’s sad,” he said. “He did a good job and his work ethic is off the charts.” CAVALIERS » F/C Tristan Thompson suffered an injury to his right eye in the first half and did not return. He played just eight minutes . ... Rookie Darius Garland missed his fourth straight game with a groin strain, and rookie swingman Kevin Porter Jr. remains in concussion protocol . ... Bickerstaff said his long-time friendship with Love (they were together in Minnesota) has allowed them to have “honest conversations” and helped the star accept his role on an inexperienced team. “He trusts me,” Bickerstaff said. “I trust him. He’s helping push this thing in the right direction.”

Up next

SPURS » Start four-game home stretch March 10 against Dallas. CAVALIERS » With their arena to host college hoops tournaments the next two weeks, the Cavs begin a sixgame trip in Chicago on March 10.