San Antonio Spurs vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Preview
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland
When: Saturday, January 21, 2017, 8:30 PM ET
Line: San Antonio Spurs vs. Cleveland Cavaliers – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: ABC
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Betting on the San Antonio Spurs (33-9)
Another day, another game, another fantastic performance from Kawhi Leonard. Leonard put up a sparkling stat line in the Spurs’ 118-104 home win over Denver Thursday night, tallying 34 points to go with five rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block.
Over the last five games, Leonard has averaged 33.4 points on 63.6 percent shooting from the floor. Pau Gasol, who fractured his hand in the pregame shoot around and wasn’t able to play against Denver, is likely going to be out this Saturday in Cleveland so added scoring burden will be on the shoulders of Leonard.
Leonard’s going to do much more that of course, as he’s going to be the Spurs’ top stopper of either Kyrie Irving or LeBron James.
Tony Parker also didn’t play against Denver, as he was nursing a sprained foot. Rookie Dejounte Murray filled in nicely for the veteran, though, chipping in 24 points on 7-for-11 from the field and 7-for-7 from the free throw line. The Spurs need all hands on deck against a team like Cleveland but head coach Gregg Popovich would probably let Parker sit the Cleveland game, as he’s always been known to do.
San Antonio’s defense will be tested heavily by the high-scoring Cleveland side. The Spurs allow just 98.5 points per game with opponents shooting 44.5%.
The Spurs’ ability to lock down outside snipers will also be put on a litmus test by Cleveland’s bevy of shooters. San Antonio gives up 8.2 threes per game, second fewest in the league.
The Spurs are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 games in Cleveland.
Betting on the Cleveland Cavaliers (30-11)
How did the Cavs move on from an embarrassing loss 118-103 loss to Golden State last Monday? By taking their next opponents to the woodshed of course—exactly what the Cavs did to Phoenix, which they beat at home on Thursday, 118-103.
Kyrie Irving and LeBron James both had a night, scoring 26 and 21 points, respectively against the Suns. Iman Shumpert, meanwhile, provided 17 points, mildly offsetting the absence of Kevin Love. Love didn’t play due to back spasm and his status for this Saturday’s contest.
If Love ultimately sits outs the Spurs game, Channing Frye and even James Jones could be filling in for him in the starting unit. In any case, the Cavs have sufficient firepower to bend, if not break, San Antonio’s sturdy defense.
Frye came off the bench against Phoenix and scattered 18 points, including four threes in 30 minutes of action.
The Cavs showed how scary good they could be on offense, particularly from deep, where they went 19-for-43 for 44.2 percent.
Cleveland , which is fifth in the league in scoring, churning out 108.9 PPG, is 9-1 SU and 6-3-1 ATS in its last 10 games at home.
Writer’s Prediction
Cleveland wins, 115-110.
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