Jarrett Allen dominance leads Cleveland to narrow victory over hearty San Antonio.
Allen dropped a 29 point, 16 rebound double double as the Cavaliers claimed their 21st win of the season. Clutch Caris LeVert was also impressive providing 23 points and making four of his five three point attempts.
Victor Wembanyama (24 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks) continues to improve and the Spurs had a huge opportunity to draw level in the final moments, but a botched play meant they walked away with nothing but their pride.
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Story of the game
Cleveland shot poorly in the opening four minutes, making just one shot from the field as they trailed 13-6.
Six minutes later, the Cavs were no closer to getting out of first gear as they trailed by 11 as the Spurs showed some shooting consistency.
Devin Vassell was excellent in the opening 12, the shooting guard drained two three pointers and headed into the second quarter with 12 points to his name.
LeVert's back to back three pointers brought the Cavs within four points of the Spurs at the buzzer in a vital few moments for Cleveland.
Sam Merrill looked very impressive coming off the bench for Cleveland and dropped 18 points in the first half as his side took their first lead with six to go in the second.
Back to back Allen buckets gave the Cavs a four point cushion a few minutes later in the approach to half time.
The Cavs had improved on their slow start and went into the interval up 56-62 thanks to some excellent three point shooting in the second but despite this, it was a quiet first half showing from their star man Donovan Mitchell,, who had only six points.
Three minutes into the third, Wembanyama stole the ball at half court, stormed toward the basket and threw it down to put San Antonio up 65-64.
A few moments later Mitchell finally made his first three of the game to give the Cavs a five point advantage in a competitive third quarter.
Cedi Osman drained a three to bring the Spurs within a point of the Cavs just ten seconds before the end of the quarter, but LeVert popped up again with another late three pointer to make it 84-88.
Max Strus' quick five points gave the Cavaliers an 11 point lead, their largest of the game up until that point, after four minutes in the final quarter as the Spurs seemingly began to weaken.
Cleveland quickly began to create distance between them and their opponents with their three point shooting, Georges Niang's third three gave his side a 15 point lead.
Keldon Johnson's three pointer gave the Spurs a lifeline as they only trailed by six with just over a minute to go.
With 12 seconds left, Jeremy Sochan had the opportunity to bring his side level at the rim, instead he chose to kick it out but the ball went out of bounds to the demise of San Antonio.
The hearty performance from the Spurs was not enough and the Cavaliers ran out winners.
