Streaking Spurs visit Cavs
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It's only a matter of time until the San Antonio Spurs lock up another playoff berth and Southwest Division title.
The Spurs are well on their way and will continue their pursuit of a postseason berth tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road. They have won seven in a row and are coming off Saturday's 112-103 victory versus the Indiana Pacers in which Tim Duncan posted 23 points and 11 rebounds.
"I thought we finished the game very well," said Duncan. "We did good with moving the ball and defensively we made the stops."
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San Antonio has won nine straight against Indiana and haven't lost to the Pacers since April 1, 2007. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili both scored 18 points, while Gary Neal and Tiago Splitter finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively, for San Antonio, which is a league-best 9-1 in the last 10 games and averaged 107.1 ppg in March. The Spurs are 23-5 over the past two months.
The Spurs will play back-to-back road games in Cleveland and Boston, and are 15-10 away from the Alamo City. After going 2-8 in the first 10 road games of the season, San Antonio is now 13-2 in the last 15 games as the guest. Gregg Popovich's club is unbeaten in three straight games on the road.
Cleveland may not have Rookie of the Year candidate Kyrie Irving for tonight's tough test against the Spurs because of a sprained shoulder suffered in Friday's loss versus Milwaukee. He left the game at the conclusion of the third quarter and did not play in Saturday's 91-75 loss at New York.
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This year's first overall draft pick leads the Cavs with averages of 18.9 points and 5.7 assists in 45 games. He missed a few games in February with a concussion and is listed as probable Tuesday.
Antawn Jamison had 13 points and seven assists, while Alonzo Gee posted 12 points and both Anthony Parker and Donald Sloan both scored 10 points for Cleveland, which held the Knicks to 39.5 percent shooting but committed 20 turnovers for 28 New York points.
"I thought we came out and gave it a heck of an effort, especially on the defensive end," said Cavs head coach Byron Scott.
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The Cavaliers have lost seven in a row and 10 of 11 games, and are last in the Central Division. They are winless in five straight games as the host and own a 9-17 mark at Quicken Loans Arena this season. After entertaining the Spurs, Cleveland will hit the road for three games against Milwaukee, Toronto and New Jersey.
Cleveland and San Antonio are meeting for the first time since the Spurs swept a home-and-home set a year ago. San Antonio has won three straight in this series but has dropped four of six meetings in the Forest City.