The San Antonio Spurs earned their third straight road victory with a harder-than-expected win against the Cleveland Cavaliers behind a career game by Keldon Johnson and an unusually strong start. The Spurs, hoping to avoid the need for a late rally, surged out to a 15 point first-half lead with consistently solid halfcourt defense, while sharing the ball willingly at the other end. Cleveland posed little offensive outside diversity of its young backcourt studs. While the Cavaliers made a spirited run spanning the third and fourth quarters, the Spurs young core made the difference in the closing minutes.
San Antonio was led with balanced performances by Johnson (23 points and 21 rebounds), DeMar DeRozan (20 points and 7 rebounds), and Dejounte Murray (22 points and 6 rebounds).