Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs vs Cleveland Cavaliers
Yesterday at 03:00 AM
The Spurs and Cavaliers face off for the 2nd time in eight days
A week after playing one another in Cleveland, the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers are still very much in the same place. The Cavaliers have seemingly found their footing after a 4-game losing streak that was their longest such streak of the entire season. For the San Antonio Spurs the injuries continue to pile up , but they've continued to mostly hang in against some pretty stout competition. They even come into tonight's game after a win on Wednesday against a Denver Nuggets team that sat all of their starters.
San Antonio Spurs (32-44) vs Cleveland Cavaliers (61-15)
April 4 2025 | 7:00 PM CT
Watch: FDSS | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs Injuries: Victor Wembanyama, deep vein thrombosis OUT, De'Aaron Fox, finger (OUT)
Cavaliers Injuries: Ty Jerome,knee (OUT), Dean Wade, illness (OUT)
What to watch for
- Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell share the load as Cleveland's main offensive initiators. They average 44 points and nearly 12 dimes combined a game and have been a very effective pairing for Cleveland since Mitchell was traded there. Limiting their effectiveness is obviously much easier said than done, but San Antonio did hold Garland to just 10 points last game, on a paltry 4/15 from the field and zero trips to the FT line.
- Evan Mobley sat out last week's match-up between these two squads. In his 4th year, Mobley is a 6'11 Spider-Man who can play inside while also being very comfortable stepping out beyond the 3-point line. He's also capable of bringing the ball up the court and creating offense on his own. On the defensive side of the court, he's amongst the NBA's elite and a real candidate for the Defensive Player of the Year award with Victor Wembanyama out for the year.
- Mobley's frontcourt partner Jarrett Allen is coming off a 21 point performance against the New York Knicks. Allen went 10/11 from the field, as he did in his 29 point, 15 rebound performance against the Spurs last week.
- March's Western Conference Rookie of the Month, Stephon Castle is coming off a game in which he nearly had a triple double. The most impressive aspect of that 15 point, 15 rebound performance against the Denver Nuggets though was the fact that Castle committed just a single turnover against those 9 assists, a massive swing from the 7 giveaways he had in the loss to the Orlando Magic. Castle led the team in scoring with 22 points in the loss to Cleveland last week.
- Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell are both expected to return tonight after they both missed the win against Denver. If the Spurs want to at least have a prayer of keeping it close with these guys again, they'll need 'em.
For the Cavaliers fan's perspective, please visit Fear the Sword.
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