SAN ANTONIO, Dec 13 — Kevin Love scored a season-high 30 points, including a 3-pointer to send the game into overtime, and pulled down 17 rebounds as the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers outlasted the San Antonio Spurs 117-109 yesterday.
The Cavaliers snapped an eight-game losing streak on the second night of a home-road back to back.
It was the third straight overtime game for the Spurs.
San Antonio trailed by 10 points entering the fourth quarter and by 83-80 with 8:04 to play before forging an 11-3 run behind nine points from DeMar DeRozan to pull in front 91-86.
Patty Mills hit a pair of free throws to give the Spurs a 103-98 lead with 20.1 seconds to play in regulation before Collin Sexton responded with a layup.
DeRozan then missed two free throws with 14 seconds left, giving Cleveland the chance to tie the game, which Love accomplished with a 3-pointer with 7.5 seconds remaining. DeRozan then missed a 15-footer at the buzzer to force overtime.
The Cavaliers never trailed in the extra period, moving to a 113-109 lead on Jordan Clarkson’s reverse layup with 53.6 seconds to play. Sexton then nailed two free throws to cement the game.
Sexton added 28 points, with Clarkson hitting for 25 and Cedi Osman scoring 15 for Cleveland.
DeRozan led San Antonio with 21 points while LaMarcus Aldridge scored 18 points and took 10 rebounds, Derrick White poured in 17 points and Lonnie Walker IV and Mills added 10 each.
Cleveland led from the middle of the first quarter on, earning as much as a 10-point advantage through the first half on the way to a 53-43 lead at halftime. The Cavaliers outshot San Antonio 46.7 per cent to 42.5 per cent over the first 24 minutes and outrebounded the Spurs 26-16, including a 6-0 edge on the offensive glass.
Love had 19 points, on 8-of-12 shooting in the half and took eight rebounds in just 15 minutes of court time. Sexton added 10 for in the first half for Cleveland.
White paced San Antonio with 11 points while the Spurs got just eight combined points from DeRozan (6) and Aldridge (2) over the first two periods.
The two teams played an even third quarter before the Spurs picked up the pace in the fourth, pulling to within 81-80 in Walker’s layup with 8:29 to play. — Reuters
