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[av_heading heading=’San Antonio nips Cavaliers in OT’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
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Monday, January 23, 2017
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San Antonio Spurs’ Kawhi Leonard (2) looks to pass against Cleveland Cavaliers’ Tristan Thompson (13) in overtime during their NBA clash on Saturday. AP
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CLEVELAND – As Kawhi Leonard peeled the ice bag off his swollen left hand, Manu Ginobili hobbled through San Antonio’s locker room, his back stiffened from a run-in with LeBron James.
And 20 minutes after the game, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was in sweats still going over his team’s defensive breakdown in the final seconds.
”We messed up on that last play,” Leonard said. ”We could easily be in double overtime right now.”
The Spurs may not have survived it.
Leonard scored a career-high 41 points, LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and San Antonio downed Cleveland 118-115 despite missing starters Tony Parker and Pau Gasol.
Leonard scored six in OT, including a game-sealing dunk with 4.9 seconds left, as the Spurs regrouped after a late collapse in regulation.
David Lee, making a rare start in place of the injured Gasol, added 14 points as San Antonio improved to 18-4 on the road.
James and Kyrie Irving scored 29 apiece for the Cavs, who had the last shot in regulation and plenty of opportunities in the extra five minutes. Cleveland still had a chance to tie it in the final second of overtime, but Kevin Love missed a 3-pointer.
The matchup between two of the NBA’s best teams didn’t disappoint.
There were clutch shots, defensive stops, drama and in Leonard vs. James, a budding rivalry between superstars.
”Great game. Anybody’s game,” Popovich said. ”Comes down to making shots. At the end of regulation we had some great shots that didn’t go down. In overtime they had some great shots that didn’t go down. It happens.”
James helped force overtime with a 30-footer with just 34.8 seconds left. James then forced Leonard to miss a contested fadeaway, giving the Cavs chance to win it, but James missed an off-balance 3 in the final second as the teams went to the extra session tied 107-all. (AP)
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