The San Antonio Spurs opened their annual “Rodeo Road Trip” on Wednesday night in Cleveland, the site of the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, but fell 102-95 to the Cavaliers.
The loss kicks off a stretch of three games in four nights to begin the road trip for San Antonio, who are 2.5 games behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference.
Here are three points from the Spurs’ loss in Cleveland:
Cold from three
One of the more obvious issues for San Antonio came from beyond the arc on Wednesday. It is hard to win in today’s NBA when you aren’t hot from three-point land.
The San Antonio Spurs finished 8-for-33 from three-point land in their loss to Cleveland, that’s just 24 percent compared to the Cavaliers, who shot 43 percent.
No answer for Garland
Darius Garland lit up the Spurs for 27 points in his return from a back injury, connecting on 12 of his 15 shots to go along with six assists and five rebounds.
Caris LeVert added 11 in his debut for Cleveland.
”They’re good. They’re big. They play hard,” Spurs guard Derrick White said. ”Garland is an All-Star for a reason. They play their roles well and they know their team.”
Coming up short
It’s been a familiar story for the San Antonio Spurs, trailing big and rallying to fall short. That’s to be expected with such a young squad and eventually, those games will turn into wins for the club.
San Antonio cut a 23-point deficit to seven in the fourth quarter but Garland and the Cavaliers proved to be too much.
Digging yourself out of that hole makes it tough to come back and win,” White said. “But we always compete – if you want to say that’s a good thing. That’s a guarantee for any team…Just try not to dig that hole.”
UP NEXT:
The San Antonio Spurs will continue their road trip on Friday night in Atlanta to face the Hawks at 6:30 p.m at Statefarm Arena.
