SAN ANTONIO SPURS (7-4) 92, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (5-5) 90
Quicken Loans Arena
Wednesday
Radio: WTAM-AM 1100, WMMS-FM 100.7, La Mega-FM 97.7
TV: Fox Sports Ohio, ESPN

QUICK SHOTS: 1. Make no bones about it, Coach David Blatt made some peculiar decisions with his rotation and to quote him, they "paid the price." First of all, either Kyrie Irving or LeBron James needs to be on the court at all times. One can't yank both players off the floor and expect to play with teams like the Spurs. 

2. Blatt has been asked over and over about the mounting minutes. Well, he cut James' minutes and ran Joe Harris into the ground. Harris played 27 minutes in the game, including the last 20 in a row. Unfortunately, he didn't do much with five points.

3. James wasn't happy with the turnover at the end of the game, but he was happy with the progress the Cavaliers made. They competed on the defensive end. They held the Spurs to an opponent season-low 92 points and forced 16 turnovers. Irving was impressive with the way he hounded Tony Parker. Parker had eight points and three assists in 34 minutes. He shot 2 of 7 from the field. That is how Irving has to defend.

4. San Antonio was missing four rotation players with injuries, including guard Patty Mills (right shoulder surgery), forward/center Tiago Splitter (tightness in right calf), forward Matt Bonner (stomach virus) and guard Marco Belinelli (strained right groin). Some how they still found a way.

5. Forward/center Boris Diaw had 19 points, six rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a block. Both his points and assists were season highs. He just knows how to play. He knows how to make the right basketball play. If he needs to score, he does it.

6. As former Knicks and Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said in today's News-Herald, the Cavs' defense will decide how far this team goes this year. The ESPN analyst is absolutely right, too. Unless the Cavs buy in, they will be hard-pressed to get to the Eastern Conference finals. You know darn well that Chicago isn't going to have the same problem.

7. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant took over the league's lead in scoring over Cavs forward LeBron James. It could be a battle all season for league supremacy.

8. I have to admit I'm infatuated with Gregg Popovich. I love what his team is about. I love what he's about. I love everything about him, except for his surely moods. If a reporter doesn't ask a question the right way, he'll jump on him and almost try to embarrass him. He did it tonight in his pregame scrum with the media. 

UP NEXT: at Washington, Verizon Center, 7:30 p.m. Friday

STARTERS

SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Kawhi Leonard (6-7, 230)

PF Kevin Love (6-10, 243) vs. Tim Duncan (6-11, 250)
C Anderson Varejao (6-11, 267) vs. Boris Diaw (6-8, 250)

SG Shawn Marion (6-7, 228) vs. Danny Green (6-6, 215)

PG Kyrie Irving (6-3, 193) vs. Tony Parker (6-2, 185)

INACTIVE LIST

Cavs - G Matthew Dellavedova, C Alex Kirk
Spurs - G Patty Mills, F/C Tiago Splitter
OFFICIALS

Ed Malloy, Derrick Collins, Leroy Richardson