CLEVELAND -- Kawhi Leonard capped his career-high, 41-point night with a dunk in the final seconds and the San Antonio Spurs held on for a 118-115 overtime victory Saturday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
LeBron James tied up Leonard for a jump ball with 13 seconds left and the Cavs down 3. James won the tip, but the ball was headed out of bounds when Kevin Love saved it and fired it behind his back inbounds. Leonard caught the pass and sprinted to the other end for the dunk and the clincher with four seconds left.
After LaMarcus Aldridge missed a pair of free throws in the final second of overtime and the Cavs called timeout, Kevin Love missed a corner 3-pointer at the buzzer that would’ve forced double overtime. Love shot just 3 of 11 from the 3-point line Saturday.
The Cavs had plenty of chances late, but went scoreless for about two minutes late in overtime. James received an inbounds pass with 24 seconds left and a chance to tie with a 3-pointer. He fired a bounce pass to the corner, but no one was standing there on the busted play. James expected Kyrie Irving to cut to the corner, but he never did and James was charged with his seventh turnover of the night.
Leonard surpassed 30 points for the sixth straight game, while Aldridge scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Spurs. David Lee scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds starting in place of Pau Gasol, who is out with a fractured bone in his left hand. Tony Parker also missed the game with an ankle injury.
James and Irving each scored 29 points and Love had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavs. Tristan Thompson had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
James’ deep 3-pointer from 30 feet away with 34.8 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 107 after the Cavs missed their previous five 3-point attempts.
The Spurs went scoreless over the final 2:36 of regulation, missing their last four shots and committing a turnover while the Cavs erased a five-point deficit in the final minute. Leonard missed a short fadeaway jumper over James with 13.4 seconds left and the Cavs grabbed the rebound with a chance to win it.
James and Irving ran pick-and-roll to switch Leonard off James, but he missed a 3-pointer in the corner to force overtime.
Leonard previously scored 10 points in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter as the Spurs scored the first nine points of the fourth and 12 of the first 13. They held the lead most of the fourth, but Leonard missed his last five shots of regulation once James started guarding him.
“He’s kind of the face of their franchise now with Timmy (Duncan) hanging them up and he’s producing,” James said of Leonard. “And he’s worked on his craft, he’s gotten better and better every year and he’s an All-Star starter for a reason. So, you commend a guy like that who puts in the work and goes out and plays that way.”