Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and Evan Mobley added 25 points and 12 rebounds as the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers did just enough to beat the San Antonio Spurs 114-113 on Friday.
The Cavaliers (62-15) won their third straight contest and reduced their magic number to clinch the best record in the Eastern Conference to one. Cleveland leads defending league champion Boston by five game with five regular season games left.
Cleveland was up by 23 points late in the second quarter and by 17 at halftime before the Spurs rallied to make it 88-82 late in the third. The Cavaliers rebuilt their advantage to 16 points on Mobley's dunk with 8:33 to play, but San Antonio refused to relent, drawing within 112-107 on a layup and a 3-pointer from Chris Paul, the latter with 2:16 remaining.
After the Cavaliers' Darius Garland sank a jumper, Harrison Barnes poured in back-to-back 3-pointers to bring San Antonio within a point with 28.6 seconds to play. Garland then missed a desperation shot from beyond the arc with 4.6 seconds left, giving the Spurs a chance at a final shot to win.
Barnes missed a contested, driving layup at the buzzer, allowing Cleveland to escape with the victory.
