Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and Evan Mobley added a double-double as the Cleveland Cavaliers narrowly defeated the San Antonio Spurs 114-113 on Friday night.
Cleveland improved to 62-15 on the season and is now one win or a Boston Celtics loss away from clinching the best record in the Eastern Conference.
The Cavaliers never trailed in the game and built a lead as large as 23 points before San Antonio mounted a late comeback.
Mobley finished with 25 points on 10-for-13 shooting along with 10 rebounds and five assists, while Mitchell added six three-pointers and seven assists.
Despite controlling most of the night, the Cavaliers had to survive a final possession where Harrison Barnes missed a potential game-winning layup at the buzzer.
Barnes had brought the Spurs within one point with a corner three-pointer with 29 seconds left after missed triples from Mitchell and Darius Garland.
San Antonio outscored Cleveland 31-23 in the fourth quarter and held the Cavaliers to just 41.4% shooting in the second half.
Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 24 points and six three-pointers, while Barnes added 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
Rookie guard Stephon Castle posted 22 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds in one of his most complete performances of the year.
Chris Paul, who is on pace to play all 82 games for just the second time in his career, contributed nine points and eight assists in 30 minutes.
The Spurs dropped to 32-45 and sit 13th in the Western Conference with just one home game remaining in the regular season.
Garland contributed 19 points and seven assists for Cleveland, but missed a late three that could have sealed the win.
De’Andre Hunter added 18 points off the bench, while Sam Merrill chipped in nine points with three makes from beyond the arc.
The Cavaliers saw limited production from Max Strus, who scored just three points on 1-of-5 shooting from deep and has now failed to reach double figures in six of his last seven games.
Cleveland won the rebounding battle 52-44 and recorded 31 assists on 41 made field goals.
Both teams committed 15 turnovers, and the Cavaliers narrowly edged the Spurs in shooting percentage at 47.1% to 43.6%.
