The Cavaliers have struggled against the top teams in the West and have opened as home pups for the first time this season with the Spurs in town Saturday.

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San Antonio Spurs at Cleveland Cavaliers (+2, 205)

The San Antonio Spurs rebounded from a severe whipping to rout the Houston Rockets and look to win for the 15th time in 16 games when they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers in Saturday's nationally televised showdown. San Antonio was routed 120-90 by the Golden State Warriors on Monday before rebounding to pound Houston 130-99 two nights later.

Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland also was demolished by Golden State recently — 132-98 on Jan. 18 — and stands 3-1 since Tyronn Lue replaced fired David Blatt as coach. One of Blatt's final losses was a 99-95 decision in San Antonio on Jan. 14, and now the Cavaliers are looking to avoid a season series sweep. Cleveland received big games from power forward Kevin Love (29 points) and point guard Kyrie Irving (28) on Friday while registering a 114-106 victory over the Detroit Pistons. The Spurs will be without veteran center Tim Duncan (knee) for the third straight game and coach Gregg Popovich doesn't have a timetable on his return.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC

LINE HISTORY: The Cavaliers opened as 2.5-point home dogs for this matchup and have been bet to +2. It will be the first time this season the Cavaliers will be home pups. The total opened at 204.5, was bet down to 203 and has worked its way back up to the current number of 205.

INJURY REPORT:

Spurs - PF T. Duncan (out Saturday, knee).

Cavaliers - No injuries to report.

COVERS POWER RANKINGS: Spurs (-17.2) - Cavaliers (-8) + home court (-3) = Cavaliers +6.2

DANCE TEAM WAR:

ABOUT THE SPURS (39-7, 31-15 ATS, 21-24-1 O/U): Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge broke out of a two-game funk in which he averaged six points on 5-of-18 shooting to record 25 points (on 9-of-13 shooting), 10 rebounds and five assists in the beat down of the Rockets. "I wanted to be better than I was last game," Aldridge said afterward. "I wanted to have a better rhythm, try to put my stamp on the game. I was trying to be more in-tuned to the game, for sure." Aldridge initially struggled to fit in with the Spurs after coming over from the Portland Trail Blazers as a free agent but has been much more comfortable during the last month and was named as a reserve to the Western Conference All-Star team Thursday.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (33-12, 20-23-2 ATS, 21-24 O/U): Cleveland is playing with a faster pace under Lue and has averaged 114.3 points while winning the past three games. Love is averaging 25 points and made eight 3-pointers during the past two games, and Irving's big outing against the Pistons was a welcome sight after he had just eight points in Wednesday's victory over the Phoenix Suns. "Part of our success as a team is me pushing me the pace and being aggressive and getting other players shots," Irving told reporters after the win over Detroit. "With the pace we're trying to play at — that we want to continue to play at — it's important for me to do that. I take it as a personal challenge."

TWEET BEAT:

TRENDS:

* Spurs are 13-3 ATS in their last 16 Saturday games.
* Cavaliers are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
* Under is 5-1 in Cavaliers last 6 games playing on 0 days rest.
* Over is 8-1 in Spurs last 9 games following a ATS win.

COVERS CONSENSUS: The public is backing the Spurs in this matchup of Finalist hopefuls with 59 percent of wagers on San Antonio. Bettors are also giving a slight edge to the under with 54 percent of wagers on it.

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