It was a desperate situation, obviously, for the Cleveland Cavaliers returning home Tuesday night behind 2-0 in the NBA Finals.
Because no team has ever recovered from a 3-0 deficit in any NBA playoff series, a misstep would seem to be fatal.
It was a night the Cavs hoped to forge hope in the foundry of their renewed effort. They hoped to bludgeon the Spurs instead of their own spirit.
But it was the Spurs who came with the hammer, and now there’s just one more nail to put in the coffin of the Cavs’ season as the Spurs won 75-72 to take a 3-0 series lead.
Game 4 is here Thursday night.
Tony Parker led the Spurs with 17 points, and Tim Duncan chipped in with 14. LeBron James led all scorers with 25 points but had little help from his teammates.
The guys from Texas were in town, but no one was about to confuse them with road runners. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich likes to use the word “discombobulated” about his team’s offense on occasion, and this was a good occasion because Manu Ginobili, Duncan and Parker all were unable to hit Lake Erie from the shore. All three were shooting below 50 percent the first three quarters of Game 3.
And the Spurs were the hot, accurate shooting team.
This game was a brutal, agonizing exchange of misses, which usually is the offensive design of Cavs coach Mike Brown. He comes from the school of “the more we miss, the more chances we have to play defense and cause a turnover.”
More Top Picks Best Pipe Cutters
“We have to step up our aggressive play,” Brown said before the game.
The Cavs did that early, and it appeared that this time it was the Spurs who might be owl bait.
James drew two early fouls in Game 2. This time it was Duncan drawing a second foul late in the first quarter with the Spurs hanging on down two points despite being outrebounded 19-8 in the first quarter. Yes, there was some very, very bad shooting.
Rookie Daniel Gibson started for the injured and inactive Larry Hughes, and Anderson Varejao made a quick appearance for the again-stumbling Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
But James was quiet, if also also aggressive in fighting for his position, and the Cavs led just 18-16 after the first quarter.
“We can play better; we can play harder,” James said. “The difference is the first three quarters or the first half compared to the second half. We have to find a way to pick up our intensity and carry on what happened in the fourth quarter into the rest of the game.”
Despite the brilliance of Parker in the first two games in San Antonio, the Spurs have issues with Duncan sitting because those driving lanes for Parker become suddenly uncomfortable and occupied.
The Cavs used Duncan’s foul trouble to get James deep in the lane for a score on a quick move. Then when James was overplayed, he found Ilgauskas for a dunk and wheeled a pass around to Damon Jones for a three with sheriff Duncan not on guard.
The Cavs’ best non-fourth quarter run of the series enabled Cleveland to eventually move ahead 38-30. But it was a most-foul half on both sides as James drew his third foul midway through the second quarter. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Duncan quickly drew his third foul shortly thereafter. But it was the Cavs whose motor fell off.
The Spurs have been the playoff’s best three-point-shooting team and shot 5 of 8 in the first half. Trailing 38-30, they moved the ball around the perimeter for a three from Brent Barry and another from Robert Horry. And when Parker found a seam down the lane with time running out before the half, he found the mark and gave the Spurs a 40-38 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was terrific defense.
Or not.
It was perhaps something of historical Finals significance for offensive ineptitude with shots bounding wildly off the rim, penetration unrewarded, passes poorly executed.
The Spurs leaked ahead 55-50 after three thanks to late threes from Bruce Bowen and Barry as Gibson was 1 of 9 through three quarters as Gibson was suddenly not the fans’ little Boobie anymore.
The Cavs were trying to become only the fourth team to come back from a 2-0 deficit to win the NBA title. They came in 7-1 at home this postseason and were last seen dismantling the Pistons and sending a championship-starved city into a frenzy of celebration into the early morning hours.
The city of Cleveland hasn’t experienced a championship since the Browns won an NFL title in 1964 and hasn’t hosted a game with championship implications since the Indians were in the World Series 10 years ago.
———–