The Cavaliers are clinging to a raft in an NBA Finals hurricane named San Antonio. The outlook isn’t promising.
That’s because the Spurs blew away any doubt about who will be the next NBA champions with a 75-72 victory Tuesday night to take a 3-0 lead in the series.
“Well, everybody has to still believe,” said Cleveland’s LeBron James, who led all scorers with 25 points but missed a three-pointer to tie the game at the buzzer. “We dug ourselves a big hole, and we have to come out aggressive [Thursday night in Game 4].
“We gave ourselves a chance to win. That’s all we can ask for. We have to try to win four straight games.”
It has never happened in any NBA playoffs, and it hardly seems likely now. The Spurs survived even though they had one of their poorest games of the postseason.
They shot 41.2 percent, were outrebounded 48-41 and had subpar performances from their three stars: Tim Duncan had 14 points and nine rebounds, Tony Parker had 17 points and three assists and Manu Ginobili had three points, all on free throws in the fourth quarter.
But supporting-cast member Bruce Bowen did another effective job on James and hit four of the Spurs’ 10 three-pointers.
“I was just thrilled by Bruce Bowen,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He’s guarding somebody who’s going to be in the Hall of Fame. He’s playing 43, 44 minutes, he scored 13 points and got nine rebounds. What a yeoman effort. He was fantastic from beginning to end. He really set the tone.”
That was appropriate because this looked like a game out of 1955. That was when Syracuse and Ft. Wayne set the record for fewest points in a Finals game with 145. The Spurs and Cavs combined for 147, tying the second-lowest total scored by the Spurs and Knicks on June 18, 1999.
“We set the Western world of offensive basketball back 10 years,” Popovich said.
This game, though great defense was credited by both coaches, was a slow dance. It was uncomfortable, and you wanted to look away because there were as many flying elbows as flying bodies. It was a brutal game, as the Cavs had promised to be more aggressive and physical. That they were, with 19 rebounds, eight offensive. In the first quarter!
That should have signaled what kind of game it would be, the Cavs lurching ahead 18-16 after one quarter, falling behind 40-38 at halftime and trailing 55-50 going into the fourth quarter. This was the white tennis ball, 29-cent gallon of gas, 3-cent stamp and 50-cent haircut game.
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You would have expected someone to shoot a two-handed set shot the way it was going in a lame fourth quarter. The teams combined to come up empty on 12 straight possessions after James brought the Cavs within 67-63 with a three-point play with just more than five minutes left.
“This is the best defense, these three games, that we’ve played in the playoffs,” Popovich said.
James made a pair of free throws with 1:55 left to bring the Cavs within two. Duncan was fouled and made both free throws, but then James drove for a basket to get the Cavs back within two with 1:22 left.
The NBA was hoping for a close one after the two blowouts in San Antonio, but perhaps one with a bit more activity. With all the talk of competition from TV shows, this one was more like “Lost,” as in somewhat confusing.
But Parker then hit a big three in the midst of a rare offensive explosion in which Sasha Pavlovic matched him with a three. But after a Parker turnover, Cavs coach Mike Brown said the team failed to hear his repeated plea for a timeout and James ended up passing to Anderson Varejao, who instead of passing back to James dribbled in for a wild scoop shot. He missed.
Ginobili provided the final margin with three free throws before James’ last miss.
“Incidental contact,” James said of Bowen’s apparent unsuccessful attempt to foul James just before he shot the potential three with time expiring as the balloon of local hope burst.
Rookie Daniel Gibson started for the injured Larry Hughes, and now we know why he wasn’t a starter all season. He was 1 of 10 as the Spurs clearly found him in the scouting report.
In a desperate situation, it would seem the Cavs are done.
The city of Cleveland hasn’t had 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. It seems the wait will go on while the Spurs answer dynasty questions with a chance for their fourth title in nine hears and third since 2002.
“We play the same way,” Parker said. “We believe in our system. We have a great organization. It’s like a little family. I think that’s how you build championship runs and over the years it pays off.”
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