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GAME 3 - Spurs up 2-0 :thumbdown
San Antonio Spurs @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Tuesday, June 12th, 2007
9:00pm ET
Quicken Loans Arena
TV: ABC
Radio : WTAM 1100
Head Coaches
Gregg Popovich / Mike Brown
Starters
Tony Parker / Boobie Gibson
Michael Finley / Sasha Pavlovic
Bruce Bowen / LeBron James
Tim Duncan / Drew Gooden
Fabricio Oberto / Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Cleveland Cavaliers Bench
Anderson Varejao/Donyell Marshall/Larry Hughes/Damon Jones/Eric Snow/Ira Newble/Scot Pollard
San Antonio Spurs Bench
Robert Horry/Manu Ginobili/Brent Barry/Francisco Elson/Jacque Vaughn/Beno Udrih/Matt Bonner
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WHAT IS AT STAKE...
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GAME NOTES
· The Cavaliers are 7-1 (.875) at home during the postseason. Cleveland is tied with Utah for the highest home winning percentage during the 2007 Playoffs.
· Cleveland’s seven home wins are the most in team history for a single postseason. The Cavaliers have won 10 of their last 11 games at home dating back to the regular season.
· Over his last five games, Daniel Gibson has averaged 18.8 points on .591 shooting. He has connected on 11-20 (.550) from three-point range and 31-34 (.912) from the free throw line during that stretch.
· Daniel Gibson has connected on 25-55 (.455) from three-point range during the playoffs. Since the 1992 playoffs, Gibson has the highest three-point percentage in the playoffs of any rookie with 10 or more three-pointers made.
· Cleveland’s bench has averaged 33 points per game in the first two games of The Finals. The Cavaliers reserves scored 31 points in Game 1 and 35 points in Game 2.
· LeBron James has dished out at least seven assists in 15 of 18 games during the 2007 postseason. He ranks fifth in assists per game (7.9) during the playoffs.
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PICTURES
"I'm 1-10 so far in the Finals. The law of averages says I will shoot 7-10 in Game 3, to reach my season field goal percentage of .400."
DJ: "I cannot wait until tomorrow"
Reporter: "Why?!?"
DJ: "Cause I get better looking every day"
"Our plan for Tuesday night is to smile real big. The glare from the arena lights will reflect off of our teeth and into the eyes of Tim, Tony and Manu. My defensive concepts are rock solid....and this is as good as anything."
This just needs to be here.
Screw the federal government!
"**** the Spurs."
"The fans at the Q are ready to rise up..." :uhh:
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WE NEED SOME MOTIVATION!!!! PIP IS ON KEYBOARDS, MAX ON VOCALS!!!
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GAME 2 Highlights:
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Brian Windhorst's Blog (after Game 2) (http://blogs.ohio.com/cavaliers_blog/):
So, maybe things won't change in Game 2
San Antonio -- This was a whipping, nothing else. I've seen them before in the AT&T Center and I'll see them again probably. Not only are the Spurs the better-looking team after the 103-92 Game 2 win, they are playing at a very high level. If they continue to play like this, I don't think it will matter what the Cavs do in all honestly. We can talk about adjustments and intensity and coaching all night. That said, it, too, is just a single game. Obviously the Spurs look like the dominant team, but I am compelled by my realist nature and perspective-based style to say the series is not over.
So it goes...
--I am inclined to totally disregard the LeBron James foul trouble in the first quarter. While it is questionable whether Mike Brown left him out too long, I think he played the percentages in thinking long-term about the game. The Cavs lost six points on the scoreboard with James on the bench for nine minutes. I don't care what anyone says, that is an acceptable number under these circumstances. When the Cavs got buried by 14 points in the second quarter, James was out there the whole time and Tony Parker was on the bench a bunch.
--I have no idea how to judge these fourth quarters. On one hand, I think the Spurs are totally letting down. On the other, the small lineup presents some challenges for San Antonio. Brown may have to consider going with the small lineup more and I explain why in this piece for ESPN.com. It means more than just giving more time to Daniel Gibson, but some steps need to be taken by the coach.
--Gibson, by the way, just continues to impress me. With all this other stuff going on, this kid showing he could very well be a star in this league.
--Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili are all playing great. They all scored more than 20 points just four times before tonight this season. Even for these great players, this was an exceptional night. Sure the Cavs were off their game, but the Spurs played above their normal level, too. And their normal level is world class. Again, another reason to see what happens in Cleveland.
--Zydrunas Ilgauskas, of whom I am a steadfast defender, has been awful in San Antonio. He's not doing anything well. He can't make a jumper, he can't make a tip in, he barely gets any rebounds, Duncan is making a mockery of him. Duncan does this to most everyone, but Ilgauskas has the ability to get some back at the other end and he's not doing it and it's killing the Cavs. By the way, it was Z getting out of position twice that caused LeBron to commit those fouls in the first quarter.
--Larry Hughes says his foot is feeling better. I believe him. But he's playing worse. Something has to be done there. If he's going to go 1-of-10 shooting, you might as well give his time to Eric Snow.
--Why are the Spurs moving faster than the Cavs, getting to more rebounds, diving for more loose balls, and generally showing more passion for the game? I know the Cavs realize these are the Finals, but they aren't playing like it. You can see the difference late when the Cavs intensity to come back shows up. Considering it is the last round, why this cannot be achieved from the start is beyond my personal comprehension.
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Some thoughts from Terry Pluto (http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/sports/17353064.htm)
Cavs must change now or surely die
By Terry Pluto
SAN ANTONIO - If only the Cavaliers could have a do-over, especially for the first quarter.
That's because the Cavs made a terrific comeback, outscoring San Antonio 30-14 in the fourth period Sunday night. That was was enough to get the Spurs shaking in their boots.
Still, the bottom line was San Antonio 103, Cavaliers 92.
That gave the Spurs a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
For the Cavs, it was the sad start that plagued them all night.
Perhaps it began with coach Mike Brown leaving Larry Hughes in the starting lineup. Hughes has been suffering from plantar fasciitis for two weeks. It's a serious foot injury, and Hughes is a player who relies on his legs to be effective.
To compensate, it wasn't Hughes who was defending Spurs dynamic and slithery point guard Tony Parker. It was LeBron James.
Why was this a disaster?
• If Hughes is a point guard and he's too hurt to defend Parker, he should not play.
• If Hughes is hurting, he also can't drive to the basket. So he can't take on his main defensive assignment, nor does he demand much attention on offense. All he can do is shoot jumpers, and those shots often look like a paper airplane in a hurricane -- wildly off target.
• Yes, James is the Cavs' premier athlete, but you don't want him chasing Parker. That causes two problems: James spends too much energy on defense, leading him to commit fouls.
• Hughes was on Bruce Bowen, the Spurs' defensive specialists who spends his time on offense standing in the corner, waiting to catch a pass and shoot a 3-pointer. He may be the easiest player to cover. So Hughes was giving the Cavs nothing on either end of the floor.
• Brown had Hughes on the court for 20 minutes in which he went scoreless, shooting zip-for-5. It was so bad, that once when Parker was matched against Hughes, the sneaky Spurs guard threw a bounce pass between the legs of Hughes to Tim Duncan.
• Three minutes into the game, James was on the bench with two fouls. They were not committed on Parker, but in trying to help against Tim Duncan. Did the matchup with Parker have anything to do with it? It sure didn't help as Parker and Duncan often work a two-man pick-and-roll together.
Not all of this is Brown's fault, but he looked like a desperate coach in his first NBA Finals facing his mentor. At one point in the first quarter, he had Snow, Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic, Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the court.
Who from that group is supposed to create a shot? After James, the team's best at doing that in the postseason has been Daniel Gibson. He was on the bench, too.
THE TRUTH: Gibson has to start Game 3 in Cleveland. Most fans already know that. Gibson had 15 points Sunday, nine in the fourth quarter.
MORE TRUTH: Brown seems worried about how to deal with Hughes, instead of facing the obvious: The guard is a liability right now. Hughes is in the foxhole of denial. Before Game 2, he said he only guarded Parker four times in the opener. Not true. He also said, ``I only played 23 minutes. That's not enough time to get anything done as far as figuring out and adjusting to what the game brings.''
EVEN MORE TRUTH: The numbers don't lie. In the two games of this series, Hughes has been on the court 43 minutes. He has scored two points, shooting 1-of-10 from the field. He has five rebounds, two assists and has not been to the foul line. That's enough time to get something -- anything -- done.
TERRIBLE TRUTH: At the half, the Cavs were down 58-33. They had been destroyed on the boards, 30-19. They were shooting 27 percent. They looked like some of those overmatched high school teams facing St. Vincent-St. Mary with James.
As Brown said of the Spurs before Game 2: ``When you start winning... it gives you an inner confidence that's unbelievable... it makes you feel like you can just take the life out of individuals or out of teams.''
Until the fourth quarter, the Cavs were dead men staggering. It was not that they quit, but you could see the pressure sucking out their sense of what brought them to the Finals. The defensive determination, the rebounding, the knack of keeping the game close, it all wilted under the heat of the Spurs.
James sat out nearly all of the first quarter with the two fouls -- probably not a great idea, either, because the three-time NBA champion Spurs are good enough to take control of a game like this at home and put their jaws around it like a pit bull with his favorite bone.
When James returned to action, you could see him urgently trying to bring his team back. Time and time again, he drove to the basket. He drew some fouls, but he was feeling the game slipping away. He even air-balled a free throw in the second period.
By the half, he had 13 tough points, shooting 4-of-11 from the field, 5-of-9 at the foul line. He kept pushing and finished with 25 points as the Cavs played a determined fourth quarter.
Now they return home for Game 3 on Tuesday. If Brown and the Cavs don't make some changes, this series will be over soon.
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Thanks Karma, for allowing me to take your place in the preview chair.
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CCF's THOUGHTS
- We must come out with a sense of urgency.
- IMO, we will see Boobie starting - I'll change it on the preview if it happens.
- I didn't see much of Game 2 because of Sopranos, but if we didn't use it then, I think we'll see some zone defense in Game 3. I think we should change defenses throughout the game - keep the Spurs on their toes.
- The Finals jitters better be behind us. The crowd better bring it as well.
- I better see a solid effort on the boards. Get a body on Duncan.
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