2007 Finals Game 1 - Cleveland Cavaliers vs. San Antonio Spurs (8:00PM CST) - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

u2sarajevo · 06-07-2007, 09:59 AM

Finals Game 1 - Cleveland Cavaliers @ San Antonio Spurs

Series - Tied 0-0
TV Info - ABC
Line - San Antonio by 7.5

SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- LeBron James will attract the spotlight. The San Antonio Spurs have earned it.

While most of the hype surrounding these NBA finals is centered on James, Cleveland's crowned king of roundball, the Spurs are again being overshadowed despite winning three titles since 1999.

There's nothing seductive about them. They don't run and gun like the Phoenix Suns. Tim Duncan, their resident superstar, doesn't aspire to be a global icon or featured in any sneaker commercials. TV viewers channel surf right past their games.

The Spurs get no respect.

"We are kind of the vanilla of the NBA," guard Manu Ginobli said.

And every few years their the favorite flavor.

On Thursday, the Spurs will begin their quest for a fourth championship as they host the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA finals, a series being billed as King James' coming-out party but one that could just as easily turn into another Spurs coronation.

"This definitely is a model franchise," said Cavs coach Mike Brown, a San Antonio assistant when the club won its last title in 2005. "We can't be the Spurs. We don't have the same makeup as them or anything like that."

But the Cavaliers do have James -- and that could be enough.

Tagged as the new face of the league and saddled with immense expectations since entering the league four years ago, James arrived at basketball's ultimate stage on Wednesday full of confidence.

The climactic setting is a new one for the Cavaliers, who are making their first appearance in the finals since joining the league in 1970. After walking onto the floor adorned with finals logos, a few of Cleveland's players documented their visit with videocameras as an international media descended upon them.

It was only four years ago when the Cavs won 17 games while playing in front of as many empty seats as filled ones at home.

"It was like we weren't even in the NBA," said center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, drafted by the club in 1996. "We were in a deep depression as an organization."

Those gloomy days were B.LB. -- Before LeBron.

The 22-year-old has been a household name in the U.S. since he was an Akron, Ohio, high school phenomenon, and his growing popularity has made him just as well known on the playgrounds of Beijing.

In these playoffs, his second trip to the postseason, James has elevated his multidimensional game to a higher level, pushing the Cavaliers within four victories of Cleveland's first major sports title since 1964.

His appearance in the best-of-seven series should do wonders for the NBA's globalization plan. Undoubtedly, he'll also boost TV ratings, perhaps tempting casual viewers interested in seeing if he can match his jaw-dropping, 48-point performance in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against Detroit.

It's as if Michael Jordan, the more famous tongue-wagging No. 23, has resurfaced. Not quite. Not yet.

With most of the attention focused on James, the other team in this LeBronian lovefest isn't getting its proper due. But hasn't that always been the case for the Spurs, standing at the edge of another title.

"The league is about new, exciting things," Spurs forward Michael Finley said. "And LeBron is that thing right now."

The Spurs are still, well, the Spurs: basic, boring and bland -- just how Duncan and the Western Conference champs like it.

They have always won with defense, and still do. The league's stingiest defensive squad during the regular season must figure out how to slow James, who sliced up the Pistons for 25.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 8.5 assists in six games.

Detroit tried to double- and triple-team the 6-foot-8, 245-pounder, whose ability to pass over the top of defenders allowed him to find wide-open teammates for easy shots.

Spurs forward Bruce Bowen will be assigned to guard James, but he'll need help, especially when James decides to post him up near the basket.

"Any way I can gain 40 pounds overnight?" Bowen joked.

On his last visit deep in the heart of Texas, James scored 35 points with 11 rebounds and four assists on the Spurs. He also posterized a defenseless Duncan with a vicious dunk -- a photo he has on the wall near his locker in Cleveland.

James won't have it easy as the Spurs likely will blitz him wherever and whenever he touches the ball.

"They work well together on the defensive end," he said. "You know if you beat one guy, another guy steps up."

Not long ago, the thought was that James needed a superstar sidekick, a player like Jordan had in Scottie Pippen. Turns out, James might have all he needs.

"We've had different guys step up in different games," Ilgauskas said. "So LeBron hasn't had to count on just one guy. There's always somebody else scoring, somebody else rebounding. We might not have other superstars, but we got other guys who play good basketball."

Ceaselessly confident, James isn't showing any pre-finals jitters. The whole world might be watching to see what he'll do, but that's nothing new. In the past, the spotlight has been a warming place -- not one to shun.

Jordan was 28 when he won his first title; Duncan was 23. This might be James' year, it might not be. But Brown says it will eventually happen.

"He's too talented, too driven not to win one," Brown said. "I agree with the talk that in order to be quote-unquote, one of the best players in the world, you should have one of those on your resume, if not more.

"It's a matter of time for him."

12 Tone Melodies · 06-07-2007, 02:29 PM

Spurs-97
Cavs---88

u2sarajevo · 06-07-2007, 09:19 PM

So... BSR asks for it... I give it to him... and he doesn't use it.

Nice.

dude1394 · 06-07-2007, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u2sarajevo

So... BSR asks for it... I give it to him... and he doesn't use it.

Nice.

Spurts fans.

chumdawg · 06-07-2007, 09:51 PM

Not looking good for the little cavaliers here. That desperate-looking three by James is ominous.

That said, I think LeBron is actually playing a nice floor game tonight, his lack of shooting prowess notwithstanding.

chumdawg · 06-07-2007, 09:52 PM

Lebron ought to cut down on the turnovers, though.

chumdawg · 06-07-2007, 09:57 PM

This game is OVER.

TVI · 06-08-2007, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u2sarajevo

So... BSR asks for it... I give it to him... and he doesn't use it.

Nice.

Maybe if it opened up earlier than late morning game-day...

u2sarajevo · 06-09-2007, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVI

Maybe if it opened up earlier than late morning game-day...

Good to know.... seeing as I won't be starting the threads any sooner I guess he won't participate in any of them. So therefore I shouldn't bother.

u2sarajevo · 06-09-2007, 12:32 AM

Also.... not to beat a dead horse but he posted in the GDT at 11:22AM and this thread was created at 9:59AM so I guess that argument is null and void.

nashtymavsfan13 · 06-09-2007, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by u2sarajevo

Good to know.... seeing as I won't be starting the threads any sooner I guess he won't participate in any of them. So therefore I shouldn't bother.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to u2sarajevo again.

Big Shot Rob · 06-09-2007, 10:44 AM

Darn--I forgot!

V2M · 06-09-2007, 11:51 AM

NBA Finals notebook: Parker's back, hip sore but he will play

Web Posted: 06/08/2007 11:03 PM CDT

Johnny Ludden
Express-News

One day after getting knocked hard to the floor in the opening game of the NBA Finals, Spurs guard Tony Parker said his back was "very sore" but he expects to play Sunday when the series resumes.

Parker was hurt in the first quarter when he was fouled by Cleveland guard Larry Hughes on a drive to the basket. Cavaliers guard Sasha Pavlovic crashed into Parker while he was in the air, dropping him onto the court with a thud.

Parker immediately grabbed his lower back and right hip before being helped to his feet.

The Spurs didn't practice Friday, but Parker received treatment on his hip.

"It hurts," Parker said, "but I think I'll be fine."

No mercy: Keeping up with the speedy Parker is a challenge for even the healthiest defender.

Imagine trying to do it with a sore foot.

Hughes has plantar fasciitis — the same injury that slowed the Spurs' Tim Duncan last season — in his left foot. Parker torched Hughes and Cleveland's other guards for a game-high 27 points in Game 1, most of which came inside the paint, in the Spurs' 85-76 victory.

"As a basketball player and a guy who wants to win all the time, I'd do the same," Hughes said of Parker taking advantage of the injury. "Anytime you have a guy who is down and you know he is down, you attack what is hurting."

The foot also hampered Hughes on the offensive end. He missed 3 of 4 shots from the field and finished with only 2 points, 12 below his season average.

"It is tough to not have the ability to take off and drive or get in the air and make a play," Hughes said. "But I'm in a position now where I have to figure out the best way I can help the team, bad foot or not."

Hughes opted to skip a pre-game injection, which helped ease his pain in the Eastern Conference finals.

"I'm pretty proud of myself for not taking (the injection) and dealing with the pain," Hughes said.

Thank you: The Spurs applauded coach Gregg Popovich's decision to give them the day off.

The players showed up for the league's mandatory media session at the AT&T Center, but that was it. After their 30 minutes with the media, the Cavs went through a full workout.

"Days off like this are really important for our squad because we have a lot of veterans," Brent Barry said. "We've done this all year. It would be different for us if we had to practice between games, and we don't want to deviate from what's been successful for us all year.

"And nobody is complaining. Who wants to go to work? If your boss tells you to take Thursday and Friday off, I don't think you'd mind."

Best of both: Robert Horry issued a warning to Spurs' fans: Don't relax on LeBron James just because he didn't have a field goal for nearly 2 1/2 quarters Thursday.

"He's trying to set us up for the okie-doke," Horry said.

Horry called James a combination of the Lakers' Kobe Bryant and Denver's Carmelo Anthony, the Nos. 1 and 2 scorers in the NBA this season.

"Yes, sir, big-time," Horry said. "He's stronger than Carmelo. (And) he's just as quick as Kobe and more explosive."

The Spurs' defensive scheme for Game 1, Horry said, combined the team's approaches to the two high-scoring stars.

Mentor of the mentors: Cavs coach Mike Brown drew a laugh from the media with this response after being asked who Cavs assistant Hank Egan is closer to — Brown or Popovich:

"Right now, since I helped negotiate his contract, he's probably closer to me," Brown said.

Egan coached both men in college and is a former Spurs assistant under Popovich.

V2M · 06-09-2007, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Parker immediately grabbed his lower back and right hip before being helped to his feet.

The Spurs didn't practice Friday, but Parker received treatment on his hip.

"It hurts," Parker said, "but I think I'll be fine."

He better be fine... or there'll be one helluva desperate housewife next month.

Flacolaco · 06-09-2007, 11:58 AM

His back hurts....lol classic Pop.

That's french for "I'm going to drop 29 on their asses in game 2"

Big Shot Rob · 06-09-2007, 10:06 PM

Darn it!!!!!!

I had seen the bets.

Was not sure how to bet.

Figured I'd toss it around in my mind for a while and come back.

I got distracted and forgot to come back!!

THanks so much for having provided the opportunity to bet, anyway.

(Don't imagine there will be anymore?)