Cavs simply overmatched vs. Spurs
Charley Rosen
FOXSports.com, Updated 2 hours ago STORY TOOLS:
With only slight variations, Game 2 was a virtual replay of Game 1.
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Cleveland rocked
Eric Snow and Daniel Gibson talk to FSN from the Cleveland locker room. The Cavs lost to the Spurs in Game 2 of the NBA Finals 103-92.
Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili were well-nigh unstoppable.
Despite his numbers, LeBron James wasn't much of a factor. Daniel Gibson played like an All-Star.
The final score, 103-92, looked to be semi-respectable, but the Spurs had the game in their pocket until they got careless or was it bored? in the fourth quarter. The Cavs made a move late (too late) but never mounted a serious threat.
The Spurs played well enough to assert their superiority, but poorly enough to put a burr under Pop's saddle.
Let's take a closer look at some of the specifics.
When Duncan was allowed to work against Zydrunas Ilgauskas one-on-one in the pivot, TD hit a difficult jump hook and also had the ball stripped by the Z-man. As advertised, Ilgauskas did a yeoman's job on both sequences.
However, after the turnover (Duncan's only one of the game), Duncan stepped farther away from the basket and received the ball in the vicinity of the foul line. From there, he could face up Ilgauskas, thereby minimizing the big fellow's edge in size and reach while capitalizing on Z's limited ability to move laterally. After TD hit a 17-foot jumper and then drove for a layup, Anderson Varejao was in and Ilguaskas was out.
Later, when Duncan caught the ball on the left wing and the Cavs were itching to jump his dribble, TD simply dropped a pair of his patented bank shots. Once again, Duncan's stats were outstanding 9-16 from the field, 9 rebounds, a game-high 8 assists, and 23 points.
And once again, the Cavs' defense had no answer for Duncan's versatility.
Cleveland had similar difficulty trying to stop No. 9. The Cavs tried several slightly different tactics in defense of Parker, all of them proving to be fruitless. When they gave him room to shoot, Parker responded by dropping 6-10 from mid- and long-range. When they hustled to pack the lane as he drove, he either beat one and all to the basket or else pulled up and dropped a flurry of floaters. As a result, Parker was even more dominant than he was in the opening game 13-20 from the field for a game-high 30 points.
Ginobili, too, had another monster game 5-11 shooting, 11-11 from the line, 25 points. What especially hurt the Cavs was Ginobili's shooting 4-6 from downtown.
All told, SA's Big Three shot 27-47 (a combined 57.4%) and totaled 78 points. In Game 3, the Cavs absolutely must concentrate on shutting down one of these guys. Their best bet would be to double Duncan on the move and hope that Parker, Ginobili and company don't shoot as well on the road as they have so far at home.
But the Spurs had other heroes. Like Robert Horry 9 boards, 4 assists, 5 blocks, and 5 points; Francisco Elson 3-3 from the floor, 2 offensive rebounds, 6 points. And that's to say nothing of Bruce Bowen's stalwart defense on LeBron James.
After being outplayed in Game 1, the Cavs did make some tweaks in their game plan, but they were largely unsuccessful.
The Spurs doubled LeBron on virtually every screen/roll and once more limited his penetration in half-court sets. Otherwise, their aim was to let LBJ shoot outside jumpers until his right arm got tired a good move considering he was 0-6 from the perimeter. Indeed, LeBron's low-release necessitates his compromising his own balance by leaning backwards in order to get any loft to his shots. Sure, he can sometimes enjoy extended hot streaks, but James still lacks a consistent stroke. And this is the most grievous flaw in his offense. Perhaps the Cavs can find a way to entice Chip Engelland to leave San Antonio and have him do for LBJ what he's done for Parker.
For most of the second half, James managed to drive the lane on a more consistent basis in early-offense sequences and also when the Cavs ran S/Rs at the left foul-line extended. But included in his numbers 9-21 FG, 6 assists, 6 TO, and 25 points were five missed layups.
Cleveland did run LeBron off weak-side screens on three occasions: He got fouled twice and also shot a 15-foot air-ball.
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Beginning midway through the third quarter, LeBron reverted to the strategy that jammed the Pistons in Game 6 of the previous series enticing the defense to double high S/Rs, then dribbling here, there, and everywhere until he spotted an open shooter. This re-adjustment worked for a while, especially when the Cavs had their 3-point threats Gibson, Donyell Marshall, and Damon Jones on the court. These three were 5-11 from 3-point land, mostly as a result of LBJ's radar passes.
At the same time, Gibson, Marshall, and Jones were spectacularly inept on the defensive end.
In addition to the positive new wrinkles shown by the Cavs, some parts of their performance deteriorated, the most significant being the failure of their big men to adequately show on the Spurs' weak-side screens. Also, where Drew Gooden had some success in posting up TD in Game 1, he rarely got the chance to do the same on Sunday night. The fact is that while Duncan is a superb help-defender, his posture is too erect for him to be a dominant one-on-one defender. Gooden's assortment of turnaround jumpers and driving jump-hooks are sufficient to either score beaucoup buckets, induce Duncan into fouling him, and/or force the Spurs to double-down.
As foreshadowed in Game 1, Sasha Pavlovic was able to carry the ball to the basket on a series of powerful drives. However, while Pavlovic scored 10 points on 4-11 shooting, he missed four layups (including a dunk).
In any case, the outcome of both of the opening games was not really about the adjustments that the Cavs either made or didn't make. Nor their lack of confidence, nor their need to step up their intensity. The simple, undeniable truth is that the Spurs are a better ball club in every aspect of the game.
San Antonio has a more varied offense, has the swiftest quickest and most precise defensive rotations in the league, and is certainly one of the most intelligent teams ever. Meanwhile, Cleveland is limited offensively, slow defensively, and not yet ready for prime time. Surviving the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference is a big enough step in the right direction for the Cavs, whose core players are still wet behind the ears. And getting there was all the fun.
If the Spurs are a finished masterpiece, then the Cavs are still a work in progress. Can the Cavs win a game or two in Cleveland?
Possibly one. Impossibly two.
