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CLEVELAND—We are all witnesses?
Not to
the homage of LeBron James, despite Nike’s best
marketing efforts, but more likely the elevation of the
San Antonio Spurs as the NBA’s latest dynasty.
The
Spurs hammered away, gradually eroding their opponent
Tuesday night in a game only a lug could love, and the
Cleveland Cavaliers could not prevent their city from
sighing, again, at another major sporting event.
It
wasn’t quite over after the Spurs’ 75-72 victory in Game
Three of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena, and yet,
it kind of was. No team has come back from a 3-0 deficit
to win an NBA playoff series.
The
Cavaliers could point to the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs,
the 1975 New York Islanders and the 2004 Boston Red Sox
for motivation, but they’d be better off pointing at
themselves, specifically their offense, which stalled
again in the series.
Not that
the Spurs were that much better, although they staggered
slightly less than the Cavaliers after the teams almost
set a Finals record for fewest points in a game since
the adoption of the 24-second shot clock, barely topping
the 145 totaled by Syracuse and Fort Wayne in 1955.
Fittingly, the game ended in controversy after James
missed a three-point shot with 1.9 seconds to play that
would have tied the score. Spurs forward Bruce Bowen
tried to foul James intentionally by slapping at James’s
side before he squared up for the shot, which rattled
out. James turned immediately to referee Bob Delaney to
plead his case.
It
didn’t matter. The Spurs are a victory away from their
third championship in five years, their fourth since
1999.
The
business-like Spurs, predictably, were not exactly
popping open Dom Perignon afterward. In fact, the first
question fielded by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was about
the last play, and whether he had asked Bowen during a
timeout with 5.5 seconds left to intentionally foul
James.
“He did
make a stab at him, and we talked about it,” Popovich
said. “That’s that, I guess.”
James,
after cooling down for a few minutes, did not complain
further about the play. “Incidental contact,” he said.
“It didn’t affect my shot. I had a good look at it, and
I missed.”
Not that
Cavaliers fans could be blamed for anything that
unfolded in front of them. They flooded the downtown
area with a lunch-time rally that drew thousands. Hours
later, they flocked to a 40-foot replica of the Larry
O’Brien Trophy, circling it in curious pregame amazement
outside the arena.
The city
was ready, understandably, having never hosted a Finals
game in the Cavaliers’ 37-year existence and having
never won a pro championship of any type since the
Browns won the 1964 National Football League title.
The
team’s “Rise Up” slogan was plastered on placards in
store fronts and dangled on banners in malls.
It was
all for naught, apparently. The Cavaliers are a loss
away from tying the Los Angeles Clippers at 37
consecutive years without a championship, the
fourth-longest active stretch among NBA franchises.
This
loss wasn’t
Jordan
shooting over Ehlo, or even “The Drive” or “The Fumble.”
It was just the Spurs methodically advancing toward the
inevitable, quite possibly the third Finals sweep since
1990 (Houston over Orlando in 1995, Lakers over New
Jersey in 2002).
If not
for Derek Fisher’s heave in 2004 and a seven-game loss
to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference
semifinals last season, the Spurs might have won, well,
let’s not go there.
“We’ve
got a great organization,” said Spurs guard Tony Parker,
who had a team-high 17 points. “It’s like a little
family. I think that’s how you build championship runs,
and over the years, it pays off.”
Neither
team built much of anything on offense, Parker hitting a
floater in the lane at the halftime buzzer to give the
Spurs an underwhelming 40-38 lead.
The
teams combined for 27 points in the next quarter, the
lowest-scoring third quarter in Finals history.
“We set
the Western world of offensive basketball back 10
years,” Popovich said dryly.
Cleveland
went without struggling guard Larry Hughes, who made
only one of 10 shots in the series and missed Game Three
because of a sore left foot that had bothered him for
weeks. It is unknown if Hughes, averaging 11.3 points in
the playoffs, will play in Game Four on Thursday night.
James
also faltered, following up his nine-for-21 effort in
Game Two with a nine-for-23 shooting night in Game
Three. He had 25 points and increased his three-game
turnover total to 17.
James,
the focal point of the “We are all witnesses”
promotional campaign, had a fleeting request after the
game.
“Everybody has to still believe,” he said.
Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs’ 103-92 victory over
the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night drew a
6.9-percent overnight rating on ABC, down 24 percent
from last year’s 9.1 for Game Two between the Dallas
Mavericks and Miami Heat.
Overnight ratings measure the 55 largest television
markets in the US, and each overnight rating point
represents about 735,000 households.
Refunds
The
Orlando Magic is already offering refunds to fans who
bought season tickets just after Billy Donovan’s hiring
as coach.
More
than 200 packages sold within 24 hours of the
announcement that the Magic had lured Donovan away from
Florida.
Donovan changed his mind a day after his May 31
introduction, deciding to return to the Gators.
The
Magic said it was contacting individual fans who bought
tickets within 48 hours of the Donovan announcement. So
far some have decided to keep the tickets, the team said
without specifying an amount.
Orlando
let Donovan out of the deal after several days of legal
wrangling and hired former Miami Heat coach Stan Van
Gundy to replace him.
--With AP |
