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LeBron hits winner, Cavs finish strong to beat Spurs
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Friday, Jan 18, 2008
SAN ANTONIO: See, now this is how the Cavaliers thought the NBA Finals would go.
Smashing and grinding until the final horn, the Cavs played their style of game against the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday and got the result that eluded them when the chips were down last June. Coming up with clutch plays and dodging a few bullets down the stretch, the Cavs edged the Spurs 90-88 to win their third consecutive game.
The last time the Cavs were at the AT&T Center, the fourth quarter was mop up time. This time it was the NBA at its best, with rival stars trying to one-up each other and bodies bouncing everywhere.
Ultimately, wrapped around a series of tense moments and a handful of disputable calls that seemed to hamper both teams, LeBron James made one more play than his counterpart. He lofted in a floater with 33 seconds remaining that gave the Cavs the lead for good, the last of his 27 points to go with nine rebounds and seven assists in another virtuoso performance.
Manu Ginobili, who led the Spurs with 31 points, missed a 15-foot jumper at the final horn that allowed the Cavs to escape with the victory. After seeing their last two games go into overtime, when opponents nailed late-game jumpers to tie, the Cavs' reserves breathed a huge sigh when the ball hit the front of the rim, then the glass, then bounced away.
''I thought that (shot) was good,'' said Cavs coach Mike Brown, who has now beaten his former team four consecutive times in the regular season. ''I've got to give my guys credit, defensively we played it as best as we could.''
That was the end, but it's not the end of the story.
The closing moments were full of clutch plays both ways and strange whistles. On James' winning basket he appeared to run over Spurs center Fabricio Oberto, but there was no call. Earlier in the quarter, though, James was tackled a few times going to the basket and didn't get a call.
The Cavs thought that Tony Parker traveled with 30 seconds left, but he drew a foul. He missed both free throws, giving the Cavs a huge lift.
''Both sides had a few questionable calls that could've gone the other way,'' James said. ''Both teams tried to stay focused. We just made one more play.''
More than one. Directly showing where they have improved since the Finals, the Cavs got a huge 3-pointer from Daniel Gibson with 1:13 left that gave them the lead. On the play, James drove and sucked in the defense, then kicked to Larry Hughes, who passed to Gibson. Last year the Cavs were not good at the end of the shot clock, especially when James had the ball against the Spurs' wall of defenders.
Gibson finished with 11 points but wasn't the only key reserve. Anderson Varejao made 6-of-9 shots for 12 points and had 14 rebounds, but eight of them came in the fourth quarter as he was battling for every loose ball and winning most of the time. In all, the Cavs' reserves scored 34 points.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas also had a big night, scoring 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. He also did a good job of making Spurs' star Tim Duncan work. Duncan got 20 points and 11 rebounds but was just 7-of-17 shooting and ineffective during the stretch run.
Tony Parker, who the Cavs couldn't keep in front of them in the Finals, had another good game with 23 points. But Hughes did a respectable job keeping him out of the lane and holding down his effectiveness.
Usually when the Spurs get those types of numbers out of their ''Big Three,'' it means a win. But the Cavs continued to play well in clutch time as they have in winning nine of their past 11 games. And they enjoyed themselves doing it.
''They let pound-for-pound teams go at it tonight and that was fun to be a part of,'' James said. ''It's a big win for us.''
Brian Windhorst can be reached at bwindhor@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/cavs/.
SAN ANTONIO: See, now this is how the Cavaliers thought the NBA Finals would go.
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