Posted on 06/13/2007 5:59:52 AM PDT by laotzu
CLEVELAND -- The Spurs ruined Cleveland's 37-year wait to host the NBA finals on Tuesday night, beating the Cavaliers 75-72 in Game 3 to move within one win of a fourth title.
No team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit. It doesn't look like the Cavaliers will be the first, but they may become the first finals sweep for the Spurs, who are shooting for their fourth title since 1999.
Tony Parker scored 17 points and Tim Duncan had 14, but Ginobili, who scored 25 in Game 2, had just three -- all free throws in the final 10.4 seconds -- to hold off the Cavaliers and crush the hopes of their rowdy, towel-waving crowd, who had never before seen their team play a finals game in person.
Cleveland's chances, and maybe their last hopes of extending the season, ended when LeBron James, who led the Cavaliers with 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, was short with a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
The Spurs can wrap up their third title in five years with a win in Game 4 on Thursday night. If they do complete the eighth sweep in finals history, they'll join the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls as the only franchises to win four or more titles.
James, the 22-year-old who saved Cleveland's franchise, couldn't rescue this series.
All James can do now is try to prevent a sweep by the Spurs, who are 48 minutes from adding a 2007 title to the ones they captured in 1999, 2003 and 2005. Every other year, it seems to be San Antonio's turn, and this one is no different.
Duncan's eyes bulged and he stared in disbelief before heading to the sideline -- James was already sitting and snapping on his warmup -- with 5:24 left in the second quarter.
Research Notes
• In each of their three previous trips to the NBA Finals (1999, 2003, 2005), the San Antonio Spurs have won the NBA title.
• This is the Cleveland Cavaliers' first trip to the NBA Finals.
• Since 1983-84 the team with home-court advantage in the NBA Finals is 17-6.
• Road teams are 16-44 all time in Game 1 of the NBA Finals (.267 win pct.). Of those 16 winners, only eight of them went on to win the title.
• The team that wins Game 1 of the NBA Finals wins the series 71.7 percent of the time (43-17). All NBA Finals have been best-of-seven series.
• Eight different players on the Spurs bring a combined 103 games of NBA Finals experience into this series. Only one player from the Cavaliers has previous Finals experience. That player is Eric Snow, who was on 1996 Sonics and the 2001 76ers (11 total games).
Just don’t name it the “Quicken Loans Arena.” Man, that’s lame.
go cavs
God bless you, my friend.
Didn’t the Spurs just move into a new arena just a few years ago?
Yes, they did. A damn nice one.
Let me guess.
Did the taxpayers of Bexar County get to foot the bill for it?
It's a step up from the old name "Gund Arena". Gund Arena sounds like a venereal disease.
Lebron and the Cavs will be back, but this simply is not the year for them. They ran into Duncan, the Spurs, and their dynasty at their peak.
Poor Cavs...
they out-rebounded the Spurs, had more assists, more blocks, fewer turnovers, hit more free throws (on fewer attempts), took 9 more shots and had one more basket than the Spurs...
they even kept Manu Ginobili without a single basket (and only 3 free throws, all in the last 10 seconds of the game... he had 25 in Game 2, and averaged over 20 pts for the past 11 playoff games)...
and yet somehow they still lost. Ouch.
I hope they at least win Game 4, just to avoid the sweep. The Spurs teammates’ thuggish tactics really turned me away from being a Tim Duncan fan anymore.
I believe bonds were issued, but I’m not certain.
I would bet on it.
The Cavs lean to much on James. Like too many teams, their fortune depends entirely on whether one guy has a good night.
For big Z to have 14 or more rebounds and the Cavs to still lose is just amazing, and not in a good way.
“Lebron and the Cavs will be back, but this simply is not the year for them.”
Don’t count your chickens yet. The Bulls have hatched and they will stampede the NBA in a few years. A lot of Cav players are at the end of their careers, so it will be tough to build a supporting cast around LeBron.
As you have probably guesed, I don’t think that LeBron will come close to the feats produced by MJ.
-loyal Bulls fan
please describe for me
I'm really quite sorry to hear that. For many years now, I...we have thought of the Spurs as the team of gentlemen.
Go JAZZ!!!
Looks like Ohio will end up #2 yet again.
The Spurs soundly whipped 'em though.
Go Spurs!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.