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).
I don’t know Gund Arena, but I know her sister, Gund Aretta.
Hmm..let’s see..well Tim Duncan is easily the biggest whiner in the league. Horry took out Steve Nash with a clothesline. Bowen stepped on Amare Stoudemire’s achilles. Forgot who did it but someone kneed someone in the groin. They’re cheap and I’m sick of the spurs. But I gotta say the eastern conference is weak!
75-72 is not a low score, lets see them play to a 0-0 tie or a 2-0 shutout... ;-)
1989 Super Bowl... (Bengals fan)
Cleveland’s last championship was the 1964 Browns NFL Championship.
Cincinnati’s last championship was the 1990 Reds World Series championship.
A special hello to all the “Spurs are dirty” or “Spurs are thugs” crowd! Nice to see you have been drinking the ESPN brand of Kool-Aid or the special brand of low-grade whine they brew only in Phoenix!
Bottom line: Spurs had their worst game offensively of these playoffs, and still beat the Cavaliers! This series is over!
Go Spurs Go
Horry (a role player) smashed into Steve Nash during their playoff series, getting a flagrant intentional foul call. When Stoudemire and Diaw (two major players) came off the bench (never getting more than 7 feet from their seats and never touching anyone), THEY were suspended for a game each. It was the difference in the series.
Bruce Bowen’s defensive practices have been suspect for many years. He’s “accidentally” stepped on too many ankles for it to be a coincidence...
Manu Ginobili flops more than Dick Fosbury...
As one writer put it: “Tony Parker, of course, doesn’t need our love – he has Eva Longoria. Seriously, how do you root for Tony Parker? You root for the guy to GET Eva Longoria, not after he’s already done it”. His (truly accidental) severe bloodying of Steven Nash’s nose at the crucial moment of a playoff game didn’t help things...
Tim Duncan still has my respect and my sympathy (tossed from a game for laughing)...
And the Spurs have had their success. I always turn against teams that become dynasties. (It’ll be interesting for me if my Colts become a mutliple Super Bowl over the next 5 or 6 years!)
Maybe it’s time to put these games back on tv in the afternoons since the ratings are so low.
The crowd sounded pretty tame compared to how I remember going to the Richfield Colisuem back in the 80's and early 90's.
If missing Stoudawhiner and Diaw for one game cost the Suns the series, does that mean those two guys weren’t playing during the other losses?
The Suns players, coaches, back office and fans should take a lesson from Lebron James’ very classy interview last night (where he said Bowen’s effort was incidental contact and didn’t affect his shot).
Lebron was 180 degress different than Stoudawhiner and Mike Brown 180 degrees different from d’Antoni (arguably the most damaging coach to his own team in the entire NBA).
Go Spurs Go!
He won’t come close to MJ, but he will get his share over his career.
True enough, and fairly described. However; one incident does not make him a thug.
Bruce Bowen’s defensive practices have been suspect
Vague suspicions do not make one a thug.
Manu Ginobili flops more than Dick Fosbury...
Bad acting is part of the game. In what part of the world does falling down constitute thuggish behavior?
Tony Parker, of course, doesn’t need our love...
Thug?!!! Really?!!
I always turn against teams that become dynasties
The nub of these "thug" allegations. The fact is that for many years now the Spurs have truly been the gentlemen of the NBA. They have behaved with such class, humbleness, and honor, every other team has been influenced by them.
Compared to 15 years ago, public scandals, emabarrassments, cross-dressing, pink hair, thuggish behavior, and vile trash-talking have all but disappeared from the NBA. This is owed entirely to the Spurs.
Thugs?!! Quite the opposite.
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