horseofcourse |
06-08-2007 05:31 PM |
I take some positives out of it as a Cavs fan. I thought Parker and Duncan played very well offensively and the Spurs still only scored 85. Of course, that's all they needed. The Spurs had big runs at the end of the 2nd quarter (18-10) and end of the 3rd quarter (15-6) which is what decided the game. The Cavs shot better in the 4th and actually came close to making it really close. They cut it to 80-72 and James missed a 3 with about a minute 20 left. If he makes that, it's a 2 possession game with over a minute left. They weren't going to win but I'm just saying!! Pavlovic played his best game since early in the NJ series. Gooden hit shots as did Gibson. Varejao played pretty well, which considering Ilgauskas was brutal, he pretty much had to. James just had one of those games.
When he shoots great you get game 5 of Detroit. When he shoots normally you get games 3 and 4 of Detroit...when he shoots poorly you get last night. OF course a good part of that is SA defense, but part of it was just him missing as well.
They didn't turn the ball over much despite the defense of the Spurs (other than James' 6), and they did get some open looks often. Getting outrebounded so massively was surprising to me...but they do have Duncan...so it will happen at times. I don't think James goes 4 for 16 every game, and they recovered from the two straight 76 point outings in Detroit to score 88, 91, 91, and 98 the next 4 in regulation.
Parker was great and I said before the series, that he was the matchup I greatly feared and I was proven right last night. He was the difference in the game.
I don't see a sweep. Their best player had a horrible shooting night and although they were beaten pretty handily, it wasn't a complete gut ripping as some are suggesting in the media. James was crucified after the first two games in Detroit and I think he handled it pretty ok!! I think he'll do the same here. Remember last year...Dallas beat Miami pretty easily in the first two games in Dallas and never won again. Not that that will happen, I'm just saying!!
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