June 13, 2007

Spurs reach sweep mode
James and the Cavaliers make it close but shoot poorly. San Antonio can claim its fourth title under Popovich
By KEVIN DING

CLEVELAND If San Antonio Spurs executive vice president and coach Gregg Popovich is "always looking for perfection," as his fully blooming guard Tony Parker said, they might've just reached their Garden of Eden.

The Spurs are in position to make their fourth championship under Popovich in nine years their first NBA Finals sweep. San Antonio won Game 3 on Tuesday night, 75-72, over the Cleveland Cavaliers — putting Popovich in ideal position to improve to 4-0 as a coach in the NBA Finals. No team has ever come back to win after losing the first three games of any NBA playoff series.

"You've got to give all the props to the Spurs and all the props to Coach Pop and his staff," said Cleveland star LeBron James, who shot poorly for the third consecutive game in scoring 25 points with a 9-for-23 effort from the field.

James seemed disjointed as he missed a tying three-pointer at the buzzer after an initial swipe from defender Bruce Bowen. James came into Game 3 intent on cutting down his turnovers after having 12 in the first two games. He still had five, finding only slightly more success with more post-up plays.

"I can honestly say that these three games are the best defense we've played all season," Popovich said.

With that never-resting defense that has stuck throughout his tenure, Popovich has brought the Spurs to the cusp of having the best road playoff record in NBA history; the Spurs improved to a .431 winning percentage, with the Lakers at .436.

Popovich deflected much of the praise toward Bowen, the Cal State Fullerton product who turns 36 Thursday. Not only has he done a remarkable job through three games staying in front of James, one of the sport's greatest offensive forces and 14 years younger, Bowen gave San Antonio 13 points and nine rebounds Tuesday.

"I just thought he was fantastic from beginning to end," Popovich said of Bowen. "He really set the tone for our team."

In a game with 27 total third-quarter points — tying the fewest in an NBA Finals game — Bowen actually played a game-high 44 minutes, 10 more than Tim Duncan, who scored 14 points. Duncan actually didn't even elicit boos in player introductions at the first NBA Finals game in Cleveland as loud as what Parker heard (and the crowd roared anew in the final minutes at a sign about Parker's actress fiancée, Eva Longoria: "EVA IS FAT").

And Parker was San Antonio's leading scorer for the third consecutive game with 17 points, scuffling at times but nailing a key three-pointer with 1 minute left for a 72-67 Spurs lead. Parker, who is from France, might be in line to be the first European player to be named NBA Finals MVP, but how much this is a team effort was evident on his three-pointer.

Just as Robert Horry had patiently sought out Duncan, resulting in two Duncan foul shots with 1:33 to play, Manu Ginobili didn't force a shot and passed to Parker on the next possession.

San Antonio made 10 of 19 three-point shots compared with Cleveland's 3 of 19, but Sasha Pavlovic did hit one for Cleveland to cut San Antonio's lead to 72-70. Then Parker missed inside with 25.9 seconds left, setting the stage for James.

James was trapped by Parker and Duncan and dished to teammate Anderson Varejao. James raised his hands in preparation to get the ball back from Varejao — just as veteran guard Eric Snow had adeptly done two possessions earlier — but Varejao kept it.

James later called it "miscommunication," saying he "absolutely" wanted the ball back. Varejao tried to drive on a recovering Duncan, drew some contact but no foul — and flipped up a wild shot that missed. Cavaliers coach Mike Brown had been howling for a timeout the whole time, actually, but no one heard him — something he called "frustrating."

James got one last chance with the three-pointer and missed as he drifted left. James complained to referee Bob Delaney long after the final horn about Bowen's early reach-in, but said afterward: "It didn't affect my shot."

So a game with two fast-break points aside, one that had just two points more than the all-time low in an NBA Finals game with the 24-second shot clock, went to a Spurs team that again played the better defense.