Cavs-Spurs Game 3: Cavs Shoot Themselves in the Foot

Was LeBron James fouled at the end of San Antonio's 75-72 Game Three victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers?

Maybe, maybe not.

What's indisputable however is that Cleveland had every opportunity to steal the game from the Spurs—without relying on the zebras to bail them out.

To reduce Manu Ginobli's effectiveness going left off screen/rolls, Coach Brown had the player defending the screener hedge out and force Ginobli back to his right. As Ginobli is left-handed, the strategy compromised his ability to blow past defenders—which in turn kept him from getting comfortable enough to hit his rhythm jumpers.

Ginobli finished with a paltry three points—though all of them came on clutch free throw shooting (3-4) with the game on the line.

Tim Duncan's 14 points, nine boards, and three assists look far more impressive on paper than they did on the court. Brown stifled the big man by varying both the defenders assigned to Duncan and the rotations used to double him. 

Drew Gooden started off on Duncan—until Gooden failed to deny Duncan the baseline, allowing a spinning layup and a nice fadeaway.

It was Zydrunas Ilgauskas' turn after that, and Ziggy's size and strength hindered Duncan down low. Ilgauskas also managed to stay close enough to Duncan on the wing to funnel his drives toward help defenders.

Big Z should be lauded for his efforts. He probably hadn't moved his feet so quickly since he was a teenager, and his D was one of the main factors in Duncan's 6-17 shooting night.

Anderson Varejao likewise crowded Duncan while denying the baseline. Varejao also drew an offensive foul, poked away a pair of dribbles, and succeeded in muscling Duncan down low while staying in good position to counter his spins.

More importantly, Varejao stopped taking the short cut of falling to the floor and hoping for a charge every time somebody made contact with him. He actually played real defense—and played it well.

It helped Cleveland that Duncan missed a handful of layups, and that there were occasions on which Duncan got hacked without the referees noticing. But missed shots are missed shots, and Cleveland's bigs deserve credit for their outstanding defensive performances.

In fairness to Duncan, he did go to the line with a minute left and calmly sink two free throws in the clutch.

Parker, meanwhile, seemed to lack his usual zeal off the drive. Brown had Cleveland's bigs hedge out on every Parker screen/roll, forcing him away from the basket. Without that extra step towards the paint, and with either LeBron, Daniel Gibson, or Eric Snow staying in front of him, the groom-to-be was largely a non-factor.

Like Ginobli and Duncan, though, Parker stepped up late to nail a critical three-ball with only a minute left. The "Big Three" may not have had big games—but they certainly came up big when the pressure was on.

Offensively, Cleveland benefited from Brown's new approach. Instead of desperately looking to get LeBron on track, the coach spread the ball around. Brown's trust paid dividends, as numerous Cavs played better in Game Three than in either of the first two contests.

Gooden was able to find the net on baseline fadeaways and 20-foot rhythm jumpers. Sasha Pavlovic got to the rim consistently—including one impressive lefty-drive, righty-finish over two defenders on the baseline. While he disappeared as the game progressed, Pavlovic did nail an enormous three with under a minute left.

Ilgauskas was nothing short of heroic—his finesse hooks, midrange jumpers, and ability to draw double teams forced San Antonio to adapt defensively. Even more valorous: He hauled in 18 total rebounds, including an incredible 10 (ten!) on the offensive glass—to say nothing of the countless tapouts he gave his team.

As for James—instead of getting him the ball up top and running him off high screens, Brown used LeBron in the post or on the wings. James hit a brace of tough layups down low, and converted on some powerful fourth-quarter drives that originated from the left flank.

Even with so much going right for the Cavs, though, there was one negative that cost them the game: They forgot to bring their shooting touch to the arena.

LeBron was 0-10 on his jump shots. Daniel Gibson was a miserable 1-10 overall. Aside from Pavlovic's clutch triple, the Cavs shot a paltry 2-18 (11 percent) from behind the bonus line.

Oh, and there was a second problem: Varejao's brainless decision, with the game and the series on the line, to take Tim Duncan off the dribble from 20 feet...and uncork the most hideous shot of the playoffs to date.

But Cleveland should've had the game wrapped up well before that moment. They simply shot their way out of the game and, from the looks of it, out of the series.

Give the Spurs credit for finding a way to win when everything seemed to go wrong. It wasn't pretty by any means but those championship rings they'll earn in the next week sure will be.