The Dallas Morning News David Moore Column: Spurs Drum Cavs in Ho-Hum Game 2

Jun 11, 02:10 AM

Current Headlines: By David Moore, The Dallas Morning News

Jun. 11--SAN ANTONIO -- Paris Hilton should thank the judge for sending her back to jail.

She didn't have to see this.

I'm sure I've seen worse basketball games. Many of them involved the Mavericks during the lost decade of the 1990s.

But rarely do you see a game this bad this late in the season.

The final score is misleading. The only reason Cleveland's 103­92 loss appeared respectable is because San Antonio became as bored as everyone else who witnessed its domination.

The Cavaliers discovered their pride late and reduced what had been a 29-point deficit to eight points on two occasions in the final five minutes. Both sides talked after the game about how that could make a difference as the series moves to Cleveland for Tuesday's Game 3.

Don't count on it. San Antonio, as Manu Ginobili put it, was irresponsible in the final period. Once the Spurs realized the game wasn't over, they reasserted themselves and made enough plays to take a 2-0 lead in the series. No team blows a 2-0 lead in the Finals.

Well, almost no team.

LeBron James, everyone's favorite Global Icon, finished with 25 points. But the Spurs rendered him irrelevant when it mattered most.

James went to the bench less than three minutes into the game with his second foul. His team was down by 11 points when he returned to the court for the second quarter.

And what did he do? In the Cavaliers' first four possessions, James missed two shots and then traveled. Cleveland went 4-of-18 from the field in the quarter and trudged to the locker room with a 25-point deficit.

"Our effort has to be better," Cleveland coach Mike James said. "Our aggression has to be higher, and we've got to be able to do it and still be poised in the same breath.

"There's no magic play, no magic defense. This is a good team. We've got to bring the juice, and right now we're not."

San Antonio scored 24 points off Cleveland's turnovers in Game 2. Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Larry Hughes, normally the team's most reliable offensive threats after James, have combined for a total of 13 points while going 5-of-26 from the field in the first two games.

Contrast that to what Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Ginobili have done for San Antonio. Those three combined for 78 points in Game 2.

"We're not doing something special," said Parker, who has been brilliant with 57 points and 11 assists in the two games. "We're still playing the same way.

"I just think we're doing a better job of taking turns. We're moving the ball great, and we're just taking great shots."

The only thing worse than what the Spurs did to the Cavaliers on Sunday will be what The Sopranos did to the Finals in the ratings.

Fans in Cleveland who watched the game at Quicken Loans Arena asked for the close circuit feed to be switched to John From Cincinnati in the second half.

OK, maybe they didn't. But it was a good night for HBO and a dreadful night for the Cavaliers.

But let's not kid ourselves here. A network could have put up a rerun of The Ropers and beaten what the NBA had on display this night.

The Cavaliers should play better in Cleveland.

They will do even better if the NBA substitutes another team for them.

Could we please bring back Phoenix? The Spurs haven't been in a competitive series since eliminating the Suns in the second round.

This may not be a sweep. But the only way the Cavaliers return to San Antonio is if the Spurs invite them to their parade on the River Walk.

"We always plan for a long, drawn-out seven-game series," Popovich said.

"If a series ends up not being that, that's great."

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