Cornered Cavaliers

They say that the NBA Playoffs can expose a team for what they really are. The Bulls made the Heat look old in the First Round and the Cavaliers made the Pistons look that way in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Cavaliers are a young team. And on Tuesday night in Game 3, the Spurs made them look that way.

Just over a week-and-a-half after the euphoric win over Detroit to capture the Eastern Conference title, the Wine and Gold’s season is in danger of extinction. The Spurs calmly weathered the Cavaliers’ storm, turned an eight-point deficit into a two-point lead in the three minutes before the half, and got clutch stops down the stretch.

LeBron James missed bunnies he hadn’t all year and Daniel Gibson came down to Earth. On the other hand, Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had big games for the first time in the Finals. Basically, the Cavaliers have gotten some really good performances, just never at the same time.

The Spurs gave Cleveland more than a few chances to beat them in the closing minutes of Tuesday night’s heartbreaker. But the Cavaliers wilted under the pressure. Their backs were against the wall heading into Game 3. They’re behind the wall heading into Game 4. No NBA team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a Playoff series. The most recent time the phenomenon occurred was when the Boston Red Sox came back to beat the Yankees for the American League Pennant.

Neither team looked great, but the Spurs simply shot better from long-distance and made the clutch plays when they had to. Once again, they forced the Cavaliers to be a perimeter team.

“We kept saying, ‘Drive the ball, drive the ball, drive the ball, drive the ball,’ and our guys felt like they were open,” said Coach Mike Brown. “I don't ever want to tell a guy not to shoot if he feels like he's open because that's putting restrictions on guys that they shouldn't have. We just have to be disciplined enough to continue to drive, continue to see if we can get to the free throw line. It's as simple as that."

The Spurs were 10-for-19 from three-point range; the Cavaliers were 3-for-19, with LeBron and Daniel Gibson combining to go 0-for-10.

Thursday night’s Game 4 now literally becomes do-or-die for the Cavaliers. The dream season can come to an abrupt end or the Wine and Gold can live to fight another day. You could see the seriousness in the players’ eyes following Tuesday’s tough loss. The Spurs are an NBA dynasty, but on Thursday they’ll have to deal with a cornered group of Cavaliers.