Well, it seemed like it was going to be an interesting NBA Finals.
That is until Thursday, when the San Antonio Spurs methodically rolled over Henry James’ Cleveland Cavaliers 85-76 in Game 1 of the …
You mean that was LeBron James, not Henry, the Cleveland forward who played off the bench the last time the Cavs were in the conference finals?
You could have fooled, well, just about everyone.
“The first game I kind of feel my way through and make an adjustment,” James said Friday as the teams practiced for Game 2 on Sunday. “I don’t plan to go out there and not shoot the ball well or not score. I do a great job of adjusting from game to game. We’ve been in this position before. We’ve been down 2-0 and come back and won a series. Nothing new to us.”
James, who had a less than iconic 14 points in the first game on 4-of-16 shooting, has come into each playoff series somewhat tentative against defenses geared to stop him.
James had 23 points in Game 1 against Washington, his low for that series. He had 21 in Game 1 against New Jersey, and went on to have three higher scoring games in the next five. In Game 1 against Detroit, James had a playoff-low 10, his second fewest points scored in a game this season.
But it wasn’t just his performance that was lackluster on Thursday.
In a snoozer in which the Spurs led 40-35 at halftime, the question also was raised about the legitimacy of both teams.
The Spurs, of course, are going for their fourth title in nine years, and Tim Duncan was terrific with 24 points and 13 rebounds, his 12th game of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in these playoffs.
“It always has dumbfounded me,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said about the Spurs’ boring image. “Since the arrival of Tony (Parker) and Manu (Ginobili), if you can’t enjoy watching those two guys play, and you don’t understand they’re as much fun to watch as a lot of other people in bigger markets, then I can’t help you. It means that you’re not much of a fan and you don’t understand the game, anyway. You probably should tune in HBO.”
The NBA is worried about that with the “Sopranos” finale starting Sunday night at the same time as Game 2.
“It’s 50-50 I’ll get booted so I can watch it,” Popovich joked.
But before the first game, NBA Commissioner David Stern was not joking when he was asked whether there is a taint to the Spurs because they advanced after the suspensions of Suns’ players in the conference semifinals.
“I would say … there is a very intense segment in the state of Arizona [that thinks so],” Stern said. “We recently brought the subject up for discussion at our competition committee and there was no proposal to change it.”
As for the Cavs’ bona fides, there’s that gift the Bulls appeared to give them in losing to the Nets to end the regular season that put the Cavs in the playoff bracket with the sub-.500 Nets and Wizards.
It’s something the Miami Heat, which lost to the Bulls, also is said to wonder about, given the Cavs’ slow-pace, less-athletic game.
“We watched that [Bulls] game,” former Bull Donyell Marshall said Friday. “It does upset you a little that people say you shouldn’t be here, that you had the easier road. It wasn’t our fault. If Chicago was here now, would they be saying the same thing? Honestly, we never thought there was a chance. We were preparing to play Miami. Chicago had just beaten the Nets by, like, 25. But we were sitting there watching and felt Vince (Carter) wanted to play Toronto, so he would come out aggressive and if he did, they had a shot.”
Does Cleveland in this series? Hey, it’s down just 1-0.
There was some talk after Game 1 that the Cavs should start rookie second-rounder Daniel Gibson for Larry Hughes, who was incinerated by Tony Parker’s quickness. Parker finished with 27 points and seven assists as the Cavs often put James on Parker. Hughes, who isn’t a true point guard anyway, is playing with a foot injury.
Cavs coach Mike Brown offered a terse “No,” when asked about starting Gibson, who led the Cavs with 16 points and is averaging 19.8 points for the last four games.
Perhaps the irony is Marshall said the Cavs have to take the attitude of Gibson. A rookie shall inspire them?
“I think we all have to get the mind-set of Daniel Gibson right now and just go out and play,” Marshall said. “[He plays like] there’s no pressure. He’s a rookie, so if he doesn’t play well it’s, ‘He’s a rookie. No surprise.’ If he plays well, it’s, ‘He’s a rookie, where is that coming from?’ That’s the mind-set he has.
“LeBron instills that in you. In the Nets series, I shot an airball the first time, another on a floater and the next time down he’s yelling to me to shoot. It helps when the main guy is telling you to shoot, and [Gibson] has that.”
That is why Marshall insists this still will be an interesting series.
But Game 2 better start fast or bada bing, we’re out of there.
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sasmith@tribune.com
