Well, for all intents and purposes, the Finals are over. The Spurs got just 34 total points from Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, and they still won. That’s a telling statistic.
Game 3 was pretty brutal to watch, but at least it was close. The combined 147 points just missed the Finals low of 145 points that Syracuse and Ft. Wayne – yes, Syracuse and Ft. Wayne – put up way back in 1955.
Both teams shot poorly from the field, but the Cavs’ 3-19 showing from long range really stands out. Everyone (including this writer) called for Daniel Gibson to get the start, and he faltered, scoring just two points on 1-10 shooting. He is a rookie, after all.
Still, the Cavs had a shot to win the game, but some very poor execution down the stretch was their undoing. Cleveland got the ball, down by two with 26 seconds left, but elected to not call a timeout. I normally like it when teams push it up court in that situation, but only if they know how to get a good shot. After LeBron was turned away in the lane, he flipped the ball to Anderson Varejao, who decided to try to take Tim Duncan, a 10-time All-Defensive selection, on the dribble. Needless to say, he didn’t score. With 15 seconds left on the shot clock, he had plenty of time to get the ball back to LeBron.
According to Mike Breen, Mike Brown was trying to get a timeout, but he was (apparently) unable to get the attention of any of the Cavs on the floor or the officials, even though he had a full 10 seconds to do so. (He can call a timeout himself.) Any way you slice it, the failure to get a good shot on that possession is his fault. It’s clear that his team didn’t know what to do in that situation. Do they call a timeout and draw up a play? Or do they push it up court and run a clear out (or pick and roll) for LeBron? These are things that should be addressed in practice.
Are the Cavs really talking about extending his contract?
