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It's been a long time since Cleveland sports fans have had anything to cheer about. The Cavaliers, the Browns and the Indians have all teased the Cleveland faithful with greatness over the years, but the city hasn't had a championship title land in its lap since the Browns won what was then called the NFL Championship Game in 1964. LeBron James is hoping to end all the years of suffering after leading the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
To bring a long-awaited title home to Cleveland, the Cavs will first have to get through the San Antonio Spurs. It will likely be a difficult task, since the Spurs know a thing or two about winning
The Cavs made it to the finals after a dramatic Eastern Conference Finals win over the Detroit Pistons. After being dogged for his lackluster performances in Games 1 and 2 of the series, LeBron carried the nba team on his back to take the next four games. James' 48-point explosion in Game 5 will go down in history as one of the best playoff performances of all time. If he can maintain that level of play versus the intense Spurs' defense then Cleveland may finally have their championship.
The Spurs are no pushovers though - in fact they do most of the pushing as evidenced by their series wins over Phoenix and Utah. San Antonio has a solid offensive nucleus built around Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, and with the strong defense of Bruce Bowen and the Spurs' deep bench it can be difficult to keep up with San Antonio.
It's doubtful that Cleveland will be intimidated by the more experienced Spurs considering how they played against San Antonio during the regular season. The Cavs and Spurs clashed twice this season with Cleveland winning both games. Way back in November LeBron scored 35 points and Larry Hughes added 18, as the Cavs defeated the Spurs 88-81 to win their first game in San Antonio since 1988. When the Spurs arrived in Cleveland in January, LeBron only scored 19 points but Hughes chipped in with another 18 points in an 82-78 Cleveland win. In both wins the Cleveland defense smothered the Spurs and held them to less than 40% shooting. The Spurs likely would have won the January rematch if not for their cold free-throw shooting.
The Spurs' game plan in the series will be to slow down James, and that job will mostly belong to Bowen. However, San Antonio will also have to keep their eye on Daniel Gibson. The Cleveland rookie only averaged 4.6 points per game during the regular season, but he has become an important part of the Cleveland offense in the playoffs. Gibson's career-high 31 points in Game 6 versus Detroit shows how dangerous he can be.
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