Spurs gain 2-0 advantage
SAN ANTONIO — Once Cleveland's stirring comeback ended and the Cavaliers had finally succumbed for the second time in these NBA finals, giddy Spurs fans began dreaming of another finish.
"Sweep, Sweep!" they sang in the hallways of AT&T Center.
Coach Gregg Popovich didn't join them.
"We don't think about sweeps or anything like that," he said. "We always plan for a long, drawn-out, seven-game series. We plan for seven all the time."
Might be time to change those plans, Pop.
Tony Parker scored 30 points, Manu Ginobili 25 and Tim Duncan added 23 as the Spurs moved halfway to a fourth championship by dominating Cleveland for 3Z\x quarters and beating the Cavaliers 103-92 on Sunday night to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Except for a fourth-quarter letdown when they allowed the Cavs to cut a 27-point lead to eight, the Spurs were in control. They took advantage of early foul trouble against LeBron James and easily pushed around the Eastern Conference champions, who have to hope the 1,500-mile trip home can fix their problems.
Right now, they've got a bunch of them.
"We have to make some adjustments," said Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. "They're outhustling us. They're playing harder than us. That's all there is to it."
The Spurs, clicking on offense and digging their sneakers in on defense, were up by 11 after one, 25 at half and 27 after three, thoroughly embarrassing the Cavaliers, whose first visit to the finals couldn't be going worse.
In the first half, the Spurs' Big 3 of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili combined for 43 points — 10 more than the Cavs — and as both teams walked off the floor, the arena's p.a. announcer, Stan Kelly, summed up the first 24 minutes with a comment that would have been funny if it wasn't so painfully true for Cleveland.
"Spurs by a bunch," he said.
And at the same time, a fan held up a sign saying, "Bring Out LeBroom."
James, limited to 14 points in his finals debut, scored 25 Sunday on 9-of-21 shooting to lead Cleveland. But the Cavaliers' superstar played less than three minutes in the first quarter because of foul trouble, sitting when the Spurs ran away to their huge lead.
"It doesn't matter if we lose by 1 or if we lose by 30, a loss is a loss," James said. "We've been down 2-0 before. We have to find a way to bring the intensity to Game 3."
With two more victories, small-market San Antonio, often overlooked in the conversation of great teams, can join the Boston Celtics (16 titles), Los Angeles Lakers (14) and Chicago Bulls (6) as franchises with at least four championships.
