Spurs vs Cavs: Game 1 Notes

Game 1 between Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs from San Antonio. A cool intro for the NBA Finals showed NBA finals moments from Michael Jordan, Kareem, Kobe, D Wade, The Bad Boys Pistons and other legends. The analysts pre-game: Dan Patrick along with Jon Barry, Michael Wilbom, and Grant Hill. None of them picked the Cavs to win this series, but said this was Cleveland's best chance to steal a game. Well nobody picked Miami to make the 4 game comeback against Dallas after starting 0-2 in last year's Finals. Commentators for the game: Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. American Idol winner Jordin Sparks sings the anthem.

1st quarter notes:

Lebron was being doubleteamed every play down the floor. Refs seemed to get a bit foul crazy calling several offensive fouls on the Cavs, but it also could have been Cleveland jitters. Lebron barely scored or got to the hoop much. A panicked Eva Longoria was shown at one point when Tony Parker collided with Sasha Pavlovic. Bowen headed to the locker room and Donyell Marshall shows that he needs to practice his 3's. Duncan showed his usual methodical consistent and boring play that has made him a star and champion in the NBA. The commentators noted the Cavs were hanging in there and only down 5 which was a good start after 1 quarter.

Score: 20 - 15 Spurs

2nd quarter notes:

Spurs started out cold in the first 3-4 minutes. Daniel Gibson showed why he is possibly the young apprentice for Lebron. Noted that Spurs have best win % of any pro sports team over the past 10 years. David "The Admiral" Robinson seen in the crowd. Zydrunas and Varajao seemed to play volleyball under the basket on 1 play. Cavs able to take a lead with Lebron on the bench. Spurs quickly regained the lead off a foul call and missed free throw putback. The game started to look like a cartoon as the Cavs seemed to run into each other and fall in a heap, allowing an easy Duncan layup. Spurs seemed to be tripleteaming Lebron at times. Donyell Marshall hit a key 3 pointer to keep things close, but the Spurs kept showing why they win games and stayed ahead.

Score: 40 - 35 Spurs

3rd quarter notes:

Cavs started off the half cold as the Spurs broke out to 7 point lead. Lebron seemed hesitant to shoot much early on, with the continued doubleteams from the Spurs. Tony Parker started to heat up a bit. Lebron finally got his first field goal of the game on a layup drive around Duncan. Drew Gooden showed why he's one of the best offensive rebounders in the game right now with a put back he stole from Duncan. Spurs gained serious momentum after Lebron had a brick 3 point attempt, and the Spurs got a Parker layup to put them up 12. The refs made a flagrant foul call on Gooden as he grabbed Ginobli. Ginobli with an Oscar worthy performance as he flailed about after the contact. A Bowen 3 with under 1:30 in the quarter gave Spurs a 13 point lead. Cavs continued poor shooting as the quarter closed out.

Score: 64 - 49 Spurs

4th quarter notes:

Horry started off the 4th with a 3 to put San Antonio up 18. Lebron hit back to back 3's to bring the lead down to just 14, halfway through the quarter. Lebron with a sweet bullet pass to Anderson Varujao to bring the lead to just 12. The Spurs continued to get key offensive rebounds to take time away from the Cavs. Sasha Pavlovic cut it to single digits with a reverse dunk style layup around Tim Duncan, with just 2:30 to go. Daniel Gibson hit a 3 to cut it to 8 with under 2 minutes. Tony Parker with a 3 point play with under 20 seconds to signify the Spurs had this one in hand. Van Gundy noted that the Spurs just have more offensive weapons which is true. Lebron will need to really explode and go off in 1 of the next games to steal some momentum for the Cavs.

Final Score: Spurs 85 Cavs 76