Spurs Snag Game 3 in Cleveland

For a video of the full story, click on the gray "Watch" icon.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The lasting impression from this one was the slo-mo replay of LeBron James standing beyond the 3-point line and arguing his case with official Bob Delaney. "He fouled me. Right there," James told Delaney.

And, truth be told, James was right. Just before he went up for the final shot, a potential game-tying 3-pointer launched with 4.9 seconds left, Bruce Bowen reached out and shoved him in the back -- a play that looked to the naked eye like Bowen trying to foul James before he could get off a 3, which would have sent him to the line for two shots when the Cavs needed three points.

But what really must be steaming Cavs fans is that James went up for the shot just a split-second after Bowen shoved him, which 90 percent of the time would have been judged a continuation, giving James three shots from the line.

But Delaney never blew his whistle (I'll have a hard time all summer fathoming how James could not get that call in his own building, in the NBA Finals, no less), James' shot rimmed out, and the Spurs walked off with a 75-72 victory Tuesday night that gave them a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.

"Incidental contact. It didn't affect my shot," James said from the podium just a few minutes later before beating a hasty retreat from the arena, making the long walk from the interview area down to his silver sedan in the players' parking lot with an NBA Entertainment camera crew following him the entire way.

"My man looks down," one janitor said to no one in particular after catching a glimpse of James shuffling down the hallway.

Well, of course he looked down after this night of blown opportunities, the Cavs catching the Spurs on a night when Tim Duncan was ordinary, Tony Parker was containable and Manu Ginobili was as close to awful as he'll ever get.

The Cavs won just about every statistical category, producing more than twice as many offensive rebounds, committing fewer turnovers, scoring more points in the paint and blocking more than twice as many shots. But the one area they didn't come out ahead on was shooting percentage, going just 29-for-79 from the field (36.7 percent), including 3-for-19 from 3-point range, to San Antonio's 28-for-68 (41.2 percent).

The sequence that ultimately doomed the Cavs, Delaney's swallowed whistle notwithstanding, began with 5:28 left in the fourth quarter after James hit a free throw to cut the Spurs' lead to 67-63 with 5:28 left. Here's how their next five possessions went: A missed 19-footer by Sasha Pavlovic, a ball lost out of bounds by Anderson Varejao, a missed layup by James, a missed 3-pointer by James and a missed finger roll by James.

That stretch lasted more than 3½ minutes, and do you know what the soon-to-be-champion San Antonio Spurs did offensively over that same stretch? Nothing, nada, zippity-do-dah. They didn't even miss the same number of shots as the Cavs did in that stretch because they were busy committing three of their four fourth-quarter turnovers.

"I know it was ugly," Brent Barry said, "but we're up 3-0 at the end of the day, and that's all that counts in the series."

As ugly as the game was from an offensive standpoint, there was a redeeming quality: For the first time in the three games, the finish was compelling.

After Parker made it a five-point game by making a 3-pointer with one minute left, Pavlovic answered right back with a 3 and Parker missed a runner, giving the Cavs the ball back with 24 seconds remaining. That's when the last big screwup not involving Delaney happened. As James drove the lane and met a double-team, he made a short pass to Varejao and stepped quickly back expecting to receive the ball again so he could try another move.

But Varejao panicked when he should have passed, driving left and spinning right before attempting a half-sidearm, half-underhanded shot that missed terribly. James was visibly upset with his teammate, but the Cavs got another shot when Ginobili went to the foul line with 10.4 seconds left and missed one of two. The Cavs came out of a timeout looking for a quick two and got it from James, cutting their deficit to one, 73-72.

Ginobili then made a pair from the line with 5.5 seconds left, setting the stage for the final possession.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was coy when I pressed him on whether he instructed his team to foul.

"Whatever strategy we're going to use, it's nothing amazing, but I would rather just keep it to ourselves. It might happen again," he said.

But Bowen certainly did foul him, and Delaney didn't blow his whistle. And so it ended, LeBron standing there pleading his case with Delaney as the fans began exiting in stunned silence. They got their money's worth from an excitement standpoint down the stretch, but they didn't get what they came to see -- a win by the Cavaliers in the first NBA Finals game ever held in Cleveland.

If those same fans don't get to see a Cavs' win on Thursday, they'll be forced to endure the indignity of having the visitors celebrate a championship on LeBron's home court. And if you think James looked down after this one ended, it's probably nothing compared to what he'll look like Thursday if this thing comes to an end.

(courtesy: Chris Sheridan, ESPN.com)

For a video of the full story, click on the gray "Watch" icon.

To comment on this story, click on the link in the lower right-hand corner.