Spurs Put Clamps On James, Cavaliers

Parker Scores 27, Defense Holds Cleveland Star to 14 in Game 1: Spurs 85, Cavaliers 76

Tim Duncan pours in 24 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks as San Antonio takes Game 1 on Thursday night. (Tony Dejak - AP)

SAN ANTONIO, June 7 -- If something doesn't drastically change at both ends of the court for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the San Antonio Spurs' march to a fourth NBA championship could be as smooth as an afternoon stroll along the River Walk.

James, whose playmaking and clutch scoring lifted the Cavaliers to an upset of the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals, found himself swarmed by defensive ace Bruce Bowen and other Spurs all night and finished with 14 points on 4-of-16 shooting with six turnovers in a 85-76 loss in Game 1 on Thursday night.

"I have to play better for us to win," James said after his NBA Finals debut. "My teammates know that I'm going to bring a better effort in Game 2."

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Sunday, and the two-day gap should give James and the Cavaliers time to make offensive adjustments while figuring out how to deal with Spurs point guard Tony Parker, who repeatedly pierced their defense with dribble penetration and finished with 27 points on 12-of-23 shooting.

James missed all seven of his first-half shots and didn't score a basket until he banked in a runner with 7 minutes 14 seconds remaining in the third quarter. And while he tries to get his offensive game rolling, handling Parker, who also had seven assists, could be a far greater concern for the Cavaliers.

Cleveland's best defensive guard, former Wizard Larry Hughes, is hobbled by a torn plantar fascia in his left foot and couldn't stay in front of the quick Parker before taking a seat for good in the third quarter.

Tim Duncan added 24 points and 13 rebounds and Manu Ginobili chipped in with 16 points and eight rebounds for the Spurs, who improved to 8-2 at home in the playoffs. Cavaliers Coach Mike Brown ruled out sitting Hughes and starting rookie Daniel Gibson, who came off the bench to score a team-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

Brown emphasized that whoever defends Parker has to do a better job of staying in front of him. "Tony's one of the quickest guys in the NBA," he said. "He's already going to get by his man regardless of who's guarding, so you're going to have to live with one of two things: either him getting to the rim or him taking jump shots. If he shoots jump shots and beats us, then so be it."

How Cleveland attempts to counter Parker will be crucial to the way the series plays out, particularly because Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich plans to let Parker and Ginobili attack in transition at every opportunity.

"With Manu and Tony we've really made an effort to push the basketball and it's helped us win a lot of games, both regular season and playoffs," Popovich said. "Defenses are good these days, especially in the playoffs."

James found that out early Thursday when Bowen played tight defense from the first possession and never let up. James's first shot was a forced fade-away jumper that missed badly, his second was blocked by Duncan at the end of a drive and his third was a contested three-point attempt that barely touched the rim.

Bowen, who made two three-pointers and finished with six points, showed why he may be one of the best defensive shooting guards ever by fighting through or slipping around screens to take away passing lanes for James and by aggressively denying the Cleveland star easy post position.

Still, the Cavaliers were able to build a 25-22 second-quarter lead after the Spurs went through a prolonged scoring drought. San Antonio snapped out of its funk when Parker drove for a layup and then made a short runner in the paint.

In a 1-minute 11-second span, the Spurs went from trailing by three to leading by six and held on to the momentum to take a 40-35 lead into halftime.

The game's most telling possession played out with 1:12 remaining. With the Cavaliers trailing 80-72 following a three-pointer by Gibson, James couldn't beat Bowen off the dribble and threw up a three-pointer that didn't come close.

"Some of it was me missing a lot of the shots I usually make and some of it was their defense," James said. "It's a series. Things happen. They're up 1-0, but we'll make adjustments and be ready for Game 2."