The San Antonio Spurs moved closer to their fourth NBA title in
nine years, beating Cleveland Cavaliers 75-72 on Tuesday.
With the away victory, the Spurs had a 3-0 lead in the
best-of-seven NBA Finals, with Game 4 on Thursday. No team in NBA
history has won a series after trailing 3-0.
Tony Parker scored 17 points while Tim Duncan added 14 points
and nine rebounds for the Spurs. Manu Ginobili, 0-for-7 from the
field, hit his only points on three free throws in the last 10.4
seconds to create the final margin.
LeBron James scored 12 of his 25 points in the final quarter but
it was not enough to rescue the Cavaliers. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had
12 points and 18 rebounds.
The Spurs made 10-of-19 3-point shots while Cleveland was only
3-of-19 from beyond the arc.
Both teams matched the second-fewest combined points in any NBA
Finals game, only beating the record low of 145 from Syracuse and
Fort Wayne in 1955. They also combined to equal the lowest-scoring
quarter in NBA Finals history by producing only 27 points in the
third period.
The Cavaliers fell to 7-2 at home in the playoffs while the
Spurs rose to 6-2 on the road in the playoffs.
Bruce Bowen contributed 13 points and nine rebounds for the
Spurs in addition to tight defense guarding James.
The Cavaliers started rookie guard Daniel Gibson, who averaged
15.5 points a game off the bench in the first two games, had only
two in game three.
LeBron James?has a
game-high of?25 points.
Tony Parker leads the Spurs
with 17 points.
(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2007)
