The strong second half of Ball’s season in New Orleans can be tracked by to his performance against Houston. On that night, he poured in 27 points and seven three-pointers and helped the Pelicans to a win.
Since that night, Ball has played 31 games and is averaging 14.2 points, 8.5 assists and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 41.0% from three on seven attempts per game. Ball’s breakout stretch was kickstarted by his big night against the Rockets.
Statistically, Ball has had many better nights in his career both from a shooting standpoint and a scoring standpoint. But he hasn’t had a night with as many big shots as he did in San Antonio.
Hitting big shot after big shot down the stretch, Ball had one of the best fourth quarters of his career. He was largely dared to shoot my the Spurs and made them pay on this night, hitting six three-pointers with half of them coming in the final frame.
Richard Jefferson made his mark in the NBA as a slasher who could shoot from the perimeter.
Richard Jefferson made a career out of cutting through the lane and finishing at the rim, whether that meant dunking on people or scoring layups.
An NBA champion, Jefferson played his first seven NBA seasons with the New Jersey Nets. He had his best years in New Jersey, making a name for himself as an athletic forward who could also shoot from the perimeter.
According to Basketball Reference, Jefferson ranks fourth in Nets history for points (8,507). During his time with the Nets, he averaged 17.4 points per game and shot 33.8% from the 3-point line. He has career averages of 12.6 points per game on 46.4% shooting from the field.
For clarification purposes, the New Jersey Nets Trio of Jason Kidd, Vince Carter & Richard Jefferson was fun to watch! @Rjeff24pic.twitter.com/14yqVqxcFG
Jefferson walked into the best of circumstances when he started his career with the Nets in 2001.
Jason Kidd had been traded to the Nets during the summer of 2001. As one of the best passers ever, Kidd had the perfect complement in Jefferson, the epitome of a slasher. According to Basketball Reference, Jefferson shot 61.6% on shots 0-3 feet from the hoop during his tenure with the Nets.
During their first season together, Jefferson and Kidd took the Nets to the NBA Finals. They lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in a sweep. The following season, the Nets went back to the Finals and lost to the San Antonio Spurs in six games.
Jefferson and Kidd never went to the Finals again, but in December 2004 they gained a valuable teammate in Vince Carter. Carter was traded from the Toronto Raptors to New Jersey. Once Carter came on, the Nets boasted one of the most entertaining teams in the league.
Carter already had a reputation as an elite dunker and quality scorer, and with Jefferson at the other wing, the Nets could play a quick pace.
Jefferson’s last season in New Jersey was the 2007-08 campaign. That same season was also perhaps the best of his career. He led the Nets in scoring, and he averaged a career-high 22.6 points per game. He also shot 36.2% from the 3-point line, which was his second-best 3-point percentage while with the franchise.
During the rest of his career, Jefferson played for the Milwaukee Bucks, Spurs, Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets. He won his lone NBA title with the Cavs in 2016.
Now an analyst with the YES Network, Jefferson commentates on the Nets’ games. A budding media personality, Jefferson also appears on ESPN and is a host on the Road Trippin’ podcast. Though he isn’t hooping anymore, Jefferson had a career that was filled with hard cuts to the rim.
A solid shooter, Jefferson was an offensive threat who could score and regularly be one of the best players on the floor.
Lonzo Ball’s rookie season had lots of memorable moments but two of his highest achievements square off with one another. Nearly a month into the season, he notched his first career triple-double. Then, in the final month of the season, he had one of his most clutch performances.
No. 3 seed – Lakers at Milwaukee, Nov. 11, 2017
Ball’s up-and-down start to his rookie season saw him score 29 points in his second game then go ice cold over the next 10 games. In that span, he averaged 7.5 points, shooting 26.1% from the field and 17.0% from three leading into a mid-November game in Milwaukee.
While that game against the Bucks didn’t necessarily end his slump, it was a great flash-in-the-pan moment for Ball and the Lakers as the rookie guard finished with 19 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds on 7-of-12 shooting overall and 3-of-5 three-point shooting.
While the Boston Celtics are and likely forever will be the biggest rivals to the Lakers, the Spurs have moved into the No. 2 spot for many fans over the last two decades. Countless heated playoff meetings led to emotional wins and losses.
As a result, it came with great pleasure that one of Ball’s best games his rookie year and for his career came in San Antonio. Not only did Ball hit a then career-high six three-pointers, he hit some enormous shots in the fourth. Over the final 2:45, Ball hit three three-pointers, two of those coming off ball screens at the top of the key.
Former NBA player and current CBA star Donatas Motiejunas was recently a guest on The HoopsHype Podcast. While quarantined in China, he discusses the CBA’s plan to resume their season on April 15, how he’s staying in shape, whether he’d be interested in returning to the NBA and much more. You can listen to the episode above or read the transcribed Q&A below.
When the CBA season was suspended in late January, you left China. How did you react to the news that they were suspending the season?
Donatas Motiejunas: I was shocked. But, at the same time, I was worried about everyone’s health here in China. The news was flashing around on all of the TV and all of the radio stations that the virus is very serious and pretty aggressive and they have no cure, so they tried to contain it. But, at the same time, it was Chinese New Year, so a lot of people were traveling so it was very hard to contain. But the Chinese government took action and finally we’re seeing the fruits of those actions, as China is one of the first countries to contain the virus.
It felt like we were kind of behind in the United States in terms of realizing how serious this was. When you left China in late January, you went home to Lithuania, right?
DM: Well, at that time, it was Chinese New Year so I was in Sanya, one of the islands, having a short break. They gave us, I think, seven or eight days off for Chinese New Year and then the outbreak happened. Then, I was waiting day-to-day to find out if the team was gonna let mego back home or what was going to happen. Day by day, hour by hour, the situation got more and more serious and the team said, “Yeah, go home until this situation calms down.” So, I go back to Shanghai, pack my stuff and try to go home right away. The airports and all the stations were pretty intense. It was scary, I’m not gonna lie. If people say, “Oh, I was not scared,” or anything like that… You could see people avoiding other people and not a lot of people were at the airport. Shanghai looked like a ghost town at that time. I’ve never seen a huge city like this look so dead, like it was. There were no people, no cars. It was really terrifying and scary, you know?
So, the whole trip home was intense. I’m worried and trying to make sure that I wash my hands and that I don’t touch nothing. I was kind of paranoid. When I came back home, a lot of people looked at it as a joke. Me and my coach kept telling all of the people, “Hey guys, let’s hope this thing isn’t gonna come to this country because the joke is going to be over as soon as it starts.” Sure enough, two months later, all the way from China it comes to Europe and now my government closes the borders, tried to take action. Like you said yourself, the States didn’t take it seriously and Europe also didn’t take it seriously. We started looking when it had already happened. Right now, the only thing we can do is try to contain it and try to keep it from spreading.
For those who don’t know, you’re in China right now and you’re quarantined. When did you return to China and were you worried about the health risks?
DM: On March 16, I landed in Shanghai. I mean, a lot of people told me like, “Hey, make sure you’re safe there,” and everything but from the news that my team gave me, the situation here is actually really good. And from what I saw, Shanghai is back to life. There were cars and people were walking. Of course, everyone is wearing masks to make sure if someone has something that they won’t spread it. But other than that, you can already see the fruits of fighting the coronavirus, as I said, because the people are back to work. Every day, more and more are going back to work, there’s more people on the streets and the life is coming back to the city. So I’m really happy for Shanghai and, I mean, overall for China because it seems like they are close to beating this thing.
JaMychal Green of the Clippers has his shot blocked by Donatas Motiejunas of the Sharks. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
There was a report by ESPN that some players are scared of returning to China because they’ve heard about all of the coronavirus cases and deaths. I actually talked to a CBA player this morning who is in the United States and isn’t sure if he’ll return to his team in China. Have you heard from other players who are worried about returning?
DM: I mean, of course there were a lot of players who were worried. But I think, at this point, there’s more danger in Europe and in the United States than anywhere else. Looking at the numbers, right now Europe is leading the whole globe. In the beginning, I felt like I was running away from China to Europe [to get away] from the disease; right now, I feel like I’m running from Europe back to China. Like I said, my team kept me updated almost all the time and from what I heard and what I’m seeing right now, they didn’t lie. The situation is better here than anywhere else in the world, so I’m happy that they called me back. Like I said, the day after I left, they closed the borders of Lithuania, so if they hadn’t called me, I’d be stuck in my country right now and be isolated for I don’t know how long with no practicing, no facilities, nothing. The situation here is really turning to the best and hopefully it’s going to stay like this.
Speaking of practicing, how are you staying in shape during your 14-day quarantine?
DM: I have my personal strength-and-conditioning coach that is setting up all the programs and everything; he’s putting all of the stuff together. The team provided me with some equipment like an exercise bike and some free weights, and my coach has all of the bands and all of the other stuff that he needs. So we’re working out inside of my apartment, trying to make the best of it. There’s no other way to do it. We’re just happy that we have enough space and enough equipment to work with. When the time comes, when the 14 days are over, I’m gonna join the team and I’m gonna be in decent shape. That’s the goal.
Have you been staying in touch with your teammates and coaches throughout all of this?
DM: Yeah, of course. All the time. Like I said, it was very important for me to see that the situation is stable here… I don’t know the exact date when my team gathered in the base, but they’re practicing in a base, which is separate from Shanghai, just to make sure they’re safe. They’re safe in the training facility where they are right now.
They aren’t in self-quarantine too? So, you’re in self-quarantine while they are working out and staying together?
DM: Well, the problem at this point is that a lot of cases that come to China are imported. A lot of people that were outside [of the country] are coming back with the sickness. From what I heard, inside China, there are no cases anymore. The thing that the Chinese government are afraid of right now is that an imported case is gonna make a second wave spread, so they’re very strict with the people who are coming back from different countries.
There was a rumor that the CBA told some players that if they didn’t return to China to finish the season, they could be banned from the CBA for several years. Were you told that or did you hear anything like that?
DM: Well, I know some players had two-month contracts, so the contract expired and they left their team because that was the contract they had. But I didn’t experience nothing like this. I was loyal to my team. Even though there was some interest in me, for all the teams that were interested, my agent told them, “He’s under a contract with the Shanghai Sharks.” We were waiting for a decision from the CBA. Whenever there was a decision, at that point we’re going to take action. If the season is going to be canceled, then we’re gonna be free agents and then we can choose which teams we’re going to go to. But if the season is gonna be extended, we’re gonna wait until we get news and then we’re gonna go back to China and join the Shanghai Sharks to finish the season. Through all of the summer and the period of negotiating the contract, the Sharks were super professional with me and my situation, and my response back to them has to be equal. I think I showed my support and appreciation to the team and to China during this difficult situation.
The CBA announced that they plan to resume the season on April 15 and have games without fans. What kind of details are you hearing about their plan to resume play?
DM: At this point, the plan is April 15. There are going to be two groups of 10 teams, at least that’s what the letter said that we received. One group is going to play in Dongguan and the other group will play in Qingdao. They’re gonna split the teams up equally. We’re gonna play against the other teams in our group in one city, without traveling, to make sure that the players are safe. We’ll finish the season; I heard we are going to have 16 games between those 10 teams that are going to be in our group. Then, I didn’t really hear anything else about how they’re gonna proceed from that point [for the playoffs]. But that’s the plan. I mean, as far as I’m concerned, the plan works for me and I’m happy that the CBA is looking for solutions to extend the season and finish the season the right way.
How nice will it be to get back on the court and play basketball again?
DM: Me and my coach were just talking about it for a long time about how I’m missing basketball and I’m missing five-on-five. Luckily, I had the national team window, that FIBA window, that I was playing for my national team, so that helped a little bit, but still… For me, it’s the middle of a season and we’re not playing so it’s frustrating and, at the same time, it’s upsetting. I’m super excited and happy to have a chance to come back and play for my team.
I hope the CBA can successfully resume their season with no issues, so the NBA can follow that same blueprint. A number of NBA players have tested positive for COVID-19. Did any CBA players test positive before the season was suspended in January?
DM: Not that I know of. The thing is, the city where the main spread happened doesn’t have a basketball team. And during the time of the first big wave with all of the incidents, it happened during the Chinese New Year, so no one was with their teams. Usually, they are with their families for that. So I haven’t really heard any names or that anyone got sick. I hope no one got sick. But you never know ’til you know.
That’s very lucky. I keep thinking about what would’ve happened if Rudy Gobert hadn’t tested positive or if they hadn’t caught it, it could have really spread and gotten even more out of control. It’s so fortunate that in China, you guys weren’t playing and everyone was home.
DM: Yeah, if I had to pick a time for this thing to happen, there wouldn’t be a better time during the season because nobody was playing. If we would’ve been playing, it might be the same or even worse than what happened with the NBA. But the situation was still really bad. Like I said, when I was leaving, I was under stress and you could feel the tension in the air with this disease.
For sure. You played in the NBA for quite some time, so you played with a lot of different players. What was your reaction when this spread around the NBA and you saw different guys testing positive?
DM: Oh, it’s crazy. I know a lot of people were against stopping the NBA season, but I think it was a great action by Adam Silver. The situation was really, really intense and he understood, correctly, that there was no other way. I’m happy he understood that. With this disease, it’s so easy to spread. Rudy Gobert had no symptoms, nothing, but he was the carrier so he could spread the disease through all of the players that he played against. And they said that in the next seven days, Utah was playing like three or four teams and then in the next seven days, those teams were playing. So, I mean, in a matter of like one or two weeks, the whole NBA could be infected and that’s a big issue right there. So, I think the NBA did really good to suspend it right away and try to test all of the players. The ones that are sick, they put them in isolation, and the ones that are not, they tried to separate them from the ones that are sick. That’s all you can do – try to make the people that are healthy safe and try to make the sick people get healthy.
I also think the NBA’s decision to suspend the season made people realize just how serious this is and it also caused a ton of other businesses to shut down as well. It was the first domino and then every other sports league followed suit. With no other sports to watch, you guys are going to get record viewership when the CBA season returns.
DM: Yeah, that’s what everyone has been saying. (laughs)
Let’s talk basketball for a second. Prior to the season being suspended, you were putting up monster numbers in China, averaging 22.8 points, 15.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists. Aside from all of this craziness, have you enjoyed playing in China?
DM: This is the third season for me in China. When I came here, the most important thing for me was to prove to everyone that I’m healthy after a really, really heavy injury and I think I’ve succeeded at that. And afterwards, I have a really good name around the league for the things that I was doing. I was really appreciated. A lot of teams and coaches really wanted me, so I’m really excited and happy to come back every year to China. I have a lot of fans here. I’m really enjoying playing in the CBA.
For those who don’t know, what are the biggest differences between the NBA and the CBA in terms of the play?
DM: There are a lot of differences – the speed and strategic points and athleticism are some differences. That’s just how it is. The CBA has their way of basketball. Euroleague has their way. The NBA has their way. Every continent has things that are similar and things that are different. Like I said, when I came to China, the one thing I really needed was the freedom to get back in shape, to get my confidence back, and that’s what I got. And I really enjoyed it. Every year since, I’m getting it and I know what my job is every year, coming to China and trying to prove to everyone that, over the years, I’m getting better and better and that my injury is in the past.
I know you had a brief stint with the San Antonio Spurs last April, but then you returned to the CBA. Under the right circumstances, would you want to return to the NBA at some point?
DM: Oh, of course. No question. The NBA is the strongest league in the world and I think every player’s goal should be to go over there. If it’s the right opportunity, I’ll definitely consider it and I would love to be a part of it.
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With the NBA season on hold, here’s a look at Lonzo Ball’s best games, seeding them for a bracket-style tournament with fan votes.
Few things in the sports are as exciting as March Madness and the NCAA Tournament. The drama, the stakes, the upsets, the cinderellas, the favorites, it all mixes together to create one of the exciting months of the year.
Unfortunately, like everything else in both the sports landscape and across the world as a whole, the tournament was unceremoniously canceled, leaving fans without brackets to be busted this year.
In an effort to fill at least a small portion of the hole in sports fans hearts, we decided to give our own version of a March Madness bracket for Lonzo Ball fans. With the better part of three seasons under his belt, Ball has begun to amass many impressive performances while in the NBA.
So, we decided to seed them, pair them up and pick which of Lonzo Ball’s games are the best. Each day, a new match-up will be revealed with a poll to vote at the end of the article. Fan votes will determine which game moves onto the next round until there is one winner.
For now, here is the field of what we narrowed down to Ball’s eight best games as a professional.
LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers get close, but they had too many crucial failures to extend their series against the Spurs.
During the NBA’s indefinite hiatus, I will be rewatching every game of LeBron’s NBA Finals career. Every Finals game from the last 20 years is available to NBA League Pass subscribers on the NBA app or through apps like YouTube TV. We will be going chronologically through LeBron’s Finals career.
The Cavs are down 3-0 and the crowd is once again hyped as they are searching for their first-ever NBA Finals franchise victory. Ilgauskas is called for a violation on the tip-off, giving the ball to Spurs. What would the Uncut Gems folks do with that one? The broadcast then shows that the Cavs have only been swept once before in the playoffs, back in 1993 against the Chicago Bulls. It would happen again in 2018. Gotta give it to the Cavs franchise though, they only get swept by champions.
I know that a lot of folks like to break awards down to Heisman-type moments, like Paolo Uggetti at The Ringer. Parker just had one. He went end to end, blowing by the Cavs defense and got the ball off the glass JUST before LeBron missed the chase down. If only Andre Iguodala had studied the Tony Parker game film. And now a driving Ginobili lay-up, that tandem was underrated, gives the Spurs a 17-16 lead. So once again, the Cavs play high-energy ball on both ends but are trailing. Maybe my Parker hatred is just jealousy that he was married to Eva Longoria?
The Cavs finally get LeBron into a set with some movement. Eric Snow screens for Varejao, who sets a screen for LeBron (screening the screener!), coming off of an initial screen from Marshall. It leads to a foul for Bowen, but this is the kind of stuff that the Cavs didn’t bring out enough in Games 1, 2 or 3. It was all too simple, but simple adjustments could have made things more interesting for the Cavs offense. See, Mike Brown is good, he just didn’t know what was good until it was too late.
A Ginobili 3-pointer makes it 30-25 and also, LeBron is being attended to on the bench. He has a cut on his knee and it’s getting taped up. LeBron gets back in shortly and the offensive rebounds for the Cavs keep coming. They were first in the league in offensive rebounds, no wonder they brought in JJ Hickson so soon after! Eric Snow dimes up Big Z and it’s a 32-31 game. But Tony Parker hits another uncharacteristic 3-pointer, this time from the corner. He has 13 in the first half, those are the kind of Heisman moments that get you the Finals MVP, even if Duncan was the best player on the floor every game.
After a Drew Gooden basket, the ABC broadcast lets us know that LeBron James just had a child, his second, Bryce Maximus. Now Stuart Scott tells us that LeBron originally wanted to name him Maximus, because of the movie Gladiator with Russell Crowe that won the 2001 Oscar for Best Picture, but he allowed it to be a middle name because his future wife Savannah liked the name Bryce. He also got the first choice on naming their first child, LeBron James Jr, who you know today as Bronny James.
The Cavs have clawed back into this game and made it a 44-40 score. ABC is now showing a bunch of the players Bruce Bowen has guarded in the playoffs. Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash, Deron Williams and now LeBron James. Honestly, a pretty cool montage if you loved basketball in the mid-2000s.
Duncan and Oberto just worked the two-man game to get Duncan free-throws and honestly, now I know why Duncan did a Motorcycle Diaries tour through South America with Oberto. This guy rules. He probably knows all the best churrasco spots in the Argentine countryside.
Also, the Spurs continue to be perfect on defense. No matter who does anything on the Cavs, they are covered completely. The Spurs defense is just suffocating and inspiring in the way that they never give up on perfecting their scheme. Also, another one of my favorite subplots of the series is Robert Horry physically harming LeBron James before checking on him. Horry hits LeBron across the face, a foul is called and Horry is very worried for LeBron’s well-being. This is how you know he’s an elite role guy.
A Boobie Gibson 3-pointer cracks the 50-point mark for the Cavs just before the 4th quarter, making it 60-52 Spurs to go into the 4th quarter. The Cavs have 12 minutes. Now Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy, both EMPLOYEES OF ABC, are saying Tony Parker should be the MVP as the best player in the series. I mean, maybe?
In the fourth quarter, I notice there is a woman yelling near the microphone on every Spurs offensive possession. She keeps yelping and making weird noises. Did this lady show up during the other Cavs Finals? I feel like I heard her during those Golden State series. Anyway, feel free to mute gameplay during this time.
Varejao ties it with a layup at 66-66 and LeBron gets his 9th assist. The Cavs were a scrappy bunch, even if they weren’t a fun offensive team. They were grinders. But Ginobili helps slow down the bootstraps story by making a 3-pointer to make it 69-66 and LeBron can’t answer.
A possession that starts with a Parker-Duncan pick and roll goes into a Duncan-Ginobili DHO and Ginobili scores on the drive. It’s 76-69 and the game is over. Fans are leaving in Cleveland. The Cavs were a squad, but the Spurs were too stacked. No shame in the loss, but it will be a few years before LeBron gets to taste this stage of basketball again.
Damon Jones hits a garbage 3-pointer to help the Cavs cover a 2.5-point spread, but they lost and LeBron will have to wait four years before he’s here again. We will see you next week to see how LeBron learns from this first NBA Finals experience, four years later, as a member of the Miami Heat.
As the series shifts to Cleveland for the first Finals games in Cavs history, LeBron James comes close to getting his first NBA Finals win.
During the NBA’s indefinite hiatus, I will be rewatching every game of LeBron’s NBA Finals career. Every Finals game from the last 20 years is available to NBA League Pass subscribers on the NBA app or through apps like YouTube TV. We will be going chronologically through LeBron’s Finals career.
As we shift to a loud Cleveland crowd hosting their first NBA Finals game, Tim Duncan wins the opening tip. If I had the money back then and a bookie, I would have definitely done some Uncut Gems-type bets starting with Duncan winning the tip, points, rebounds, and blocks, with the Spurs covering the spread. I probably also would have lost because these games were hilariously low-soring. Bettors also had a TON of respect for LeBron and the Cavs by this time, while perhaps not respecting the Spurs enough. According to Vegas Insider’s records, the Spurs were never more than a 7.5 point favorite during the Finals and in this game, the Cavs are actually 1-point favorites.
The Cavs had just spent the majority of their last series pulling up upset after upset against the Pistons, so the respect had been earned. And the fans were still amped like it. Boobie Gibson is starting in Game 3 as Larry Hughes is done for the series because of his plantar fascia. Maybe that got the fans more amped.
Still, Cleveland is playing much better and they have multiple leads early. They then cut to an interview with LeBron about what his hug with Illgauskas after they made the Finals meant. Ilgauskas was the “first guy to welcome him” when he was drafted and he also knew how much Big Z went through with the foot surgeries and the “15 or 17-win seasons.” It’s truly a shame that Z had to make his first Finals appearance against this incredible version of Tim Duncan. “I can only imagine what was going through his head through all those times and to finally win I can just understand how it could feel for him as an individual.” Z had 12 points, 18 rebounds and a block in 32 minutes. He did his part as tough of a matchup as he had against Duncan.
A lot of that work was on the offensive glass, and the Cavs have seven offensive rebounds in less than eight minutes. I guess it was always a way to beat the Spurs. Shout out to Chris Bosh. Shout out to the 2016 OKC Thunder. Cleveland is up 13-9, their biggest lead of the game. Then Bruce Bowen hits a corner 3, meanwhile, the Cavs haven’t hit a 3 yet, cutting the lead 13-12. 3 is proving to be much greater than 2. On the night that would prove to be true many times with the Spurs outscored the Cavs 30-9 from the 3-point line. Still, Cleveland holds a lead at the end of the quarter for the first time in nine quarters.
They are doing celebrity shots in Cleveland, featuring what Breen calls the “obligatory Eva Longoria shot.” Was he trying to tell us about the Tony Parker Finals MVP conspiracy before it happened? They also showed Jim Brown, Peyton Manning eating a hot dog and future 2007 No. 1 pick Greg Oden! I’m also now obliged to say that the Oden-Brandon Roy-LaMarcus Aldridge Blazers went 51-25 when healthy. That’s a 67% winning percentage. What a squad they were when they were. Anyway, back to teams actually in the Finals.
The Cavs start the 2nd quarter with the small ball look that got them back in the 4th quarter of Game 2. Boobie, Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall, Varejao, and LeBron. The Cavs are also deciding to blitz Ginobili after Manu dropped 25 in Game 2, but it leads to a foul on the Cavs. Marshall picks up a foul and the small ball experiment lasts exactly 38 seconds of game time. If there’s one thing I’m upset about with Mike Brown in this series, it’s giving up on his plans too early.
Eric Snow is getting more minutes, which helps and the Cavs actually have a point guard to give LeBron the post-entry pass he needs. LeBron is in the post again and knocks over Bowen, but the triple-team comes and LeBron dishes to Big Z for the dunk. The Cavs were up 7 before foul trouble strikes again as LeBron picks up his 3rd foul midway through the 3rd. Cleveland pushes their lead to 8 briefly with LeBron on the bench, but it’s fools gold.
A Brent Barry corner 3-pointer silences the crowd to cut the lead to 5. A few possessions later, Robert Horry hits another 3-pointer to make it 38-all. After all the Cavs did, pushing their lead to 8, all the while Duncan wasn’t on the court. Tony Parker adds insult to injury with a driving floater to lead 40-38.
Also, I’m finding myself enjoying watching Fabricio Oberto more than I anticipated. He’s marauding in the empty spaces around the Spurs stars like an elite midfielder in soccer, finding pockets to deploy his smart passing, soft hands and good midrange jumper. I’m definitely an Oberto Guy. Hedging on LeBron, getting back, getting the defensive board. This guy rules. Also this game is 48-48 with 3:30 left in the 3rd quarter. It’s not quite as high-scoring as Game 2.
Meanwhile, Boobie Gibson has finally gone cold, putting Snow into the game for this crucial stretch as Cleveland is once again in scramble mode to comeback. Tony Parker then hits a midrange over a double-team and it’s cash. LeBron drives the lane looking for contact and it doesn’t get called. Then Micheal Finley hits another 3-pointer, pushing the Spurs lead back to 10. But the Cavs are never quite out of it.
After a couple of Cavs baskets, the score is stuck at 67-63 as both teams exchange empty possessions. Eventually, it’s 69-67 Spurs and LeBron has 10 of his game-high 25 points in the 4th. He was even better in Game 3 than he was in Game 2. But Tony Parker hits a rare pull-up 3, then you guessed it a cut to Eva, then Sasha answers with a trey off an assist from Snow created by LeBron’s drive. Maybe Eric Snow should have started this whole time? Now a steal by the Cavs on Parker, there’s Snow again. Then the Cavs go no timeout, which is standard these days but shocks the broadcasters. After LeBron’s first drive goes nowhere he gives the ball to Varejao, with plenty of time left, rather than getting the ball back to LeBron, tries to drive on Duncan and misses an ill-advised layup. The Cavs didn’t call the timeout to get the ball back to LeBron. Sound familiar?
After the Cavs play the free-throw game and both teams call timeouts, Damon Jones inbounds the ball to LeBron, who runs from Bruce Bowen, clearly trying to foul him. But they don’t call the foul, on the floor or otherwise. LeBron gets the shot off but it just misses. Jeff Van Gundy agrees with LeBron that it should have been a shooting foul, but that’s that. 3-0 Spurs. See you tomorrow for Game 4 as the Cavs look to stave off elimination.
LeBron James is more aggressive after a disappointing Game 1 but foul trouble and the Spurs shooters stopped a potentially great night.
During the NBA’s indefinite hiatus, I will be rewatching every game of LeBron’s NBA Finals career. Every Finals game from the last 20 years is available to NBA League Pass subscribers on the NBA app or through apps like YouTube TV. We will be going chronologically through LeBron’s Finals career.
Mike Breen relays to the audience that LeBron James said he will be more aggressive in this game after he went 4 for 16. Dick Bavetta, whom you may know from racing Charles Barkley, is the crew chief tonight.
Despite the bad foot, Mike Brown really wants to get Larry Hughes going and they start the first half of Game 2 the way the start every half in the first two games, trying to get Hughes a midrange pull-up. It’s a miss but LeBron rebounds it and puts in for the first points of the game. It took him until the third quarter to get a field goal in Game 1. An early encouraging sign for LeBron, but the game quickly goes sideways, due in part to LeBron’s aggression and as well as a lack of calculated risk-taking by Mike Brown.
LeBron is driving, looking for rebounding opportunities and making things happen, but then he picks up his 2nd foul less than three minutes in the game. Brown, much to the chagrin of Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, decides to take LeBron out with the Spurs up 8-4. It’s Boobie Gibson time, the Cavs leading scorer from Game 1. But without LeBron, the game quickly gets out of hand on both ends.
I came off as a Parker hater after Game 1 and while I still think Duncan is the biggest reason they won, Parker hits layup after layup to make the lead double-digits in the blink of an eye. The Cavs consistently have no answer for a properly run pick and roll. I can only imagine how badly the 2007 Suns would have destroyed them.
Mark Jackson gets his wish! Eric Snow is in! Snow knocked the ball away from Parker and showed that maybe Jackson has a point. Drew Gooden just had his jumper sent by old Robert Horry, who is in at stretch 4 while Duncan plays center. Also, I’m apologizing to Mark Jackson. Eric Snow knows what he’s doing, he just can’t play the minutes he used to when he was the second guard on the 2001 Sixers. But he’s giving the Cavs a bit of competence while they wait for Mike Brown to finally put LeBron back in.
LeBron is in the game again to start the 2nd quarter and misses a 20-footer with the Cavs down 28-17. At least he’s shooting. LeBron keeps shooting, double-teams or not. He’s really in his Mamba Mentality tonight, but truthfully it’s about 85% full Mamba. But he’s at least a live wire for the Cavs offense that has been sleepwalking for the last quarter on their way to 16 points. He ended up taking 21 shots, but I came away wondering if he should have taken a few more.
Later in the quarter we finally get something fun. LeBron in transition! A steal from Gibson sets him up. Tony Parker just got called for another travel. This crew loved a travel call. While we are here, I’m going to rank the top 5 Cavs on this team. Mostly because this is now a 58-30 Spurs lead, which in this series is 60 points.
1. LeBron
2. Boobie
3. Sasha
4. Andy
5. Illgauskas/Donyell Marshall
The Spurs come out a little slow to start and the Cavs remembered that they are in the NBA Finals. Hughes did a good job setting up a midrange J on the pick and roll for Gooden, but Gooden is clearly not helping as much as Varejao. LeBron to Sasha for 3 and the Cavs have it down to 21! But he Spurs are going for the kill. Horry just blocked Gooden again and the Spurs drivers have plenty of room to roam. Also, Ratatouille is coming soon to theaters!
This is officially the Horry game. A 3 by Horry puts the Spurs up 87-60. Now Pop gets Horry a curtain call and he gets a standing ovation from the Spurs crowd. By the end of the night, Horry had five blocks and it felt like all of them were on Gooden. Meanwhile, Manu Ginobili had 25 off the bench.
Gibson gets a jumper to cut the lead to 14. The Spurs also have Brent Barry and Tony Parker in together, which is bad for several reasons which you can google about. Pop is doing a rope-a-dope, but we should give credit to the Cavs. They didn’t knock off the Pistons with a magic bullet. The Cavs have the lead down to 10 and now 9 after a LeBron take and they aren’t giving in.
The Cavs made this game somewhat interesting in the 4th quarter, in large part due to putting Andy Varejao at center with LeBron and three shooters in Boobie, Damon Jones, and Donyell Marshall, a formula that has proven to be optimal for maximizing LeBron nearly a decade and a half later. But it was a move that was made too late.
Parker just had a spinning pirouette of a finish and maybe that’s why they gave him the MVP. Or maybe was it because he was engaged to Eva Longoria and it was rigged as a marketing move to promote ABC’s Desperate Housewives? I’m just saying anything is on the table. And now an And-1 for LeBron over Duncan! This game is way better than the last one.
But the Spurs get it together before a full collapse happens. Bron tries to drive on Robert Horry but he can’t finish and takes a tumble. Horry then is late getting back on offense because he’s helping LeBron up. Here we see 22-year old LeBron still not knowing exactly when and where to attack. But Horry knows how great the guy he stopped is. Then LeBron commits another turnover as the Spurs blitzing his pick and rolls leads to his 6th turnover of the game. Then Ginobili hit a four-point play, with one of the rare missteps for Boobie Gibson in the first two games. Gibson ended with 15 off the bench.
All in all, LeBron played better and the game was much more interesting late than the previous one. LeBron finished with 25 points on 9 of 21 shooting to go with seven rebounds and six assists. He also played 35 of the 36 remaining minutes in the game after his first-quarter foul-trouble. Much, much better overall. But were their moves the Cavs could have made earlier? I think there are. Tomorrow, the series and LeBron’s Finals career shifts back to his home of Northeast Ohio. See you then.
Assuming DeMar DeRozan opts in, he, LaMarcus Aldridge, Patty Mills, and Rudy Gay will all be on expiring contracts. With head coach Gregg Popovich having two years remaining on his contract, they may ride it out with the core. They’ll be over the …
Assuming DeMar DeRozan opts in, he, LaMarcus Aldridge, Patty Mills, and Rudy Gay will all be on expiring contracts. With head coach Gregg Popovich having two years remaining on his contract, they may ride it out with the core. They’ll be over the cap, giving them the mid-level exception and their first lottery pick in a long time to fill out the roster. They could also look to re-sign Jakob Poeltl, Marco Belinelli, and Bryn Forbes. Derrick White will become extension-eligible.
Key: Not Guaranteed / Team Option / Player Option / Cap Hold / Dead Money
With the NBA on pause, we will look back at all of the games LeBron James has played in the NBA Finals. We start with his first Finals game.
With the NBA on hold for at least three months, making a season cancellation even more likely, I will be diving into the NBA Finals career of LeBron James, the reason for this website. Luckily for me and other people who bought NBA League Pass, every NBA Finals game from the last 20 years is available and I figured this would be the right time to truly go through what LeBron’s Finals career was actually like. 3-6 is what gets cited and the record is undeniable, but the hope of this project is to add a little bit more illustration to how he got there. So without any further preamble, we start with LeBron James’ first Finals game in San Antonio.
LeBron James just demolished the Detroit Pistons, who had been the team of the decade in the East since 2004, with the playoff performance of the year. He was even wearing the same blue jersey in Game 1 against the Spurs that he wore when he scored 25 straight points to beat the Pistons in Game 5 in Detroit before winning in 6 to go to his first NBA Finals. Now the sage veteran, this version of LeBron James is only 22 and playing in his first NBA Finals. What awaits LeBron is a steely machine of efficiency and defense in the 2007 Spurs.
So as we start the game, let’s take a moment to appreciate some of the starters on both teams in this game. At Center for the Spurs: it’s Fabricio Oberto! Starting at the other wing for the Cavaliers: Sasha Pavlovic! Sasha has a plantar fascia issue but he’s a crucial part of their team. This also says a lot about the 2007 Cavs. Larry Hughes, who was way better on NBA Live 07 than he actually was. The 2006 Wizards will always have a soft spot in my heart. Drew Gooden starting in the NBA Finals! Remember him? And his hair was terrible. Was he a bizarro Carlos Boozer?
The first possession for the Spurs is a post-up to Tim Duncan where he gets TRIPLE TEAMED, leading to a Michael Finley pull-up. As for the Cavs, Drew Gooden got called for an offensive foul. A pretty fitting summation of the dynamic between the two teams. Also, so many post entry passes! A lost art! Also, Tony Parker is dominating but it’s all because he has Duncan. Never forget this when we talk about the Spurs.
Why is the offense running through Larry Hughes? LeBron dishes to Big Z for the first bucket. Jeff Van Gundy also wants the Cavs to post up Gooden and Illgauskas when LeBron James is on the court! TOO MUCH LARRY HUGHES.
Tony Parker and Tim Duncan are getting anything they want in pick and roll. Very early on a trend emerges that will break the series: the Spurs know how to play the pick and roll and the Cavs do not.LeBron misses his first shot, midrange fadeaway. He’s gotten a lot better at those since then. LeBron is also getting moved off of his spot in the post by Bruce Bowen.
After a few possessions of Parker and Duncan slicing them up, Mike Brown puts LeBron on Parker and the pick and roll defense but it could not matter any less. Early on it feels a bit like the 2018 Finals. Except that LeBron hasn’t really decided that he can take over because his jumper isn’t there. And the Spurs are killing the Cavs with 2s and not 3s, so it feels closer than it really is. But it kinda feels over five minutes in. LeBron is being a team player but it feels like he’s blending in too much.
LeBron posts up finally but he goes right into a double team. He’s posting a lot as part of the gameplan but he doesn’t have much feel for where the help is coming. The Spurs are building a wall, sending two or three guys and the Cavs other starters can’t really do anything with it. Also, the Cavs are really bad at help defense. Like really bad. The Spurs passing and patience are exposing what had been a top-four defense in defensive rating.
The score says 16-13, but it’s really not that close. LeBron knows it too. He didn’t even try to go for the chasedown block on Ginobili. Meanwhile, Tim Duncan is absolutely destroying the Cavs on both ends. They have no answer for him. Stuart Scott on the sidelines! RIP!
LeBron just got fouled on a layup and he just scored his first career NBA points at the free-throw line. It took to the 1:12 mark of the first quarter. Jacque Vaughn just hit a shot from inside the corner 3 line. Oh, 2007.
Offensive foul on LeBron. This happened quite a lot as the Spurs had clear objectives against James to force the ball from his hands, double him on the pick and roll and force the rest of the Cavs to beat them. The Spurs are just too locked in. Mike Breen just said Boobie Gibson has shown he can be a special player. This is definitely Peak Boobie. They tied the game in large part due to Gibson. He ended the game with a team-high 16 off the bench on 7 of 9 shooting.
The 2007 Spurs are also a hilarious exercise in what David Roth calls Remembering Guys. Francisco Elson! Also, I find a lot of similarities in the way the Spurs use Tim Duncan to the way the Lakers use Anthony Davis. Almost always playing him with another big man even though he’s the superior big man. But Pelicans fans wanted to run AD out of town because he didn’t like being a fulltime center, but nobody called Tim Duncan a diva.
Also, it’s 25-24 midway through the 2nd quarter! Cavs lead! But not for long, Tony Parker dropping a dime to Elson for an And-1 on the fastbreak because Elson outruns Drew Gooden.
Even in semi transition, the Spurs have a wall around the paint against LeBron. It kinda looks like watching how teams guard Giannis. Except that the Bucks have properly optimized the players around LeBron in a way that the early Cavs could not.
Sasha Pavlovic is also doing things. Eric Snow told Stuart Scott that LeBron is thinking too much. Eric Snow, who isn’t playing, also should be playing more according to Mark Jackson because he’s Cleveland’s “best on-ball defender.” It’s comforting in these times to know Mark Jackson hasn’t changed.
Back to the actual game, the Spurs are mixing up their looks on LeBron on the pick and roll and he is just not that confident in the jumper yet. And anytime he gets a screen, they double team him and force the ball from his hands. It’s basically what Damian Lillard and Steph Curry see every playoff. But Popovich doesn’t want LeBron even think he has a chance to get going. Stan Van Gundy just got the Orlando job. LeBron missed another 3, now he’s 1 for 10. It’s been a rough night for him and making the right play has helped Cleveland stay in the game, but it increasingly looks like the Cavs bought a rock to a knife fight.
Tony Parker also just dropped the rings argument when talking about Baron Davis. Tough scene for Baron, who it should be said is way cooler than Tony Parker. Gooden just had a flagrant 1 with the Cavs down by nine, which might as well be 25 in this game. A 3 from Robert Horry! It’s 67-49 in the fourth quarter! Even my wife can’t believe the score.
This game feels like the platonic ideal of basketball for Gregg Popovich and now I have to just say thank god for Mike D’Antoni. Mine is somewhere between the two. But the Spurs just keep pounding the rock and the Cavs look to have cracked. The Cavs are down by 18. They got LeBron in a low pick and roll with two screens, then he drives left and hits the pull up 3. That’s old hat for LeBron now but in this game it feels like a small miracle. Then James hits another 3 over Bowen. He’s not passing when they double immediately anymore. It’s the 4th quarter and he doesn’t really have a choice. But it feels too late.
Pavlovic time! The cup runneth over with Sasha! After the LeBron 3-pointers, Pavlovic gets cooking with a few buckets to finish with 13 points. Then a LeBron James block on Tony Parker elicits a “BLOCKED BY JAMES” from Mike Breen. They also really need to play Boobie Gibson more. It’s down to 8 with 1:17 left. LeBron misses the stepback 3 that would have made it a game but Duncan hits a layup and it’s a 10 point game.
LeBron finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, and four assists while playing 44 minutes and shooting four for 16 from the field in his first Finals game. It was rough, but his journey with the Spurs is just beginning.
