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January 18, 2008

Tim Duncan was irate with a referee. Tony Parker was favoring a sore heel and ankle. And Lebron James was continuing his case as the best basketball player in the world.

James scored 27, added nine rebounds and seven assists, and made a game-winning 10-footer in the lane to carry the Cleveland Cavaliers, 90-88, over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday in the season’s first rematch of last spring’s Finals’ teams. Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 17 for the Cavs.

Cleveland (21-18) has now won 9 of 11 while San Antonio (25-12) has dropped 3 of its last 5. Manu Ginobili scored a game-high 31 but missed a 17-footer at the buzzer which would have forced overtime.

Cleveland got a measure of revenge for being swept in last year’s Finals, but the Spurs didn’t make it easy. It was a physical game which featured a rare outburst of anger from Duncan after a series of no-calls and bodies from both teams almost continually on the floor.

San Antonio jumped out to a 26-19 lead after one quarter, but the script took an odd turn when James went to the bench. With the league’s leading scorer (29.8 points per game) riding the pine for the next eight minutes, Cleveland’s lesser-knowns stepped up and outscored San Antonio 22-7 before James re-entered.

The Spurs’ supporting cast is typically one of the reasons the team’s so tough. But tonight it was the Cavs’ role players who shone brightest, led by Anderson Varejao’s 12 points and 14 rebounds. The Spurs received just 14 points total from outside its big three of Ginobili, Parker (23) and Duncan (20).

Winning in San Antonio, (just the fourth time an opponent has done so this season) is encouraging for Cleveland. But James and crew shouldn’t congratulate themselves too much – the Cavs beat the Spurs twice in last year’s regular season, only to get out-classed in the postseason. If Mike Brown’s crew keeps playing this way, however, they just might earn a chance to redeem themselves this spring.

Notes: Daniel “Boobie” Gibson continued his streak of games with at least one 3-pointer made to 29 straight…Brent Barry scored six points, including a pair of 4th-quarter 3-pointers, in 15 minutes in his first game back from a left calf injury.

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