All of those much-anticipated LeBron James forays to the rim, the crunching dunks and the three-point barrage that were on display in the Eastern Conference finals have been non-existent against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs devised a game plan to stop James and it's worked so well that it's stopping people from watching the NBA Finals — destined to be one of the lowest-rated ever.
James was the talk of basketball after he nearly single-handedly dispatched the Detroit Pistons, but it has become painfully evident against San Antonio that one great player can't beat a great team.
With James stymied, the Cavaliers find themselves in a must-win situation tonight just to avoid getting swept. James said he has never faced a defense like this before, and he is doing his best to take whatever it is giving him.
For the Cavs, that's been almost nothing.
"I play my game," James says. "I see a double team, I give the ball up. If I don't see a double team, I try to attack and get into the lane.
"If I've got an outside shot, I'll take it. I can't change my game [from] what got us here."
San Antonio's Bruce Bowen has been the primary defender against James. The Spurs have played a semi-zone with one or two defenders backing Bowen up, making it nearly impossible for James to get to the basket.
James is not a pure shooter, often shooting off one foot or falling away, which makes his jump shot streaky. In his first Finals appearance, he is averaging 21.3 points but is shooting only 36.7 percent and is 2 for 13 from three-point range.
He has also committed 17 turnovers and he hasn't been in many TV highlights.
"They don't have the greatest athletes in the world, they don't have the greatest shooters in the world, but they have probably the greatest team in the world," James said of the Spurs.
By the numbers
The Spurs' 75-72 victory over the Cavaliers on Tuesday night received a 6.4 national rating and an 11 share on ABC, down 20 percent from the 8.0/14 for last year's Game 3 between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat.
The Game 3 drop follows a 30 percent plunge for Game 2 and a 19 percent decline for Game 1.
The rating is the percentage watching a telecast among all homes with televisions, and the share is the percentage tuned in to a broadcast among those households with televisions on at the time. A ratings point represents 1.1 million households.
Notes
• Dick Harter will return to the Indiana Pacers for the third time, this time as an assistant to new coach Jim O'Brien.
The 76-year-old Harter was an assistant under Jack Ramsay (1986-88) and under Larry Bird (1997-2000), when he oversaw the team's defense as it reached the 2000 Finals.
• Charlotte Bobcats coach Sam Vincent completed his staff by hiring former NBA center Paul Mokeski as an assistant coach.
