Winning at home is a must in a best of seven NBA playoff series. But winning on the road is the way to succeed. The Spurs are 5-2 on the road in the playoffs. The Cavs are 5-5.
Cleveland will try to prevent the Spurs from continuing their road success in the next three games at home. The Cavaliers were 30-11 this season at home and have a 9-1 record during the post-season. LeBron & CO. need to shake their "happy to be here" face and will try to get back on track at Quicken Loans Arena.
I would assume that "The Q" will be a lot like Oracle Arena was during the opening round of the playoffs. The Warriors fans hadn't had a playoff game since '94. The Cavs fans haven't had a Finals game in their 37 year history.
The Spurs have played brilliantly, and it's no question they have a historic roster. The Spurs have almost been perfect (up 29 points at a point during game 2) which is why they have the commanding series lead. But it is far from over.
As a fan of the NBA, it is always a shame when the end of June comes and the NBA goes away. As a basketball fan, I am aware that following the NBA Finals basketball will disappear for four long, hot, baseball filled months. So as a fan of the game, I want to make the case that this is still a series (even though we all know that the Spurs are just too damn good).
The Cavs were just recently down 0-2 to the Pistons before using home court to throttle themselves back into the driver's seat. It was in James' "biggest game of his life" that LeBron had 32, 9 and 9 to give Cleveland another breath. The Cavs won the series despite the Pistons record of 18-0 in previous series with a 2-0 lead.
The 2006 NBA Champions had to go down 0-2 before they figured out how to win. It was Dwyane Wade who exploded with 42 points and 13 rebounds in game 3 to slice the Maverick's lead in half. Wade decided to take care of business at home with 36 points in Game 4 and 43 points in Game 5. He finished off the Maverick's with 36 points, 10 boards and 5 assists in Game 6.
The first 0-2 Finals comeback was a series for the ages. Laker legend Jerry West put on a show (42pts,13reb,12ast) and was named MVP despite losing in Game 7 to Bill Russell's Celtics. West, a member of ProTrade's board of advisors, is the only player in NBA Finals History to win the NBA Finals MVP without playing for the winning team. His Game 7 performance was ranked 9th on NBA.com's All Time Playoff Performances. The Celtics were the first ever team to come back 0-2 in the NBA Finals and win.
In 1977, Bill Walton's Portland Trail Blazers mounted an 0-2 deficit in the NBA Finals against the 76ers. The Blazers blew the first two games before winning 4 straight. In Game 6, Walton recorded the 10th best performance of playoff history, according to NBA.com, when he clinched Portland's first ever title with 20 points, 23 rebounds, 7 assists and 8 blocked shots.
Even after the Cavaliers lose the series, LeBron will have plenty of people to point the finger at. First and foremost, Larry Hughes. Hughes was supposed to be the Robin to El Bron. Injuries have slowed him down over the last two games, but if you are going to be on the court, play decent. Hughes is 1/10 with 2 points so far in The Finals. Maybe the Cavs are more distracted with in between gmaes eye-brow styling (Drew Gooden). Or maybe the Spurs are too good, I mean, the "Big 3" of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili did outscore the collective Cavs by 10 at half yesterday.
During last years NBA Finals we witnessed Dwyane Wade average numbers that were better than Jordan's first Finals appearance. Of course Wade had Shaq and Bron has Varejao. But regardless, Bron needs to do like Wade did and take advantage of the opportunity.
The biggest game of your life, LeBron, is Game 3. You've struggled in games 1 and 2 - but you're back home now. It's time to step up, LeBron.
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