Spurs-Cavs, Game Four, Fourth Quarter Diary

11:09 - Back to six as Van Gundy and Breen feign excitement. In general, comebacks work better when you score.

11:10 - After a Cavs putback, it's a 4 point game. This is Donyell Marshall's finest moment in the Finals. And yes, that's the first time anyone has ever written that sentence. Ever.

11:14 - Man, is Eric Snow lobbying for a coach's job or what? Of course, nature does abhor a vacuum...

11:15 - Spurs turnover leads to James driving. He's looking Uberish, but still can't finish. He's giving it up to Marshall instead. That always works! Marshall makes 1 of 2 free throws, and the Cavs cut it to 3.

11:17 -- It's like a basketball game... and yet not. Careless Cavs turnover leads to a Spurs bucket, but Parker misses again.

11:18 - JAMES CUTS IT TO ONE! WE ARE ALL WITNESSES! COME BACK, AUDIENCE!

11:19 - Bad Spurs possession, and the Cavs can take the lead... Bowen flops, no call -- James drives and scores, and the Cavs have a second half lead for the first time in the series. It kind of helps LeBron to have Oberto guarding him (WTF?)...

11:20 - Manu miss, James miss... Varejao tip board. Gibson draws a foul, then drives and hits. 3 point game, 11-0 run to start the quarter.

11:21 - Duncan reminds the world he's Tim Duncan. 63-62. The Cavs get two bad three point misses from Marshall and Jones (isn't that what they are supposed to be, you know, for?), but Varejao's finest flop of the series gets the Cavs the ball back.

It's still a one point game, and there's 5:50 left. First team to 75 wins!

11:23 - My local ABC affiliate has the same anchorman that was here when I was a kid. Jim Gardner, HD is doing you no favors.

11:25 - James miss, and then Manu rips all of the air out of the building on a crossover. With a Duncan tip of a free throw miss, it's suddenly a 3-point Spurs lead. Absolutely killer.

11:26 - James goes to the rack so that no one can accuse him of not being AGGRESSIVE. After a bail out call, he hits 1 of 2. Two point game, five minutes left.

11:27 - James steal after a Parker mistake, Varejao slams... and Manu kills them again with a very deep 3. Spurs lead by 3. It's almost exciting.

11:28 -- Duncan saves another offensive board as flopping happens all over the floor... and the Spurs get another board. This possession has lasted for five minutes... and it ends with an Oberto layup with foul, which he hits.

This was the defining moment of this game and Finals -- the Spurs playing volleyball, the Cavs making mistakes, Duncan asserting his will, ending with a Spurs role player finishing. It was sloppy and a grind, and it's what this team is.

11:33 -- OK, coming out of a Mike Brown time out, down 6 with 2:33 left. I'm thinking a Snow three. Or maybe Varejao.

11:34 - Duncan strips James. Spurs run clock, then score on an Oberto layup. Fork time... but James hits a 3. He'll need 4 or 5 more of those...

11:35 - Manu a long 3 and miss, James with an unforced turnover on the long board. You can't expect to beat a team like the Spurs when you make mistakes like this... and again, Duncan grabs the offensive board. Six o-boards for the Spurs in the fourth, to 2 for the Cavs. 5 point game with 77 seconds left.

11:36 - Manu runner, James miss, game over. Thank you, Spurs. No one needed another game of this... and the Cavs more or less give up by not trapping. A fitting end of non-coaching for this one...

11:38 - OK, the ad guys who made the McDonald's "Fillet-O-Fish" ad? You're guilty of crimes against humanity, and you make decent people spit.

11:39 - James hits a layup, Manu fouled. 24 seconds, 5 points. Unfortunately, the Cavs don't have Reggie Miller, and the Spurs were the first to 75. Manu, of course, hits both. He's got 23, 9 in the fourth.

11:40 - Varejao dunks, fouls. One more minute, America, and it's all over. Michael Finley, wearing his Mitch Richmond Memorial Participant Ring, hits 1 of 2.

11:41 - Damon Jones fouled while shooting a 3. Remarkably dumb play by Manu, but it shouldn't matter... because, um, the Cavs didn't foul before, since that would have made sense... Jones makes all 3. WE HAVE DRAMA! Tiny, stillborn drama...

11:44 - Somewhere in Cleveland, someone is making the point that the Jones free throws are the Cavs' Dave Roberts steal moment. (2004 Red Sox, Yankees, yada yada yada.)

That person is drunk.

11:45 - Duncan inbounds, Manu fouled. If he misses two, this gets a lot more interesting. He, of course, hits both. 25 now, 5 point lead with 7 seconds left.

11:46 - Mike Breen says "It appears Cleveland will run out of time." Um, Mike? Play this one as long as you like. Throw away the clock. The Spurs would win. When you sweep a team, and that team only led for a few minutes, you didn't run out of time. You just got beat.

11:47 - James hits a 3, but the Cavs' coaches and players are too busy eating paste to foul Manu before he runs seconds off the clock. Manu rattles both home to clinch. Jones hits a 3 to make people who didn't watch think it was more exciting than it was. 83-82, Spurs.

It's the Spurs third championship in the past five years, which means they'll lose next year, right? I keed, Spur Fan, I keed...

11:55 - The remaining Cavs fans boo the Spurs and the trophy, and David Stern. You have to admire the bitterness. Parker gets the MVP, and you have to feel good for that, because nice things just don't happen to him. He's the first European-board player to be the Finals MVP.

Well, that's it for the diary. Thanks for reading, and we'll have more soon...