There’s no defending Manu!

What can you do? You shoot 51% as a team. You out-rebound your opponent. You hold their star player to 23 points on 38% shooting. LeBron scores 39, Hughes continues his hot streak with 26 points hitting 58% of his shots. The bench comes through with productive minutes from Devin Brown, Donyell Marshall and Damon Jones. None of it matters however, as Manu Ginobili rips the nets for 46 on an unbelievable 75% field goal percentage! He hit 8 of his 11 triples.

What can you do? Do you run two and three players at him as the Cavs did at the end of the game? Do you give Bruce Bowen wide open looks because of it? Bowen knocked down all 4 of his shots, including 2 three pointers. Do you trap Manu? Do you pull LeBron off reserve Ime Udoka? The Cavs did that too, and Udoka hit all 4 of his shots including a huge three in the fourth quarter. Do you foul Manu, sending him to the line? The Cavs did that as well, and Manu hit 8 of his 9 free throws. How much pressure do you try to put on Manu when that leaves Tim Duncan open underneath? Truth is Cavs fans, there was no beating Manu and the Spurs on this night. Nothing worked, nothing rattled him, nothing made a difference as he drilled shot, after shot, after shot.

The Cavs looked great in this one for three and a half quarters. I have to say that if the Cavs played like that for 20 straight games they would win 18 or 19 games for certain. The ball movement was good, the defense was focused for the majority of the game, with only a brief lapse that accounted for a 6-0 San Antonio run, but it was enough for the Spurs to pull even in the fourth. From there, the Spurs, and specifically Manu smelled blood in the water.

Larry was terrific early on, but stopped looking for his shot late in the game. LeBron was his usual self, but did settle for jump shots too often. Had LeBron attacked the basket a little more it may have made a difference as he was drawing contact on every trip to the hoop. Zydrunas was off his game. He played excellent defense on Duncan in the first, but seemed to get frustrated with some foul calls, and ended up with three long before the half. Donyell Marshall had a decent game in relief changing shot directions and grabbing a few boards. In the end it was all for nothing as the Manu freight train ran over the Cavs.