Spurs jangle James

SAN ANTONIO – LeBron James finally scaled the big stage, and like a bunch of burly bouncers, the San Antonio Spurs tossed him off it.

Welcome to the NBA Finals, young fella.

James couldn’t solve San Antonio’s stifling defense and the pick-and-rolling Spurs, as fundamental and selfless as ever, outclassed Cleveland in an 85-76 victory in Game 1 on Thursday night.

Tim Duncan had 24 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks, and Tony Parker added 27 points and seven assists for the Spurs, who began their quest for a fourth championship since 1999 with a defensive clinic on James and the Cavaliers, making their first appearance in the finals.

With the eyes of Texas, a curious hoops nation and the world upon him, the 22-year-old James, who has rarely failed to rise to any occasion, flopped like never before.

James shot just 4 of 16 from the field and finished with 14 points and six turnovers in 44 exhausting minutes. Led by Bruce Bowen, their top defensive agitator, the Spurs grounded Cleveland’s soaring superstar.

“If I went by one guy, another guy stepped up,” James said. “For us to have a chance to win, I have to play better.”

This was hardly the series opener James, the NBA or ABC-TV executives had hoped for. James’ first foray into the finals was hyped in the days leading up to the game as many wondered if he could deliver the way Michael Jordan once did.

But James wasn’t close to being Jordanesque, and he came nowhere near matching Jordan’s first game in the finals when he scorched the Los Angeles Lakers for 36 points on June 2, 1991.

Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is Sunday night in San Antonio. Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary) will be in Cleveland.

The Spurs’ game plan was to make it tough for James to score. They made it nearly impossible as Bowen forced him toward the sideline and away from the lane – his personal runway to dunks.

“We did a very good job on LeBron, not giving him the lanes that he’s used to,” Duncan said. “It takes five guys understanding what we’re doing, understanding a game plan and sticking with it.”

The Spurs, who lost twice to the Cavaliers during the regular season, seemed to be one step ahead of James all night. When he cut left, they cut him off. When he tried going right, they were right there. By the time James made his first outside jumper – a 3-pointer with 6:54 left – the Spurs had built a 74-59 lead.

By then, the Spurs had squeezed the life out of Cleveland and its young star.

“LeBron is the head of the snake,” Spurs forward Robert Horry said, “and we need to cut that head off.”

The 31-year-old Duncan, labeled boring because of his lack of flash, did what he always does: dominate.

Duncan knocked down open jumpers, freed up teammates with crunching picks and generally had his way against Cleveland’s front line for San Antonio, which was lifted by its crowd’s incessant chants of “Go, Spurs, Go.”

Parker, too, was on top of his game. The speedy point guard slashed and sliced past Larry Hughes and James for easy layups.

“We have to make the game harder for him,” Hughes said.

It couldn’t have been any tougher for James.

After missing his first eight shots, he finally got his first field goal with 7:15 left in the third quarter, blasting down the lane through a pack of Spurs to hit a scoop shot that brought the Cavs within 46-41.

But Bowen responded with a 3-pointer, Manu Ginobili hit another from long range and Duncan dished to Parker for a layup to make it 56-47. On the Spurs’ next trip, Parker weaved his way inside and dropped in a layup, the ball sitting on the rim for several seconds before finally falling.

The Spurs eventually pushed their lead to 64-49 after three, and then opened the final period with 3-pointers by Horry and Ginobili to open their biggest lead, 70-52 with 8:50 left.

Two 3-pointers by James and a few jumpers by rookie Daniel Gibson, who led the Cavaliers with 16 points, cleaned up the score but it wasn’t nearly that close as Cleveland shot less than 40 percent until a late barrage.

“They started to do a good job toward the end of the game,” Duncan said. “They got a couple of layups and a couple of easy shots. We’ll have to clean that up a little bit.”

James left with 45 seconds to go, dejectedly slumping into his seat after a night he’d probably like to forget.

“He struggled mightily,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “They closed down the paint, and we tried to pick-and-roll with him. When he did get in the paint, he wasn’t able to finish because they were bringing bodies, not just one, but two, three bodies.”

The Spurs, who hadn’t played in a week since beating Utah in the Western Conference finals, showed no early rust. They started 7 of 9 from the field as Parker and Duncan combined for 14 of their first 16 points.