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On his first NBA Finals appearance, the young 22-year-old Cleveland superstar choked, much to everyone’s disappointment and expectation. The San Antonio Spurs’ suffocating defense was just too much for LeBron James. Sure, the familiar three players were still thrown at him. But the Spurs were just so good at it, they seemed to cover every inch of the court.

Bruce Bowen, once again, was the primary culprit, staying in front of James all the time. When he got pass him, there’s Robert Horry coming from the weak side, and Tim Duncan was just waiting right under the basket. Tim swatted five shots in this one.

James tried once again what he did in the Pistons series, he passed to what-seemed open teammates. But the Spurs were everywhere. They were quick to rotate, easily guarding and having a hand on every previously-opened shooter. Zydrunas Ilgauskas was 1-for-8, Larry Hughes, 1-for-5, and Donyelle Marshall, 2-for-5.

LeBron was also forced to take a lot of bad shots. He went 4-for-16, a horrible stat for a guy compared to the great Michael Jordan. He only had 14 points, and had his first basket midway in the third quarter. It took him that long to make a shot. To make matters worse, he committed a total of six turnovers. Jordan scored 36 in his first NBA Finals game against Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers in 1991.

The lone bright spot for them was rookie Daniel Gibson, who topscored for the Cavaliers with 16, and shot 7-for-9, hitting two triples.

James needs to figure a way to fight thru San Antonio’s suffocating traps for Cleveland to have a glimpse of a chance in this series. They were down 18 at one point, and they could not be disadvantaged that much against the mighty Spurs. He has to bounce back in Game Two, and stamp a fighting heart. He’s got to lead. Or else this will just be a short one. (photo courtesy of yahoo nba)