As impressive as the Cavs win was Sunday — they were without two of their big guys, Anderson Varejao and Ben Wallace — I left shaking my head at the San Antonio Spurs. In past years, no matter the results of an individual game you always felt the Spurs were going to challenge to win the title. They've been that consistent and that reliable. But leaving that game Sunday left you wondering. San Antonio shot poorly, and played sloppy. "For the Spurs, all signs Sunday were bad," Jeff McDonald wrote in the San Antonio Express-News. "At this point, it would be a hard sell to call this game an NBA Finals preview."
And Buck Harvey writes that Gregg Popovich's lineup "shuffling is still going on as the season comes to an end. Several veterans said it Sunday; the Spurs had never had such flux so late. The other day Popovich was asked about his rotations, and he shook his head. 'I'm still all over the map,' he said, and he laughed. So do you have a timetable? 'If I do, I better gear it up pretty quick.'"
It's just not Spurs-like to be where they are at this point of the season. The Cavs, meanwhile, just keep on keeping on, with the most professional and refreshing "no excuses" attitude in Northeast Ohio.