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LeBron James, center, and the Cavaliers were clearly outmatched in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday. Bouncing back against the Spurs won't be easy, writes contributor Sam Smith.

The Cavs adjusted quickly with James taking Parker and even the generally defensively challenged Sasha Pavlovic taking a turn. Again trying to overcompensate, the Cavs tried to trap Parker on the pick and roll with the big man helping. So Parker neatly slipped the ball to Duncan for repeated pick and roll layups and dunks.

The effect would be cumulative.

The Spurs led just 20-15 after one quarter and 40-35 at halftime. They seemed a little rusty, especially shooting the ball, after the long layoff following the Western Conference finals.

"We weren't as sharp offensively as we wanted to be," said Horry. "There were situations we were looking at each other like, 'What are we gonna do?' Hopefully that will come back in the next few days."

The Spurs then took control after halftime, finally hitting some of those open threes from the corner in stretching their lead to 15 after three quarters with the Cavs still under 50 points. Geeez.

Gibson, and we're still not believing it, scored nine in the fourth quarter and the Cavs made a little push but never closer than eight after trailing by 18 with just over seven minutes left.

"The fourth quarter, we gave up a little more than we should have," said Duncan. "We held them to 76 points. That's right where we need to be."

Away from the TV is where everyone else would need to be if that keeps up.

It will if James can't shake the Spurs and make a series of it. The Cavs don't have to win Sunday, but they have to compete. They haven't yet.

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