Basketball: Spurs crush Cavaliers

The San Antonio Spurs used a harassing, double-team defence to fluster LeBron James and crush the Cleveland Cavaliers 85-76 in the opening game of the NBA finals yesterday.

James averaged 26 points in the playoffs but scored only 14 on four-of-16 shooting from the floor. Whenever James got the ball, Spurs defensive standout Bruce Bowen was immediately in his face and his San Antonio teammates were quick to gang up on the Cavaliers forward. Appearing in his first NBA Finals, James looked uncomfortable with the pressure defence and either launched an ill-advised shot or tried to offload the ball to a teammate.

Cleveland were the NBA's best rebounding team this season but San Antonio won the battle of the boards 43-32.