The Basketball Diaries

Cleveland Cavaliers 90 San Antonio Spurs 88

Well I guess this can count as some sort of revenge for the Cavaliers. They were finally able to beat the Spurs, something they couldn't do in last year's NBA Finals. A big reason Cleveland couldn't win a game in the Finals was because the Spurs defense was able to keep LeBron James wrapped up for the most part. They didn't do that on Thursday. King James didn't repeat his 51-point performance from Tuesday, but he did manage to score 27 points while grabbing 9 boards and handing out 7 assists. Despite all that, the Spurs had a chance to send the game to overtime, but Manu Ginobili-who scored 31 points to lead San Antonio-missed a last second shot that would have tied the game. The good news for San Antonio is that I don't think they have to give the trophy to Cleveland because of it.

Denver Nuggets 120 Utah Jazz 109

When you think about the Denver Nuggets, you think about a couple of guys who are liable to go off on you at any point. Guys who can drop 40, 50 points like it's nothing. Guys like Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, and Linas Kleiza. Wait a second. Linas Kleiza? He scored how many points on Thursday? 41!? What in the hell happened? Oh, and even though Kleiza sold his soul and scored 41 points, don't worry, Melo and Answer still got theirs. Anthony went for 23 while Iverson went for 28. Also, Marcus Camby had a decent night, grabbing 24 rebounds and blocking 11 shots. Apparently, and I haven't seen any game tape, the Nuggets were playing Utah's junior varsity squad.

Elsewhere...

• Suns 106 Lakers 98