Spurs are the boss

SAN ANTONIO —  In other news, the Cleveland Cavaliers may not be sleeping with the fishes yet, but their feet are definitely wet.

While millions watched Sunday night’s finale of “The Sopranos,” the San Antonio Spurs and Cavaliers, the last people to find out whether Tony would get whacked along with the NBA’s TV rating, had to play a Finals game, if you want to call it that.

The Spurs, who led Game 1 by 18 points before winning by nine, led this one by 29 before winning, 103-92, taking a 2-0 lead in a series still on track to go down as the mismatch of the ages.

Once again, LeBron James struggled. This time he came back to score 25 points but shot nine for 21 and, as he did in Game 1, turned the ball over six times.

More to the point, with little help and the entire Spurs team watching him everywhere he went, he was again a minor factor.

By the time James reached double figures in the fourth quarter of Game 1, the Spurs had led by 18 points. By the time he reached double figures in Sunday’s second quarter, the Spurs had led by 28.

Disinclined to concede anything, Cleveland Coach Mike Brown said his team just lacked “effort” and “aggression.”

However, the difference in talent is as clear as the movie promotion ABC is running, tracking the series’ “Fantastic Four.” Three -- Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili -- are Spurs.

On the bright side for the Cavaliers, they rallied again, cutting a 29-point deficit to eight.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether they can play with the Spurs when they’re paying attention.

“It’s tough, it’s tough,” said Parker, who again led the Spurs with 30 points. “That’s why sometimes I don’t like to have a 20-point lead.

“I’m not going to complain. I’ll take it, but sometimes it’s tough because it’s the NBA and Cleveland, they’ve got a lot of pride and they made a hell of a run in the fourth quarter and that’s going to give them confidence going back to Cleveland.”

If interest began waning after the Spurs dominated Game 1, there was no lack of subplots, from the Sopranos finale, discussed almost as much as the Cavaliers’ eagerly awaited adjustments, and Bruce Bowen’s baby boy who was born Saturday.

A devoted “Sopranos” fan, James said he and his friends had been debating what awaited Tony.

“My friends think that either the feds are going to come and get him,” James said, “or he’s going to make friends with the feds and maybe snitch on a lot of people. Or he’s going to be whacked, which I don’t think is going to happen. I hope that he’s just able to get away and not worry about nothing.”

Meanwhile, the birth of Bowen’s child gave the Spurs a heartwarming perspective.

“Pop [Coach Gregg Popovich] stopped the film and talked about two miracles happening Saturday,” said Brent Barry.

“One he said was Tony Parker getting involved in weak-side help defense in Game 1. The other was Bruce’s new baby.”

See if this sounds familiar. Game 2 was a disaster for the Cavaliers from the opening tap.

James was on the bench within 2:55 with two quick fouls ... the first after Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden got mixed up and left Duncan wide open under the basket, the second on an ill-advised reach-in.

The Spurs led by 11 after one quarter, by 25 at halftime and by 27 going into the fourth quarter.

The Cavaliers, who are, at least, fighters, clawed back to within 97-89 while the Spurs tried to wake up. However, James finally missed a layup in traffic that would have cut it to 97-91 and at the other end Ginobili hit a three-point shot, was fouled and made it a four-point play.

The Cavaliers hope to find their aggression before their zonked-out fans, celebrating the first Finals game in Cleveland, but the Spurs are 5-2 on the road in the playoffs.

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