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Cavs' `King James' dethroned in weak NBA finals debut

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, center, fails to score as San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan, top right, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, left, of Argentina, and San Antonio Spurs forward Bruce Bowen, lower right, defend in the first half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball game in San Antonio, Texas, on Thursday. PHOTO: AP

Cleveland playmaker LeBron James made an awful debut in the National Basketball Association Finals, but he plans on learning from his woeful performance rather than forgetting about it.

With equal credit going to San Antonio's overwhelming defense and his own poor shooting, James made only 4-of-16 shots and scored just 14 points as the San Antonio Spurs beat his Cavaliers 85-76 in game one of the the NBA Finals.

"You definitely give a lot of credit to the Spurs. They played very well," James said. "Some of it was me missing a lot of the shots I make and some of it was the defense they put on me. It was a half and half thing."

"King James" was dethroned by Bruce Bowen, one of the NBA's stingiest defenders, with help from a swarming defense that caused the 22-year-old prodigy to miss his first eight shots and forced him into six turnovers.

"He is one of the best defenders in the league and he has a lot of help," James said. "I have to do a better job of attacking. They tried to make me dribble toward the sidelines. I step by one guy and they had another there."

"I have to make some adjustments. There's nothing I can't do on the court. It's not like I haven't been in this situation before. I just have to play better. Things didn't fall for me. You have nights like that," he said.

Tony Parker, the French guard who led the Spurs with 27 points, made the flashy moves expected from James and forced other Cleveland players to try and beat them.

"We just tried to contain him, make sure we didn't give him any dunks, stay with him, not leave right away and force him to pass the ball," Parker said.
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