Parker, Ginobili spark Spurs to fourth NBA championship

CLEVELAND -- Once again, the San Antonio Spurs walked the

hallways in champagne-soaked T-shirts.

Bruce Bowen carried the Larry O'Brien trophy, one he had cradled

before.

Tony Parker, wrapped in France's flag, squeezed an MVP award he

richly deserved.

And Tim Duncan, always the center of everything for his team,

recorded every precious moment with a camcorder.

Foreign Finals Flavor
Parker Spurs guard Tony Parker was the catalyst in San Antonio's Game 4 win over the Cavaliers and his play throughout the series earned him NBA Finals MVP honors. He also joins a short list of players born outside the U.S. to win finals MVP.
Finals MVP (Year)	Birthplace
Tony Parker (2007)	Belgium
Tim Duncan (1999, 2003)	U.S. Virgin Islands
Hakeem Olajuwon (1994, '95)	Nigeria

This wasn't their first NBA title. But for the Spurs, it's the

maybe the one that means the most.

Champions for a fourth time in nine years, they're now a

dynasty.

"I don't care where we fall in history," Parker said. "I just

feel blessed, honored and privileged to play on a team like this."

And what a team it is.

True roundball royalty, the Spurs again wear the crown.

LeBron James, Cleveland's preordained king, isn't quite ready

for his.

Parker scored 24 points while Manu Ginobili had 27 -- 13 in the fourth

quarter. The Spurs moved in among the NBA's greatest

franchises with an 83-82 victory Thursday night for a sweep of the

Cavaliers -- court jesters through much of their first finals.

With their fourth championship since 1999 -- and third in five

years -- the Spurs joined the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and

Chicago Bulls as the only teams in NBA history to win four titles.

"It never gets old, it never gets old," Duncan said.

"Unbelievable. Such a great run, a great journey, a great bunch of

guys."

And No. 5 might not be far away either with Parker, Ginobili and

Duncan leading this Texas-oiled machine. Coach Gregg Popovich and

the Spurs, now a perfect 4-for-4 together in finals appearances,

spent most of the postseason dismissing talk that they should be

considered a dynasty.

But with titles in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007, there's no more

reason to pretend they aren't one.

As the final seconds ticked off on Cleveland's finest season,

Duncan stood at center court with both arms raised triumphantly as

the rest of the Spurs danced around their quiet superstar in a

huddle. San Antonio's star sought out Cleveland's Eric Snow, but

was unable to find James, who had walked off, amid the pandemonium.

"I didn't want to turn around at all and look at it," James

said.

Moments later, the Spurs, who moved over from the ABA in 1976,

put on champions baseball caps, which has almost become a June

ritual for them.

Their road to a championship was bumpier than in previous years.

The Spurs weren't the Spurs earlier this season, and Popovich,

ever the task master, criticized his squad, calling it the worst

defensive one he had coached. San Antonio was 33-18 at the time,

"struggling" by its lofty standards, but it wasn't long

before they started playing Spurs basketball.

Sweep Surrender
Cleveland's NBA Finals foray was short-lived as it joined a list of eight NBA teams to be swept in the championship series. The Cavs are also the fourth team swept in their first finals appearance.
NBA Finals	Winner	Loser
2007	San Antonio	Cleveland
2002	L.A. Lakers	New Jersey
1995	Houston	Orlando
1971	Milwaukee	Baltimore

They beat Denver, Phoenix and Utah to win the Western Conference

title and then stormed through the Cavs, who were exposed during

four games that looked competitive on the scoreboard but were

hardly even close.

"This one's sweeter," Duncan said. "The road that we took to

get here was as tough as we ever had it. Guys persevered, we had

great performances from one to 12."

The final moments were hectic as the Spurs needed every last

free throw to hold off the Cavaliers, who made a last stand at home

in a season of seasons for their once downtrodden franchise.

Cleveland went on an 11-0 run to open the fourth quarter, taking

its first lead in any second half of the series on James' drive

with 7:55 left. Cleveland went up 63-60 on Daniel Gibson's drive,

but that's when Duncan and Co. showed why they're champions.

Ginobili scored inside, was fouled and missed his free throw.

But Duncan muscled into the lane and tipped in the miss to make it

66-63. The Cavs tied it, but Ginobili, who didn't make a field goal

in Game 3, dropped a 3-pointer, and when James missed a 3, the

Spurs regained control by outworking Cleveland.

Duncan and Fabricio Oberto scrapped for offensive rebounds as

the Spurs kept the ball for nearly two minutes before Oberto's

three-point play made it 72-66 with 2:29 remaining. Duncan then

poked the ball away from James and Oberto scored underneath to give

San Antonio a 74-66 lead.

James, possibly a little tired following the early morning birth

of his second son, hit another 3-pointer but Ginobili responded

again with a tough runner in the lane to make it 76-69.

Damon Jones made three free throws and James made another

3-pointer, but Ginobili made four free throws in the final seven

seconds and immediately began celebrating a title that was all but

inevitable.

"We're an old team. We've been there," Parker said. "We knew

Cleveland was going to make a run, so we just let the storm go by

and refocus, and we never had panic on our team, never."

San Antonio's four-game sweep was the eighth since the finals

began in 1947.

Parker, who averaged 24.5 points on 57 percent shooting, became

the first European-born player to be honored as MVP. Until now, he

was mostly viewed as a pretty decent player with a prettier fiance,

TV actress Eva Longoria.

When Parker was handed his trophy, his soon-to-be-bride wiped

away tears.

The 25-year-old, though, was an unstoppable, silver-and-black

blur against the Cavs, who had no one who could contain him and who

looked like they stumbled into their first finals by accident.

Later, with his country's tri-colored flag draped over his

shoulders, Parker walked the hallways carrying his MVP trophy and

shook his head in disbelief.

"This is like a dream," he said. "I don't want to wake up."

James had Cleveland fans believing the city's 43-year

championship drought was about to end. However, he had a rough

introduction to the league's climactic event, one he figures to

reach again.

He shot just 10-of-30 in Game 4 -- and only 36 percent in the

series -- and never figured out how to rise above or get around the

Spurs, whose defensive schemes were designed to make the other

Cavaliers beat them.

James scored 24 points, and while he took the Cavaliers as far

as they've ever gone, he failed to give them new life in this

series on the same day his second son, Bryce Maximus James, was

born.

Duncan, an MVP in his first three finals, had only 12 points but

grabbed 15 rebounds.

But the 31-year-old, whose arrival in 1997 in San Antonio is the

launching point for the Spurs' ascension, he got his fourth ring

and helped others like Michael Finley and Jacque Vaughn win their

first.

Finley cradled the game ball during the postgame celebration.

"I might just put it in the bed between me and my wife," he

said.

Spurs forward Robert Horry got another one, too, his seventh --

the most by a non-Celtics player.

"As a kid, you dream about winning one championship," he said.

"Getting seven his unreal."

Game notes
With four titles, Popovich trails only Red Auerbach (9),

Phil Jackson (9), John Kundla (5) and Pat Riley (5) for the most in

league history. ... Cleveland's 322 points in the series was the

lowest total for four games. ... The Spurs' .727 winning percentage

(16-6) is the highest in finals history. ... New England

quarterback Tom Brady and Browns rookie Brady Quinn were among the

celebrities on hand, along with Dallas wide receiver Terrell Owens

and Hall of Famer Franco Harris.