USA - Spurs defense making the difference in NBA Finals

CLEVELAND (NBA) - Defense wins championships. Ask the San Antonio Spurs.

On the verge of their fourth NBA title since 1999, the Spurs predictably have fed off their swarming defense. And entering Thursday's Game Four of the NBA Finals, they are peaking at that end of the floor.

Coach Gregg Popovich, who is not know for throwing around superlatives, praised his team in no uncertain terms.

"I think I can honestly say that these three games (it) is the best defense we've played all season," he said. "This is the best defense we've played in the playoffs, and it has been back-to-back with a doubt."

Boasting perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate Bruce Bowen, San Antonio always has someone to stick on the other team's best player, even if he is as talented as, say, Cleveland's LeBron James.

However, according to the Spurs, the key to their impenetrable defense is cohesion.

"The greatest asset we have on the defensive end is the effort we give when mistakes are made," said San Antonio guard Brent Barry, who was not exactly known as a defensive demon prior to joining the Spurs. "It's the next rotation, it's the next guy, helping out the guy that's maybe in the wrong position.

"There's something that we are gonna see that we haven't see on film or haven't covered. There's something in a game that is a break off of a play, and it's the way we react to that that really defines us defensively."

Barry also admitted that San Antonio's style allows it to win ugly - as it did in Tuesday's rugged 75-72 victory Game Three.

"It was like the caterpillar before it becomes the butterfly," Barry said of the Spurs' win in Game Three. "It was kind of ugly and creepy. Hopefully, Thursday, it will be a little bit better basketball. I think it will be.

"It was the classic grind-it-out type of game, and that's something that has been this franchise's motto. It's about grinding it out, and (Tuesday) was that type of game."

Despite priding themselves on team defense, the Spurs do not take Bowen's talents lightly. A member of the All-Defensive first or second team seven times, the veteran guard is an anomaly.

"It's been an amazing run for Bruce," Barry said. "The guy is matched up against, starting with Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, then to Steve Nash and Deron Williams, and stepping in and guarding LeBron James.

"I wouldn't want to do it. But Bruce accepts it and goes out every night and gives his best effort. We know, every night, he's going to be in the best player's face."

Predictably, though, humble two-time MVP Tim Duncan - possibly the best defensive player in the past decade - has been overlooked. Duncan's teammates are allowed to press up on perimeter players because the veteran forward is the ultimate eraser at the rim.

Duncan admitted that not playing with USA Basketball last summer allowed him to get into proper shape and helped spruce up his defense.

"Best shape I've been in in a long time," he said. "I just had some time off in the summer, and with no other responsibilities playing on any other teams, I was just able to kind of concentrate on getting strong, getting in shape."

That is a scary thought for the rest of the league, which already had a hard time getting past Duncan, who not only is one of the best shot-blockers in the league but a premier 1-on-1 defender.

James, who served as one of three Team USA captains at last year's FIBA World Championship in Japan along with Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony, wholeheartedly agreed.

"I think as a team they are very good, which allows (Bowen) to Pressure, which allows him to do some things that other defenders can't do because they don't have that back line behind them," James said. "When you have a seven-footer like Tim Duncan and (Fabricio) Oberto and Robert Horry ... it allows 1-on-1 defense to (have) a lot more pressure."

According to Barry, there is a clear-cut benefit to being solid defensively.

"It's the difference-maker," Barry said. "It's the difference between playoff teams and non-playoff teams, the difference between losing in the first round and getting to the conference finals. It separates who's gonna win the championship and who isn't."

FIBA