Cavs trying end to San Antonio streak Bob Finnan, RFinnan@News-Herald.com 11/03/2006 Cleveland hasn't won vs. Spurs on road since 1988 http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?n...= 21848&rfi=6 http://bannerads.zwire.com/bannerads...=409&barnd=460 The Cavaliers are traveling to unfriendly territory. They will face the San Antonio Spurs at 8 tonight at the AT&T Center. The Cavaliers haven't defeated the Spurs in Texas since Dec. 8, 1988. Since then, San Antonio has won 16 in a row at home against the Cavaliers. "I didn't know that," Cavaliers power forward Drew Gooden said. "We have them on a back-to-back. Hopefully, Dallas will wear them down a little bit (Thursday in their season opener), and we can go in there and do some damage." The Spurs (63-19 last year) usually do their damage at the AT&T Center. They were 34-7 at home last year, 105-18 (.857) over the previous three seasons. "That's a tough place to play," Gooden said. "It's not so much the place. It's the team. That's what we're trying to get to. It's like a mirror image of what we're trying to do." One of the key matchups in the game will be at Gooden's power forward spot. He will be asked to defend perennial All-Star Tim Duncan, a 6-foot-11, 260-pounder. Cavaliers coach Mike Brown knows Duncan's tendencies after spending several years on Coach Gregg Popovich's staff. Will that help the Cavaliers defend him? "No," he said. "In the playoffs, you can study great players and take away their strengths. But they still figure out a way to score. You just hope he doesn't go for 40 and 15. If we can contain him, and Tony (Parker) and Manu (Ginobili), we have a chance to win." Brown knows the odds are stacked against his team. But that doesn't faze him in the least. "We're ahead of the curve now as opposed to last year," Brown said. "I feel we're capable of playing against anybody in the league. The more we play these great teams, the better we'll be. It's going to be tough winning in their building. "I like our chances against anybody as long as we don't turn the ball over, don't give up easy points in transition and we don't shoot poorly from the free-throw line. If we do that in their building, it's a wrap." Gooden, a 6-10, 242-pounder, picked up Wednesday where he left off in the preseason. He had 14 points and 11 rebounds, including a career-high eight on the offensive glass against the Wizards. He shot 7 of 13 from the field. "That was Drew's best game so far, at least from what I can remember, from start to finish," Brown said. "I don't remember him taking a play off. He busted his behind. I'm happy about his rebounds and points. He's a prototypical power forward. Every once in a while he will drift, maybe taking a play off, but maybe not on purpose." Gooden won't be able to "drift" against the Spurs. Duncan averaged 18.6 points, 11 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals in 80 games last year. "He doesn't over-exert his energy," Gooden said. "He uses his energy in spurts, when he blocks a shot or when he goes after a rebound. After that, he goes through the motions. He's so fundamentally sound, he makes it look easy. It looks like he has 11 points and eight rebounds. But he ends the night with 20 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks." Since he joined the Spurs prior to the 1997-98 season, the team has the best record in the NBA with a 501-205 mark (.710). It's also the best winning percentage of any team in professional sports during that nine-year span.
