Fourth quarter, schmorth quarter: This one is over

SAN ANTONIO -- This is how bad it seemed early on for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

There's time left, but LeBron and the Cavs are toast. (AP)

For three quarters in Game 2 of the NBA Finals the legend and reputation of LeBron James was taking such a dramatic hit he had suddenly morphed into Earnest Byner.

His first-quarter stat line: one field goal, two personal fouls and two points in a sparkling 2 minutes and 55 seconds. It was Bill Wennington-like.

Then came the second quarter. The Chosen One shot an air ball from the free-throw line. Thus the only thing that would have made the Cavaliers first half more horrifying for the city of Cleveland was if John Elway was in the stands.

James shrank in the limelight for much of the game which was eventually won by San Antonio 103-92 at the AT&T Center. Without an excelling James, the Cavaliers played like they were putting on Hamlet without Hamlet.

Then arrived a gutsy Cleveland fourth in which the Cavaliers whittled down a 27-point Spurs lead to as few as eight.

The talk among fans and the media over the next few days will be how the Cavaliers should feel good about themselves for Tuesday's Game 3 in Cleveland.

But you're smarter than that, aren't you?

You will not be suckered. You will not be fooled.

The Spurs are up 2-0 in the best-of-7 series and will still win it all despite their fourth-quarter lapse.

So on the same night one great series ended, another did as well, with both endings equally as strange.

The Sopranos is dead and so are the Cavaliers no matter their final-quarter run.

Oh, their bullet-riddled corpses are still moving, slowly, like the walking dead in a zombie movie, but they are beaten nonetheless.