SAN ANTONIO -- Hours away from drawing the toughest defensive assignment of his two-year career with the San Antonio Spurs, Kawhi Leonard wasnt feverishly taking mental notes of how to guard LeBron James. The second-year pro was simply relaxing at home Monday night, watching Miami rout the Indiana Pacers 99-76 to set up a showdown with San Antonio in the NBA Finals. Seeing how Paul George and Lance Stephenson defended James wasnt as important to Leonard as the outcome. "I was just laying (down), seeing who we were going to play," he said. Leonard means no disrespect. He is just happy to know who the Spurs will play after a weeks wait following their sweep of the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference finals. The 6-foot-7 Leonard will draw the primary defensive assignment against James, the reigning NBA Finals MVP and two-time league MVP who is averaging 26.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.4 assists in the playoffs. James is also shooting 51 per cent overall and 39 per cent on 3-pointers. "Its just a great challenge for me to try to help my team win by playing good defence on him," Leonard said. "I just accept the challenge and am ready to play." Facing a player on a hot streak isnt new to San Antonio this post-season following showdowns with Golden States Stephen Curry and Memphis Zach Randolph. After averaging 24 points and 10 assists in an upset of the Denver Nuggets, sweet-shooting Curry was held to 18.2 points and 6 assists against the Spurs -- excluding a 44-point, 11-assist effort in a Game 1 loss by the Warriors. Randolph averaged 18.4 points and 10.8 rebounds while bullying the Oklahoma City Thunder in the paint, but was limited to 11 points and 12 rebounds against the Spurs. His production included a two-point, seven-rebound effort in a Game 1 loss to San Antonio. In some respect, the Spurs are facing a hybrid of Curry and Randolph in the 6-foot-8, 250-pound James. "Hes great on offence and defence," said Leonard, who has a 7-3 wingspan. "He can pass, he can shoot the ball, gets offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds and he can guard the best player on the other team." While Leonard will be James primary defender, the Spurs will attempt to move him toward defensive help in the hope he gives up the ball. Its a strategy that helped San Antonio limit opponents to 44.2 per cent shooting, which was eighth in the league. But James isnt the only player the Spurs know they will need a group mentality to defend, starting with All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. "Theyve got more than just the big fella," San Antonio guard Danny Green said. "They are a great team. There is a reason they won last year, and they also added some pieces this year. On paper they have a really good team. Obviously they havent been playing as well as of late, but they have so many shooters surrounding the Big 3 they are a mismatch problem for any team." There was speculation that Miami was vulnerable considering Wade was battling a knee injury and Bosh was struggling offensively, leading to a Game 7 against a young Pacers team. Spurs forward Tim Duncan was stunned by that assertion. "I dont know how to answer that question," Duncan said. "I will know that when they stand in front of us if that be the case, but as of right now they are still the defending champs and the best team in the regular season." Wade dismissed a lot of those notions with 21 points and nine rebounds Monday night to lead Miami to its third consecutive NBA Finals. "Hes an All-Star," Green said of Wade. "I dont think it surprises anyone what hes capable of doing. He obviously hasnt been shooting as well, and neither has Chris bosh, but we know what theyre capable of. Any given night they can come out and give a game like that. "Good players do big things on big stages. We expected them to do that last night and we expect them to come out in the Finals and be playing their best basketball." The Heat swept the regular season series with the Spurs, but both games dont mean much. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich sent Duncan, Green, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili home rather than have them travel to Miami to play the second night of a back-to-back on Nov. 29. The Spurs were fined $250,000 by the NBA for the decision. Miami returned the favour by sitting James and Wade on March 21 in San Antonio. Still, the Spurs could have a leg up on the advance scouting against James and the Heat since the Pacers have a similar roster and defensive strategy. "Its basketball, so its not grossly different," Popovich said. "There are some things that we might emphasize or not emphasize as much as Indiana did just because were a different team. Everybody is going to do things a little differently, but a lot of the things that we all do are similar."Joe Mauer Twins Jersey . 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Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday.PHILADELPHIA -- The Atlanta Falcons entered Sundays game boasting the leagues top offense, but Eagles cornerback Leodis McKelvin felt there was a weakness to exploit.I was telling the defense, this is the type of team, they are a front-runner. They are a front-running team, he said. If you go out there and make some stops, they eventually are going to be dying down.McKelvin started the game as a spectator due to a hamstring injury but was called into action after fellow corner Nolan Carroll II left with a concussion.McKelvin factored into several plays, and he ended up with the game-sealing interception, which he said was the result of the Falcons going to the same well one too many times.They actually ran the same play back-to-back, McKelvin said. Dont do that. That was just a bad mistake. They ran the same play back-to-back, and I made a play.It wasnt all pretty for McKelvin. He bit badly on a fake by Falcons wide receiver?Taylor Gabriel that led to a 76-yard touchdown, then failed to take advantage of a couple opportunities, including a gift interception down the stretch that could have iced the game. He got a shot at redemption, however, and cashed in with the late pick.Third time is the charm, he said with a smile. They came back with the same play.The Falcons came into the game boasting the leaguees top offense, ranking first in scoring (34 points per game) and second in both passing and total yards per game.dddddddddddd The Eagles defense held the Falcons to just one touchdown and a season-low in points in a 24-15 victory at Lincoln Financial Field.Ryan finished the game 18-of-33 for 267 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Wide receiver?Julio Jones had his typically productive day, catching 10 balls for 135 yards, but was kept out of the end zone and had a key drop with 5 minutes, 26 seconds remaining.Hey, man, aint nobody perfect, as you all can see. I mean, hes a great player, you all see that as well. Great players mess up sometimes, said McKelvin. Great players drop balls. ... Hes still a great player, but, thank you, Julio.McKelvin was asked for his thoughts overall on the Falcons offense after seeing them up close.We played Pittsburgh ... they were saying that they were one of the high-powered offenses coming into this game, theyve got Antonio Brown?--?that was no different to this game, said McKelvin. They ended up coming in here being the No. 1-ranked offense in the NFL, and were one of the top defenses in the NFL, so, defense wins. Thats how I see it. ' ' '
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