7:00 PM EST, TNT – Line: Cavaliers -8, Over/Under: 210
George sliced through Cleveland’s thin defense in Game One, scoring 29 points on 9-of-19 shooting, including 6-of-8 from downtown, yet would later lament passing off the final shot.
After a thrilling opening salvo to this best-of-seven series, we’ll see what exactly this Postseason has in store for the reigning NBA Champions, as the Cleveland cavaliers host the Indiana Pacers in Game Two of the First Round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs from Quicken Loans Arena. Many earmarked the Pacers (42-40, 7th in Eastern Conference) as a potential stumbling block for the Cavs, and indeed they must have felt validated after Game One, in which Seventh-Seeded Indiana very nearly pulled the upset in a narrow 109-108 defeat. In short, Nate McMillan’s charges threw everything they had at the champs, but ultimately fell short; after taking a 105-103 lead with just 3:31 remaining in the affair, the visitors found themselves trailing by one point on the final possession, in which the ball found itself in the hands of… (wait for it) C.J. Miles (10.7 PTS, 43.4% FG, 41.3% 3FG, 3.0 REB, 0.6 AST, 0.6 STL), who evaded a defender for a leaning jumper that clanked off the rim as time expired. This would create a bit of controversy afterwards, as All-Star Forward Paul George (23.7 PTS, 46.1% FG, 39.4% 3FG, 6.6 REB, 3.3 AST, 1.6 STL) plainly stated that he needed to get the ball in such situations. A star player demanding the ball in crunch time? Now there’s a shock… Granted, George played out of his mind for the majority of the contest, totaling a team-high twenty-nine points on 9-of-19 shooting from the field (47.3%), including 6-of-8 from beyond the arc (75.0%), along with five rebounds, seven assists, and a steal, while Miles posted just five points on 2-of-6 shooting (33.3%) in a little over fifteen minutes of action. The Pacers managed to take advantage of Cleveland’s porous defense throughout the game, shooting 49.4% overall, including 11-of-24 from downtown (45.8%), while also outscoring them in the Paint (25-19), which should bode well moving forward against their Central Division rivals. However, even though the Cavaliers may continue to be very forgiving on the defensive end of the court, Indiana must find a way to slow the down when they have the ball; As well as George and Co. played offensively (particularly in the Fourth Quarter), the hosts still torched them on 53.8% shooting from the field, including 11-of-28 from three (39.3%), while assisting on twenty-six of their forty-two field goals. Now what makes that line all the more frightening is the fact that they were that efficient despite playing largely the entire game in the half court; the Cavs only had five Fast Break Points in comparison to ten for the Pacers. Slowing the tempo is a good way to beat this team in theory, but as we all saw Saturday evening, that just didn’t work McMillan’s troops. Of course, that begs the question: what happens when the champs get out in transition? Indiana lost three out of their four Regular Season meetings with Cleveland this season despite averaging 113.5 points on 47.9% and dishing out a healthy 27..0 assists. So maybe they figured, if we can’t run with them, we’ll just try to slow them down? Try again Pacers, for it’s back to the proverbial drawing board…
LeBron took matters into his own hands in Game One, totaling 32 points, 13 assists, six rebounds, and 3 steals in the narrow 109-108 victory.
Meanwhile, that was quite a close one, wasn’t it? That must have been the general consensus in Northern Ohio as the Cavaliers (51-31, 2nd in Eastern Conference) dodged yet another bullet in Saturday’s Game One escape. With that said, the question remains: just how much longer will they continue to get away with such performances. It’s no secret that this team hasn’t been at their best for a while now, going 12-15 since the All-Star Break, while riding a four-game losing streak into the Postseason. Much has been made of their ineptitude on the defensive end during this stretch, where they’ve allowed the opposition to shoot 46.3% from the field, including 35.9% from three, while getting bested on the glass for a minus-1.8 differential, and yielding 25.4 assists. Things almost came to a head over the weekend against the Pacers (and perhaps still will), as the hosts fell apart in the Second Half, particularly in the final frame, where they were outscored 24-17. As we covered earlier, Tyronn Lue’s charges struggled to stop the visiting side throughout, but at the end of the day, it would be their stars that would carry them. First and foremost, LeBron James (26.4 PTS, 54.8% FG36.3% 3FG, 8.6 REB, 8.7 AST, 1.2 STL) tallied a game-high thirty-two points on an efficient 12-of-20 shooting from the field (60.0%), including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc (66.7%), while dishing out thirteen assists, and securing six rebounds and three steals. All-Star Point Guard Kyrie Irving (25.2 PTS, 47.3% FG, 40.1% 3FG, 3.2 REB, 5.8 AST, 1.2 STL) added another twenty-three points on 11-of-27 shooting (40.7%), despite struggling mightily from the perimeter (1-of-9 3FG), yet added three rebounds, six assists, and a pair of steals, while Kevin Love (19.0 PTS< 42.7% FG, 37.3% 3FG, 11.1 REB, 1.9 AST) made the most of his opportunities scoring seventeen points of his own, with four rebounds, an assist, and two blocks. Ironically, this game wouldn’t have even been so close if not for Cleveland’s atrocious performance from the charity stripe, where they only managed to knock down fourteen of their twenty-seven attempts, or laymen’s terms a dismal 51.9%. However, despite their porous defense, lack of overall depth, and inexplicable free-throw shooting, there are number of things that are working in favor of the Cavaliers, or particularly James; The four-time MVP has never lost a First Round Series, amassing a stagger 45-7 record over the course of his career in such contests, while winning eighteen consecutive games in the Opening Round of the Playoffs. Furthermore, he’s on track to set a good deal of history, for James stands thirty-seven points away from passing Kobe Bryant (5,640 points) for third all-time in points scored during the Playoffs, and is only two rebounds away from passing Robert Parrish (1,765 rebounds) for eighth on the all-time Postseason List.