It keeps the side on track to claim the first National Basketball Association championship for the franchise.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers fired a record-setting 25 three pointers as they pummeled the Atlanta Hawks 123-98 to seize a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference playoff series on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila).
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat are on collision course for a showdown should they beat Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors in their own respective second round Eastern Conference playoffs matchups.
Ten Cavs made 3-pointers, led by J.R. Smith with seven.
A 24th made 3 late in the fourth quarter topped the previous record of 23 held by both the Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets respectively.
However, James insists it isn’t their identity.
LeBron James led his team with 27 points on 4-for-6 three point shooting. “We don’t want to be labelled that”, he said. “We’re making the right play. It’s been key to our success, but we have to continue to understand that we have to be very balanced offensively”. Getting blown out in a playoff game while surrendering an National Basketball Association record is embarrassing and sucky, but the Hawks have nothing to be angry at the Cavs about. Kevin Love add three. They trust each other on the defensive end and they trust each other on the offensive end.
The Cavs never did.
James said the Cavs didn’t intend to make history, history just happened. “Everyone has fun and enjoys playing that way”.
After making Cleveland’s 16th 3-pointer in the first half, the easygoing Smith skipped back on defense like a little kid on a schoolyard playground as Cleveland’s towel-waving fans danced with delight and smelled blood. They were shooting them to send a message to the Golden State Warriors that 3-point prowess and run-and-gun blowouts aren’t just a West Coast phenomenon.
“If you’ve got a team down in your building, you’ve got to put them away”, Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore said after the game.
The Hawks actually started well jumping out to a 7-2 advantage in the early minutes of the game but the Cavaliers were just getting loosened up. A small stat to prove how one sided the game had gotten at halftime: After two quarters, the Hawks had 38 points while the Cavaliers had 39 in the second quarter alone. Even though they were third in the league in 3-point attempts and tied for second in makes this season, everyone knows they can’t count on another night like this. The Hawks had 70 after three quarters.
If they keep playing like this, the Cavs may dispel a myth of postseason basketball: that some bumps in the road early in the playoffs can gird a team for the more hard battles ahead.
“We came in with a game plan that we thought was really good and we got discouraged real quick”, Hawks Center Al Horford said. And they know they’re going to need that club in their bag as they move through the playoffs, especially in a possible Finals rematch against Golden State.
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“Their shooting it just unbelievably well, whether it be the first round and now these first two games”, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said when asked how this Cavaliers group is different from last season’s 4-0 sweep. They’re averaging 16.2 3-pointers per game so far in the playoffs and they have become more dependent on the deep ball than ever before. Schroder was chased off the court after six minutes, one missed shot and one turnover. Which player of their’s is going to guard James and how is that going to affect the rest of the team’s rotations.
