“You get him right after a game like that, and he’s frustrated and all of that”.
Advertisement
There have been verbal jabs, untimely injuries, and plenty of lopsided results. He has shot 7-for-11 from the field (63.6%) and 4-of-5 from three (80%), earning an Effective Field Goal Percentage of 81.8% through his first two career playoff games.
That is expected to change as the Cavaliers, Hawks and Spurs look to take commanding 3-0 leads in their respective series. The Pistons started the game on fire from long distance, finishing the first half 10 of 16 from behind the 3-point arch according to NBA.com, allowing them to jump out to a 58-53 lead going into the half.
It makes what’s going on between the Pistons and Cavaliers all the more intriguing.
“Their whole team talks”, said Johnson, who was also upset with James for bumping him at the end of the first quarter.
Along with Irving, the Cavaliers got double-double performances of points and rebounds from small forward LeBron James and power forward Kevin Love.
If the series opener was a tight one, Game 2 was a walk in the park for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who won 107-90 versus the Detroit Pistons last Wednesday, establishing a 2-0 lead as the series shifts to Motor City. “A video here, a video there, it means absolutely nothing”.
“I’ll just say, Stan’s a great guy and he knows exactly where the line is”, Silver responded. I’m OK. I’m still standing tall.
Johnson certainly isn’t the first player to make a run at James.
The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons, 101-91, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at The Palace of Auburn Hills in suburban Detroit Friday night.
I am looking for a physical game after some of the talk between the teams after game 2.
Van Gundy admitted that he cringed when he first heard what Johnson had said, but he also said he understands the former Arizona star still has some growing up to do. “That kind of woke me up a little bit, and from that point on, it was like ‘It’s on'”.
He said simply that it’s been physical, nothing more, nothing less.
Appearing on Mike & Mike Thursday morning, National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver was asked, “Is that worth $25,000?” We can’t get caught up in all the roughhousing and if we get a couple of bad calls here and there we have to continue to play through it.
Wade had 28 points for the Heat, who never trailed in the second half.
None of the middle-seeded series – Boston vs. Atlanta, Los Angeles vs. Portland and Miami vs. Charlotte – have really lived up to the expectations set for them prior to the postseason. “It’s one of those things where we just have to stop it as soon as we see it”.
Advertisement
A rocking sellout crowd wasn’t enough for the Detroit Pistons.
