The Pistons actually outscored the Cavs by a point in the first half over the four games, but Cleveland won the second halves by a total of 35.
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That play spilled over into the fourth quarter when Matthew Dellavedova scored the first five points to open up an 86-78 lead.
“For our team it doesn’t matter who is the leading scorer”, said LeBron James, who finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds Sunday. They’ll get a ton of time off before the second-round with the Boston-Atlanta series now certain to go to at least six games, and while rust could be a concern for some teams in this situation, a James-captained outfit with all of last year’s experience under their belts shouldn’t suffer and should benefit from time to recharge.
“I just continued to prepare, prepare, get my shot right and get (into the gym) early”, said Irving.
Pistons guard Reggie Jackson shaved the Cleveland lead to 100-98 on a dunk with 32.8 seconds remaining, and then Detroit had a chance to tie or win after rebounding an Irving miss with under 10 seconds remaining. “I knew if I needed to score I could have, but when you have a guy like this to me left (Irving) and to my right (Love), even though he had an off shooting night, they put maximum pressure on the defense”.
The Pistons’ coach was asked about the run his team made this season, exceeding expectations and making the postseason for the first time since 2009, and offered up a lengthy response.
Cleveland took advantage of Detroit’s inability to defend the three, specifically from Irvin and J.R. Smith (15 points), to end the series.
Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving hug before tip-off. The Pistons have now lost 11 straight playoff games against Cleveland, and they have lost nine in a row overall in the postseason. “Millsap, who also had 13 rebounds, scored just two points in the final 10:33 of the game.ticular race”.
James gave Irving credit for not fouling Reggie Jackson on the game’s final play, a three-pointer that sailed off the mark.
Proceeding down the court without a timeout, Jackson couldn’t convert a 3-point shot from the top of the key as time expired. “We play with an up-tempo pace and it makes the game a lot easier for us”.
“With Drummond in the paint, he’s a great shot blocker”, Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said. He then scored the first five points of the fourth to give the Cavaliers an 86-78 lead with 11:15 remaining. “We know what to expect and we execute the game plan and we are executing at a really high level on both ends of the floor. We took their best punches and we kept swinging back”. “It’s been awful in this series”, Van Gundy said.
The Grizzlies led for more than 2 minutes in the third quarter, taking their biggest lead at 51-48 after a 3-pointer from Carter and a pair of free throws by Tony Allen. LeBron James averaged 41 minutes per game in the series, which was down slightly from the 42.4 minutes he averaged in his career for playoff games.
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The Cavaliers advanced to the second round of the playoffs with the win.
