To start the series, James, Irving and Love combined to score 81 points in Game 1, 65 points in Game 2 and another 65 points on Friday night in Game 3, but it’s more than just the numbers that jump out.It was the fourth time this season Cleveland’s marquee trio have scored at least 20 points each.
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The Pistons are in danger of dropping their 12th straight postseason game to Cleveland and 10th in a row overall.
J.R. Smith and Love made corner 3-pointers to give Cleveland a 73-69 edge.
He led the league in rebounding but shot 35.5 percent from the free-throw line and often had to be taken out of games in the fourth quarter because opponents would send him to the line on goal. Irving was Cleveland’s leading scorer, finishing with 26 points on 11-20 shooting from the field (including 3-6 from three-point range).
In the way of a 101-91 Game 3 victory, the Cavs have now taken a commanding 3-0 series lead over Detroit, which all but eliminates the young Pistons.
The result is unnecessary hits such as the elbows James has taken in this series and Kevin Love’s shoulder dislocation past year. He then scored the first five points of the fourth to give the Cavaliers an 86-78 lead with 11:15 remaining. He got it rolling a little bit, but still on scored 13 points. Total Fouls-Cleveland 17, Detroit 19.
BOSTON | Isaiah Thomas scored a career-high 42 points, and the Boston Celtics held on to beat the Atlanta Hawks 111-103 on Friday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference first-round series.
Evan Turner, inserted into the starting line-up, had 17 points and seven assists.
The Cavs lead most of the third quarter as well, and even went on quite a run at one point, having an 11-point lead at one time.
Opening a six-point lead in the opening quarter, with the crowd screaming and the ball back, the Pistons had a chance to extend the lead, but centre Andre Drummond had his shot blocked and, after getting the rebound, guard Reggie Jackson missed a three-point attempt.
Jeff Teague was the star for the Hawks, netting 23 points. Kent Bazemore and Dennis Schroder each finished with 20. Poor shooting from role players and lack of contribution from anyone outside of their big three put Cleveland behind early.
It was his 3-pointer with just 0.7 seconds on the shot-clock – and 43 seconds left in the game – that will go down as one of the best plays of the 2016 NBA Playoffs.
Harris, a 6-foot-9 forward, has been a solid addition since being acquired from the Magic in February, and he had a strong performance in the 100-98 loss in Game 4. “We kept fighting in every single game”. In Game 3 he pulled down 7. Physically he felt good, he said, but his explosion and change of direction were “awful” because he was rusty.
The Spurs are a win away from their ninth postseason series sweep and third against Memphis.
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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Portland guard CJ McCollum won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award in his first season as a starter for the Trail Blazers, dramatically improving his scoring average by more than 14 points over last season.
