Live streaming is available via Watch ESPN. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a seven-game series in the history of the NBA Playoffs.
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Kyrie’s backup, Matthew Dellavedova, has had a harder time getting on track against Atlanta than he did Detroit, but he’s got a tougher assignment in Dennis Schroder – who’s found the sledding much more difficult in Games 2 and 3 after leading everyone with 27 points in Game 1.
No need to relive that nightmare.
“We brought him here to shoot”, said forward LeBron James. “To watch all of it was probably not needed”.
The Cavaliers took a commanding 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference second round series with the Hawks last night behind another monster shooting performance from three.
The Hawks, on the other hand, have been no match for the Cavaliers.
Cleveland continued putting up 3s, even after building a 36-point halftime lead.
Steals: 9 (Irving 3, James 2, Jefferson 1, Jones 1, Shumpert 1, Smith 1). “But we outrebounded them in the first game and lost”. “We’d have done the same thing”.
“Obviously, you don’t want to be outrebounded”. You’d think they would start missing, but everybody they played… kept making them. Atlanta outscored the Cavaliers 46 to 30 in the paint, primarily because far too often the Cavaliers were standing around staring at one another with their arms in the air as the Hawks executed a nice pass for an easy layup.
“The players felt like it was within their grasp, they wanted to go for it”, Lue said Thursday”. It’s scarier than anything we’ve seen since, well, last year’s Warriors. “At this point, we have to do some changes, because what we’ve done hasn’t worked.”BUZZER BEATERS1”. Their offense has been running as smoothly as it has all season and there is no way in the world the Atlanta Hawks can even win a game. “You just go to shoot, ‘” Frye said with a laugh. “That’s kind of just somewhat unimportant to us”. As if that isn’t daunting enough for Atlanta, the Hawks are going into a do-or-die game on their home court in Philips Arena trying to end another streak. Total Fouls-Cleveland 21, Atlanta 21.
The problem is that the Hawks have made changes but it has only taken them on a different route to the same result.
Today’s action features another pair of game threes-first the Raptors are in Miami with that series tied at one apiece after two close but not exactly lovely games in Toronto. At least, that seems to be the case when it comes to the poor Hawks.
Oh yeah, what about LeBron James?
Kyrie and Delly have been a great one-two, two-way punch for the Cavaliers offensively in the 2016 Playoffs, but they’ve also been rock-solid in protecting the ball. The Hawks owe it to themselves and their fanbase to go all out for a victory in Game 4 but any chance at making this a competitive series went up in smoke with this loss. Cleveland knocked down a record 25 3-pointers – the most in the regular season or postseason – while rolling to a 123-98 win that represents its 10th consecutive playoff victory over the Hawks.
It’s not just about the Big Three anymore for the wine and gold. “That’s the way I look at it. Lock in, chase him off as many screens as it takes and if he does get the ball, be prepared for him to shoot and just contest it as best as you can”.
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Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
