But the story was the same. “It sucks we got swept, but we left it all out there”. The earliest the Eastern Conference Finals can now begin is next Sunday, which gives them a week to rest and recover. LeBron James was 1-for-5, J.R. Smith 1-for-4 and Kyrie Irving 1-for-3.
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The winners of the Heat-Raptors series will advance to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But credit to Love.
“We had to focus on getting a stop”, Lue said.
James was the closer.
The Cavaliers continued their barrage from three-point range, a common thread throughout the series, with 10 first half makes from downtown – finishing with 16 for the game.
“He’s the same way, no matter the point in the game”. Even after putting up a huge Game 4 for the Cavs against the Hawks, Love owns an eFG% of only 47 percent for the postseason thanks to his poor shooting from everywhere except beyond the arc. “We know where everyone is on the floor and exactly where we should be”.
Of course, this is what the Cavs thought they were getting in the summer of 2014 when they traded away promising youngster Andrew Wiggins.
For Miami, the news is much better.
“I shot the long three-not the best decision, but I had to get back on defense”, James said.
That’s what happened on Sunday.
Kyrie Irving scored 21 points and had eight assists, and LeBron James added 21 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and a big defensive stand on the Hawks’ final possession as the Cavs hung on with 10sec to play.
Atlanta tried mightily to extend the series, grabbing a 97-96 lead on Dennis Schroder’s drive to the hoop with 1:31 remaining. But he had plenty of help from his teammates throughout the four-game sweep and Sunday was no exception.
After intermission, Love just kept on grooving. Kyrie Irving’s eight assists were more important than his 21 points. The Cavs had at least 20 3s in back-to-back games in the series.
On Friday, it was Channing Frye’s turn.
The Cavaliers showed with 25 three-pointers in Game 2 of their series with the Hawks they could win with finesse. To hold them to 41 points in the second half (was big). The Hawks, meanwhile, had to rely on a team approach.
Throughout the year, the Cavs made their way through the regular season with defense, but all of a sudden, their offense has taken off and is on fire at just the right time.
For the second year in a row, and the third time since 2009, the Atlanta Hawks have been swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
That’s something he didn’t have enough of past year. He also out-rebounded Tristan Thompson with 13. At that time, Millsap had three points and the Hawks were trailing by five.
Schroder, who led the Hawks with 21 points and was running the team at end in place of Jeff Teague, darted into the lane for a quick basket with 34.4 seconds left. The Raptors lead that series 2-1. “I believe that the way we play makes us successful”. Lue didn’t want to ruffle feathers or provide any bulletin board material so he sidestepped the inquiry like a veteran. “That’s big. He’s very calm in the huddles, he knows what he’s doing, he looks everybody in the eye and tells them what we need to do and we respond to him”.
Cleveland opened the playoffs with four straight wins over Detroit, then did the same against the Hawks in a rematch of last year’s conference final.
Opponents are shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three in the first half against Cleveland this postseason. “It would be nice to get it, but my guess is they got it right”. Cleveland made an astounding 50% of its threes.
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In the fourth quarters of the conference semis, the Hawks topped that mark once.
