Love obliged on Sunday in Game 4, scoring 27 points, including eight 3-pointers, in the Cavs’ series-clinching 100-99 win over the Hawks at Philips Arena.
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“I shot the long three-not the best decision, but I had to get back on defense”, James said. “A lot of great players play with the ball and have iso situations and things like that, and that is just not how (or) the way we play basketball”.
“It doesn’t matter”, James said. Remember, Irving missed most of last year’s playoffs including the Finals against Warriors with a series of injuries. Toronto leads the series 2-1.
“We’re in a great rhythm right now”, said James. “We know exactly where we want to be on the floor”.
The Cavs shot 16 of 37 on Sunday and ended the series making 77 3-pointers – a record for a four-game series – while shooting 51 percent from range.
But after the game the Cleveland forward really didn’t want to talk about the 27 points he scored or the eight 3-pointers he made in the Cavs’ 100-99 victory. He made only one 2-point basket – with his toe on the stripe. Atlanta got the rebound and put the ball in the hands of Dennis Schroder, who led the team with 21 points.
After a block by Tristan Thompson, the Cavaliers called a timeout to set up a play for James. To make matters worse, he slipped and then found himself tied up with James, which resulted in a jump ball with just 2.8 seconds remaining. Via ESPN, James now joins Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Cooper as one of four players to have multiple 8-0 starts in the playoffs.
Down by four points after three quarters, Durant and the Thunder outscored the Spurs 34-16 in the fourth to pull away.
“If they keep everybody here, I think that we will continue to grow with each other”, said Paul Millsap, who scored 15 points in the first quarter but finished with only 19.
Tony Parker led San Antonio with 22 points while Leonard had 21 and LaMarcus Aldridge 20.
“We try to play like that all the time, but sometimes, it doesn’t work like that”, Smith said. They got to the ball faster.
Cleveland had its worst showing of the series from beyond the arc, making 16 of 37, but they still finished at almost 51 percent (77 of 152).
“We know they’ll come at us hard in San Antonio, and we have to be prepared for it”. We had open shots, too. In the third quarter, the Cavs made just nine shots, but five of those makes were 3s. “They played better than we did down the stretch”. The Hawks are now 0-12 in total against James-led teams when it comes to the postseason.
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Thunder 111, Spurs 97 • Kevin Durant matched his career playoff high with 41 points and host Oklahoma City beat San Antonio to tie the Western Conference semifinal series 2-2. Already, they’re coming off two straight sweeps through the first two rounds, taking care of the Detroit Pistons first before hanging on in Game 4 against the Atlanta Hawks in the second round to dismiss their toughest defensive opponent.
