Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) scores past Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) during the fourth quarter at Wells Fargo Center.
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Since March 1, Cleveland is 10-14 straight up and 9-14-1 against the spread.
The Indiana Pacers are headed to the postseason.
Fully healthy entering the season after two years of dealing with knee issues, Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving had his most productive all-around season in the National Basketball Association, and it resulted in an All-Star start for the sixth-year pro.
No. 1 Boston Celtics vs.
In last year’s epic NBA Finals series against the Warriors, James inspired the Cavaliers in an unprecedented recovery from 3-1 down to a 4-3 series victory.
Cavaliers: James (5,604) needs 37 points to pass Kobe Bryant (5,640) for third place in playoff points.
Irving averaged 25.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 35.1 minutes of play over 72 games. Injuries to J.R. Smith, Kevin Love, and Kyle Korver during that stretch hurt, there’s no question. His teams have lost just two total first-round games during that time, and they haven’t suffered an opening-round defeat since 2012. Many are saying that come playoff time we will be forgetting all about the previous struggles from the Cavaliers, but I’m not as convinced. “You always want to play your best when the lights are the brightest”. “So, with all the injuries, and all the things we’ve been through, and new pieces, I feel good”.
While this idea the Cavs can be bounced from the playoffs makes for engaging sports talk shows, not everyone is convinced James and Co. won’t find their groove in the postseason. They were bounced from the conference finals in 2013 and 2014 by James’ Miami Heat teams.
The Pacers however are red hot, Paul George in particular. The Cavaliers did not lose to the Pacers once past year, and they had issues against the Bulls this season for whatever reason. “If we do that, get our fans involved, get the city really behind us again, I think it could be (as good as 2016)”. “It’s going to be tough”. Tristan has missed the last four games after having played in 447 consecutive games prior, not to mention he’s made deep postseason runs the last two seasons and he effectively played the entire season without a backup. It’s going to be a fun matchup.
Off the court, All-Star forward Paul Millsap shook things up by dressing down the team when things looked especially bleak – a change of pace for the normally soft-spoken player. “You need the guy that’s energetic and live, a guy who’s going to stir the pot and we work very well off of each other”. Four games might not sound like much but most playoff teams don’t lose that many games in a row. “We’ve got to get back to doing that”.
The team needed a miracle, and that’s what they got.
“It’s been odd events this season, unfortunate events, some of them bad, some of them good, but at the end of the day I can’t have my mind focused on the past now”, James said.
The Cavs as a team were second in the National Basketball Association with a whopping 1,067 3-pointers made this season – pretty far ahead of the third-ranked Boston Celtics’ 985 shots made from behind the arc.
On April 2, both teams fought tooth and nail in a thrilling 135-130 double overtime win for the Cavs.
During a pre-game interview, David Griffin, Cavs General Manager, elaborated on his team’s efforts: “If we’re the good version of us, we’ll be better [than last year’s championship team]”.
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IN has been inconsistent this season, but played fairly well down the stretch.
