Cavaliers at Pistons, Cleveland leads series 2-0. User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.
Advertisement
The Cleveland Cavaliers are out to a 2-0 start against Detroit in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, and LeBron James has been his normal brilliant self, scoring 22 in the first game and 27 in the second while leading his team to victory.
Cleveland struggled to put away the Pistons in Game 1 and battled again until late in the third quarter.
The Pistons were down just two at halftime and led 60-55 with 10:24 remaining in the third quarter. “If teams are going to play small, we want to definitely post the basketball”, Lue said.
With Wednesday’s 107-90 win over the visiting Pistons, the Cavs hold a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.
After the game, though, Morris told reporters that none of LeBron’s trash talk was directed towards him.
After Game 2, Johnson also cited the physicality of James’ play, which featured a brief collision between the two.
For the second straight game, the Cavs took flight in the second half. When prompted on why a novice such as himself shouldn’t at least feel some sort of fear for the two-time champion James, Johnson responded, “Why would I be?” “They’re getting really good looks in transition”.
Despite losing both games in Cleveland, the Pistons players are confident they will get back in the series by taking care of business at home. If they don’t, then we’ve all just got to make plays. “You’ve just got to do a good job of making it tough for them – trying to close out, making them run off the three and just keeping them off the glass”.
Following the first quarter buzzer, James bumped Johnson with his shoulder while walking past him on the way to the bench. “I don’t think I got in trouble with that interview”, he joked.
“I don’t know what y’all take from that”, Johnson said. “I will make sure my guys understand that we’re here to play basketball, everything else is irrelevant”. I wanted to let him know what my concerns were, so we talked about it.
But James needed help from more than Love and Irving to defeat the Pistons.
Van Gundy thought it was time for cooler heads to prevail, however, on Thursday.
Game 3 of the series will take place on Friday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills, with tipoff set for just after 7 p.m. ET.
Advertisement
The 19-year-old Arizona product earned a meeting with Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy after the long-time general admitted he cringed when he saw the comments, while at the same time, defending his rookie’s immaturity.
