Since being selecting the former Florida Gator, the Hawks has never missed the playoffs but they have never made it past the Eastern Conference Finals.
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“I thought it was a clean block”, said Millsap. “It’s what I genuinely enjoy about basketball, playing with great guys”, an elated Kyrie Irving said after the victory.
When James returned to Cleveland after four years in Miami, winning the franchise’s first championship was the only goal that mattered.
Cleveland will await the victor of Toronto and Miami, with the Raptors leading the series 2-1.
He had Stephen Curry like shooting today, as he went 8-15 from threes and scored 27. Love was probably pretty psyched about his eight three-pointers after the game, but if the smile from the clip above is to be believed, he’s probably pretty psyched it was a day game, too.
The ball was then in the hands of Dennis Schroder – which wasn’t a bad place for it. With 21 points, six assists and three rebounds, he was Atlanta’s lead scorer. James and Tristan Thompson had 10 apiece. Schroder slipped and James tied up the ball, forcing a huge mismatch of a jump ball with 2.8 seconds left.
“I just try to be consistent in what I do. We just have to figure out how we can take that next step as a group”.
“It became a two-minute game for us, where we were able to make plays and get stops when we needed to”. Schroder tried to drive down the lane, but James tied him up for a jump ball. James tapped the ball to the corner and J.R. Smith contested for it long enough for the clock to expire before the Hawks could get off a desperation shot.
Even more frustrating than losing for the fourth time in a row to Cleveland is the fact that this loss was by just one point with a final score of 100-99.
That challenge came in the third quarter, and when Love completed a four-point play with a free throw that followed his eighth 3-pointer, Cleveland led 79-75 and looked poised to put away the Hawks in the fourth quarter.
Schroder gave the Hawks a 97-96 lead on a layup with 1:31 left. However, he couldn’t past James on his last shot.
Paul Millsap, who was called for the goaltend, did not agree with the referee’s decision, despite the sequence being subjected to a video review. “I’ll think it [the block] was all summer”.
Schroder scored on a layup with 34.4 seconds left to pull the Hawks to within the one-point final margin. They had to come from behind in the second half in every game of the series with the exception of Game 2 to oust Atlanta.
Kevin Durant equalled a career play-off high with 41 points for the victors, while Tony Parker (22) and Kawhi Leonard (21) led the Spurs’ effort. I know that at any given moment, I can go off and hit a few shots.
Durant had plenty of help. “They gave us everything they had, but we stuck with the game plan”, said head coach Tyronn Lue. Lebron James flirted with a triple-double and he had 21 points 10 rebounds and 9 assists. Cleveland shot well again from 3 point land in this game with 16 out of 37 made 3 pointers. “Westbrook did a great job getting his teammates involved. It’s a big win for us”.
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LeBron James and the Cavaliers, who also feature superb players in forward Kevin Love, and guard Kyrie Irving, dismantled Atlanta in this series with 77 three-pointers in the four games.
