To learn what playoff basketball was all about.
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Matthew Dellavedova’s Cleveland Cavaliers are just one win away from eliminating Aron Baynes’ Detroit Pistons from the NBA Playoffs. Love poured in 20 points and corralled 12 rebounds in the win.
However, their effort was all for naught as the Cavs were able to hang on-including a Kyrie Irving dagger with less than a minute left-and move ahead 3-0 in the series and essentially start looking ahead to the Eastern Conference semifinals given the history of teams being up 3-0 in the postseason.
“I’ve not been in this situation, but I’ve been on the other side of it”, Van Gundy said. The Celtics won 111-103 but the Hawks lead the seven-game series 2-1. He made three three-pointers in the regular-season finale against Cleveland and followed that up with two more in 10 minutes in Game 1 on April 17.
The Detroit Pistons (0-2) are seeking for answers on how to tame the offense of the Cavaliers after losing Game 2. The Pistons fought their way to a first quarter lead, 27-24 behind balanced scoring led by Marcus Morris with eight points, Reggie Jackson with seven points, and Andre Drummond with an additional six.
Those are the floor leaders for Detroit. The Cavs also had three players score at least 20 points – the third time that’s happened in this series.
“In my mind I always felt like I was a good player, so when you hear “most improved” you think, he was sorry, and he got better, ‘” McCollum said Friday.
“I thought Tristan was unbelievable”, Lue said.
Detroit rookie Stanley Johnson, who seemed eager to get into a verbal battle with James and the Cavaliers after Game 2, scored 9 points in a fearless first half Friday, but James had the final word before halftime, making a jumper with less than a second left in the second quarter to give Cleveland a 54-53 lead.
Zach Randolph led Memphis with 20 points and 11 rebounds on 6-of-21 shooting, while Matt Barnes added 17 points and 11 rebounds. “Rebounding’s been one of strengths all year, it’s been bad this series”.
Kevin Love was also a big factor in the victory as he finished with 28 points as Detroit could not contain the big three of Cleveland.
Cleveland methodically built a 79-73 lead after three quarters, and after a three-point play and a 3-pointer by James early in the fourth, the Cavs were up by nine. He failed to contest shots in the paint on back-to-back possessions late in the third, then missed a layup and didn’t get back, allowing another easy Cleveland basket.
“Last night, to me, the big difference in the game was the offensive rebounding”.
“It’s a veteran team … they’re going to make the right play down the stretch of game”, Drummon said. It’s tough for us.
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Van Gundy and general manager Jeff Bower will continue to work and try and shape this roster to take the next step, but the reality is there will be no upset of the top-seeded Cavaliers by the eighth-seeded Pistons. Defensively, the Pistons yield 101.4 points against the opposing teams.
