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Kyrie Irving added 22 points for Cleveland, which shares the postseason record for 3s with Golden State (2015), Dallas (2011) and Seattle (1996).
In ATS trends, the Cavs are 16-7 ATS in their last 23 Conference Quarterfinals games and 1-5 ATS in their last six games following a win of more than 10 points, while the Pistons are 4-1-1 ATS in their last six games following a loss and 1-5 ATS in their last six Conference Quarterfinals games. The score at the end of each quarter was progressively worse for the Pistons, as Cleveland and LeBron showed why they had the best record in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. “I told him what I thought about his comments and everything”.
“We definitely took it a little disrespectful”, Morris said in the Detroit media.
It’s always going to be tough to overcome streaky shooting, but the real problem for the Pistons was allowing so many open three-point shots. “So maybe his whole “getting-in-James’ head will finally turn dividends in Game 3?”
LeBron James put up efficient numbers of 27 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals on 12 of 18 shooting. All of J.R. Smith’s 21 points came from three-pointers. The Cavaliers ended up pulling away by the end, winning 107-90 to take a commanding two-game lead in the first round series.
It was some payback for James, who had refused to get caught up in a verbal battle between games with Van Gundy.
“Obviously, I know my focus is not on that right now to be able to harp on that conversation, which we can dive into that at a later time”, he said. “I’m open, so I shoot the ball”, said JR Smith. Only seven or eight players play for them.
“We have one goal, that one objective every, single night, and that’s to play our game both offensively and defensively, and when you’ve got guys like this guy next to me (Smith) and the rest of the 13 guys, we all just believe in one thing, and that’s how we can be better on the next possession”, James said. The Cavs had 82 points after three quarters and 51 of them were scored on 3-pointers.
While Johnson has respect for James’ stature in the game, he said that he’s refused to be intimidated by the fact that he’s a rookie facing a future Hall of Famer.
But that hasn’t stopped Pistons rookie Stanley Johnson from being delusional and giving a scorching hot take, saying he’s doing a really good job defending King James. A thunderous dunk over Detroit’s Reggie Bullock at 7:29 of the second quarter to give the Cavs a 36-30 lead might have registered on the Richter scale in some laboratory on the other side of the world.
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“It has nothing to do with the moment, it has to do with matchups”, Van Gundy said. James moved past Michael Jordan in postseason games played and into a tie with Dennis Johnson for 16th on the career list.
