But it was Kevin Love who broke Detroit’s momentum by nailing three-pointers of his own during the dying minutes of the game, putting his team ahead by four points.
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With the majority of the eight Game 1s in the first round of the 2016 NBA Playoffs being blowouts, it was an unlikely No. 8 seed in the Detroit Pistons that arguably put up the best fight of anyone.
“The only moment where I was mad and nearly lost my cool … It’s not really one of those situations where I’m trying to go at him”, Johnson said (via MLive.com). “That’s certainly one. They hurt us in the post a little bit, straight post-ups and some switches and then the pick-and-roll with LeBron are always troublesome, whether he’s handling the ball or setting the pick”. In order to go deep in the playoffs, teams need to find ways to win close games. Cleveland is the No. 1 seed for the third time in franchise history but has never advanced to the finals from that spot.
Love’s 22 field-goal attempts were his most in a Cavaliers uniform, and Cleveland improved to 17-4 this season when he has more than 20 points. “He’s LeBron. That’s the explanation. He would do the same to me”.
“If we continue to play that way, play physical, being aggressive, I like our chances”. He’s going to make shots and make plays. “That’s how I took that”. “I said, ‘Hey, listen”. I’m sure he knows that. He had a good night. “You see the man-child over there, 6-7 and 240”. But there are still reasons to hope for the Pistons, even if it’s still unlikely that they’ll win the series.
Stan Van Gundy thought the officialls were letting LeBron James get away with a lot during the game 1 of the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers match up. “They’re not going to call offensive fouls on him”.
On Monday, Van Gundy was fined $25,000 by the National Basketball Association for his criticism of the officiating and LeBron during games.
Van Gundy said after the game he was proud of the way his players handled themselves in the loss. She (Lisa Salters) got me at the end of the first quarter. They’ll return Tuesday following an afternoon practice.
“Our guys were out there playing like it was any other game, competing hard”, Van Gundy said. Love shifted to center, James entered at power forward and the Cavs took off. They needed just 1:40 to tie the game at 83.
“A couple calls have upset our guys”. “That’s what I said in the interview”.
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Irving had seven of his 31 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes, Love’s 28 included two key 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions midway through the fourth and James chipped in 22 points with 11 assists. “That hasn’t been a concern all year”.
