With the sweep of the Atlanta Hawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers now will have a long rest especially if the Heat beat the Raptors at home in Game 4.
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Kevin Love scored 27 points, LeBron James hit a huge shot with 39.2 seconds to go and the Cleveland Cavaliers finished off their second straight playoff sweep, beating the Atlanta Hawks 100-99 Sunday to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
The Cavaliers finished off the second-round series with four straight wins, just as they did in the opening round against Detroit, and Cleveland’s Big Three is on quite a roll.
“I’m not a disrespectful person”, Wade said.
When James returned to Cleveland after four years in South Beach, winning the franchise’s first championship was the only goal that mat tered. Love was acquired from the Timberwolves to complete the dynamic trio, but the Cavaliers came up short in Year 1 when Love and Irving were hurt in the playoffs.
The Cavs led 96-91 with 3:06 to go as it appeared the Hawks’ offense would wilt under pressure again, as it has during crunch time of close games in the fourth during this series.
“We’re in a great rhythm right now”, said James.
Said Kevin Love about the Atlanta Hawks: “We knew they were gonna give us their best shot”.
Love carried Cleveland in the early going, hitting one 3-pointer after another as the Hawks continually left him open in the corner. If the Miami-Toronto series goes seven games, it will conclude on May 15. LeBron James did his usual part with 21 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and a defensive stop that preserved the win. It was also naive to believe that James was going to let this team fall behind on Sunday. After Dennis Schroder gave the Hawks a one-point lead with 90 seconds remaining, LeBron James scored two baskets sandwiched between a Tristan Thompson block, to give the Cavaliers a three-point lead (100-97). Schroder slipped and James tied up the ball, forcing a very mismatched jump ball with 2.8 seconds left.
“I just try to be consistent in what I do”. Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Cleveland 41 (Love 13), Atlanta 42 (Millsap 9).
“We know Atlanta is a tough team and the closeout game is the hardest game”, said Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue, who took over the Cavaliers during the season after David Blatt was sacked.
Furthermore, Cleveland sunk 15 or more treys in every game of the series, thereby becoming the first National Basketball Association team to record 15-plus three-pointers made in four consecutive games-be it in the playoffs or regular season, per ESPN Stats & Info. This time though, the Cavaliers are more than ready and should be able to exact their revenge.
If the Heat does play the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals, I see the Heat in a lot of trouble.
For Miami, the news is much better.
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Meanwhile, Miami center Hassan Whiteside has a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee, the same injury that has sidelined Warriors star Stephen Curry for the past couple weeks. He propelled the team’s great second and third quarters and for that reason is definitely the player of the game.
