A double-double 16 points, 50% from the field and 7-8 from the free throw line.
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By the close of business Wednesday night, they still hadn’t faced much of a test.
“Cleveland soundly defeated Atlanta, 123-98, in Game Two on Wednesday, taking a 2-0 series lead in this Eastern Conference semifinal series”. “A lot of 3s…” “I thought we made the right play. I am still speechless”.
At the outset of the playoffs, I wrote about potential core-changing decisions the team faces after this season, including whether to re-sign impending free agents Al Horford and Jeff Teague.
In their most important game of the year, the Atlanta Hawks played their worst defense of the year. Smith hit seven 3-pointers in the…
ESPN reported that the Cleveland Cavaliers made an National Basketball Association record for most three-pointers having 25 three-pointers with their game against the Hawks.
Cleveland finished 25 of 45 behind the arc and had 10 players make at least one 3-pointer.
Eighteen 3-pointers by halftime is a staggering number that is hard to wrap one’s head around.
J.R. Smith made seven 3s as the Cavs, looking like an Eastern Conference version of Golden State’s Splash Brothers, had the most prolific outside shooting game of any team in league history.
It was 3-point bomb after 3-point bomb. It’s not like the Hawks have reached the heights of the Cavaliers in recent seasons, right?
“If you’ve got shooters, shoot the ball”, said backup big man Channing Frye, who was 1-for-3 from deep while scoring 12.
It seemed important to James that people understood the NBA’s record for 3-pointers in a game was set by a team that shall not be known for shooting 3-pointers.
“We have to wake up in the morning and really, truly appreciate what happened tonight”, Cavs guard Kyrie Irving said. But on threes? Not surprisingly, Love went 3-of-4. They rained down three-point shots like they were layups. “It was insane out there at one point in time”.
Game 3 is Friday night in Atlanta.
The Hawks trailed 84-43 with 9:25 left in the third after — you guessed it — a 3-pointer by James.
“When they put those shots down, I don’t know if anyone can beat them, to be honest, ” Atlanta’s Kyle Korver said.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) looks to pass against Atlanta Hawks forward Mike Muscala (31) in the first half during Game 2 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series, Wednesday, May 4, 2016, in Cleveland. Heck, one of his missed attempts was a heat check from the edge of the Cavaliers’ logo near half court. I hesitate to say that this team has flipped the switch, because that would suggest that they willingly were not playing this way all season and were waiting for the games to matter to start trying. If there is one issue that Cleveland needs to clean up is their frequent tendency to get lax and take their proverbial foot of the pedal whenever they get a big lead. Now the Hawks have to scramble to save what is left of their season after losing the first two games of this series by double figures.
“Yeah, last year”, Smith said.
The Hawks should’ve taken that personally. 453 shooting percentage is better than runner-up San Antonio (.448), which is attempting almost 15 fewer 3s a game.
Not last night for the Cavs.
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Part of that is because general manager David Griffin has constructed around James a squadron of shooters – the four-time MVP calls them “designated snipers” – who are capable of doing their damage from downtown. “That has to be the mindset of the team”. “We’re making the right play”. It is do or die.
