For all the talk of Cleveland’s Big Three since the troika was assembled an offseason ago, it’s actually been pretty rare that all three of them have gone off in unison.
That’s not to say they haven’t all played exceptionally well over that stretch. It’s more that with a trifecta of All-Stars, one of them is bound to go off and steal the headlines. If it wasn’t working out, the Wine and Gold wouldn’t be the reigning Eastern Conference champs or tallied 110 regular season wins over the past two years.
In Sunday’s 106-101 win over the Pistons, the Big Three had their first collective postseason outburst – combining for 81 points on 29-for-63 shooting, going 9-of-21 from deep, 14-of-17 from the stripe, piling up 24 boards, 18 assists, five steals and three blocked shots.
Love and LeBron each doubled-up – Love with a game-high 13 boards, James with a game-high 11 assists.
The last time three Cavaliers each scored at least 20 points in a playoff game, it was an entirely different Big Three – LeBron James, Mo Williams and Delonte West in a Game 2 win over the Pistons back in 2009.
The Cavaliers have had three players each top the 20-point mark this season 10 times and yesterday’s grouping did so in back-to-back nights in late January – including the first on a Friday night in the Motor City and a Saturday night blowout at home against the Spurs. (If Cleveland’s postseason starts and ends with wins over those two foes this year, we’re in for one whale of a party in June.)
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Conference Call:
Wine and Gold Take Top Seed in the East.
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Top 10 List:
Recapping Some of the Season's Best Wins.
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Winning the West:
Wine and Gold Have Worn Out the West.
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Feels Like the First Time:
Ty Lue's First Win as Head Coach.
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Owning an Opponent:
Having someone elses' number.
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Acting Defensive:
Cavs tightening up their D.
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Miracle Man:
Dick Synder
Matthew Dellavedova
It was Kevin Love who set the tone in all three wins – the two regular season wins and Sunday’s Game 1 win. LeBron led Cleveland with 10 in the first quarter, but Love followed with 13 in the second and, more importantly, was aggressive and assertive from everywhere on the floor.
“I thought (Love) posted very aggressive,” praised Tyronn Lue after Sunday’s win. “I thought he took his shots when he had them. He made some big shots for us. I just think when we put Kevin at the five, that’s a tough cover for (Andre) Drummond to try to get out to Kevin when he’s picking and popping.
After posting monster numbers over the regular season’s final seven weeks, LeBron played the role of facilitator over the game’s final three quarters – while combining with Love to hold Marcus Morris and Tobias Harris to a combined 2-for-11 shooting in the second half.
“For these two guys, they were just excited to get back to this moment,” said James, flanked by his mates at the postgame podium. “Obviously with Kevin last year and his first round exit as an injury and then Kyrie in the Finals, these guys have just been working hard to just get back to this moment. It was great to be out on the floor with them and for them to put together the performance that they did tonight.”
Kyrie got himself revved up right out of the halftime layup line – scoring eight points in the second stanza’s first 64 seconds and staking the Cavs to a quick three-point lead. Irving, in attack mode the entire second half, netted 10 of his 31 points in the third quarter and is now averaging 29.7 ppg in three meetings with Detroit this season, shooting even 50 percent from the floor, 40 percent from deep.
“Our third quarters haven’t been the best this season, but coming into the playoffs, we know that possessions really matter,” said Irving. “Guys just did a great job setting screens coming out in the second half. Picking up the tempo a little bit, whether it has to be forced or not, it has to be applied.”
The Cavaliers didn’t get any offense from the center spot, but Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov kept the East’s best pure big, Andre Drummond, from doing much damage, finishing with 13 points and 11 boards – 3.8 below his league-leading average.
Cleveland’s bench did its job on Sunday. Delly hit a couple shots while Kyrie was still getting warmed up and Richard Jefferson hit a pair of big late jumpers, including a big fourth-quarter triple.
At some point during the series, J.R. Smith is going to heat up, Channing Frye is going to see action and Tristan Thompson is going to turn in his first double-double of the playoffs.
But it’s really good to know that the Big Three is in a groove that carried over from the regular season.
The Cavaliers got within two wins of a World Championship with just One of the Big Three and a shallower supporting cast last year. The tale of where they’re headed this year continues on Wednesday night …