featured-image

Wine and Gold Win Wild One, Take Series Lead

Wrap-Up -- The final score will say that the Wine and Gold won their Conference Semifinal opener by 11 points, but that doesn't come close to explaining the knock-down-drag-out affair that Game 1 shaped up to be.

When the smoke finally cleared, however, the Cavaliers made it nine straight postseason wins over Atlanta – taking the 104-93 decision to open the Second Round on Monday night at The Q.

Late in the third quarter, Cleveland looked like it would run away the series opener – extending its lead to 18 points, 72-54, with 3:56 to play in the period. But Atlanta closed the quarter on a 16-2 run to get back into the game and a 10-0 run early in the fourth to take its first lead of the night.

Behind backup guard Dennis Schroder, the Hawks took an 88-87 edge with 4:28 to play, but the Cavaliers controlled the boards down the stretch and LeBron James’ double-clutch and-1 – following back-to-back offensive rebounds by Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith – put the Wine and Gold up seven with just over two minutes to play.

Kyrie Irving’s two free throws gave the Cavaliers an 11-point edge with under a minute remaining, prompting Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer to empty his bench and gear up for Game 2 – set for Wednesday night in Cleveland.

LeBron led the Cavaliers with 25 points – going 11-of-21 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc to go with a game-high nine assists, seven boards, five steals and a blocked shot.

Kyrie Irving continued his blistering postseason run and, as usual, saved his best for last – tallying nine of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, going 8-for-18 overall from the floor and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, adding eight assists, a steal and a pair of blocks.

Kevin Love doubled-up for the fifth time in as many playoff games – overcoming a rough shooting night to finish with 17 points and 11 boards.

Tristan Thompson, who averaged 11.8 points and 11.0 boards in last year’s four-game sweep over Atlanta, picked up where he left off on Monday night – grabbing a game-high 14 boards, including seven of those off the offensive glass.

“We needed everything,” said LeBron following the win. “At the end of the night, obviously those rebounds were key. After I missed that pull up, I think Swish ran one down, Kevin ran one down and obviously Double-T was on the glass all night. We needed all the second chance baskets that we had and all the extra possessions.”

Cleveland Cavaliers

View game stats.

View photos from The Q.

LBJ comes up clutch.

Watch final game highlights.

And like last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavaliers as a team kept Atlanta under control defensively – holding the Hawks to 38 percent shooting, including 33 percent from beyond the arc. On the night, the Wine and Gold held their starting backcourt of Kyle Korver and Jeff Teague to just 11 combined points on 2-for-10 shooting. Korver attempted just a single shot from the floor in 37 minutes of action.

”We want to make sure we lock into Korver,” said Coach Tyronn Lue. “When we take him out of the game, they have a tough time scoring. We know in the last series he was a plus-78 when he was on the floor and a minus-24 when he was off the floor. He’s a big part of what they do and we have to lock into him and try to take him out of the series.”

Still, the Hawks managed to give the Cavaliers headaches in Game 1. Kent Bazemore and Paul Millsap each notched double-doubles and Dennis Schroder came off the bench to lead everyone with 27 points – going 10-of-20 from the floor, 5-of-10 from long-distance.

The Cavaliers shot 45 percent from the floor and 48 percent from deep – tallying 15 triples in the win. Cleveland committed just eight turnovers on the night and registered 27 assists on 37 made baskets.

Turning Point -- Perhaps the biggest sub-statistic of the postseason is offensive boards – which gives extra possessions to the rebounding team and breaks the will of their opponent. Late in Monday’s victory, the Cavaliers controlled a possession for over a minute – and it eventually broke the Hawks’ will down the stretch.

Clinging to a four-point lead with just over three minutes to play in the ballgame, LeBron picked Schroder’s pocket on the defensive end and fed J.R. Smith, who’s short jumper drew back-iron. But Tristan Thompson snagged the offensive board and hit LeBron, whose 16-footer rimmed out to Smith.

After re-setting the offense, Kyrie found LeBron – who muscled up a tough baseline layup and was fouled by Millsap. After flexing for the sold-out crowd, James calmly drained the free throw to give the Cavs a one-touchdown lead with 2:09 to play.

By the Numbers14.4 … three-pointers that the Cavaliers are averaging in the 2016 Playoffs, tops in the league. Monday night marked the fifth straight postseason contest that the squad has canned at least a dozen triples, a franchise record.

QuotableTristan Thompson, on his night against Atlanta …

”Every series is different. Against the Hawks, in terms of Millsap and Horford, we are kind of the same active bigs. For me, it’s just staying relentless on the glass. Maybe in the first half, I only have two offensive rebounds, but I’m just going to keep hitting the glass every possession. As the third and fourth quarter hits, that’s when I try to use my technique to create second chance opportunities for my teammates.”

Up Next – After dropping the Hawks in Game 1 on Monday night, Cleveland and Atlanta will go at it every other day until the Eastern Conference Semis are settled. Wednesday night, they’ll face off at The Q (in an 8 p.m. start) before the series shifts to Dixie for Games 3 and 4 – slated for Friday night (7 p.m.) and Sunday afternoon (3:30 p.m.) at Philips Arena. If necessary, the seven-game set returns to Cleveland for Game 5 next Tuesday, back to Atlanta next Thursday and Game 7 next Sunday at Quicken Loans Arena.