Cavs look less vulnerable after sweep of Pacers
James and Co. no longer look so vulnerable
The Cleveland Cavaliers have issues to resolve if they’re going to win a second consecutive NBA championship.
Not all questions surrounding Cleveland disappeared just be- cause the second-seeded Cavaliers swept the seventh-seeded Indiana Pacers, ending their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series with a 106-102 victory in Game 4 on Sunday.
They addressed some and need to answer more, but the vulnerability that shrouded Cleveland in the final weeks of the regular season and into the playoffs isn’t as palpable.
Victories have a way of absolving flaws.
“We challenged our minds, (and) we challenged our bodies,” said Cavaliers star LeBron James, who has won 21 consecutive first-round games and is 12-0 in first-round series. “We got better in Round One, and that’s a plus for us.”
Look around these NBA playoffs. Vulnerability is everywhere. The Cavs, who have a week off before the conference
semifinals against the Milwaukee Bucks or Toronto Raptors, aren’t alone.
The Golden State Warriors are nursing injuries to key players, including All-Star Kevin Durant, who sat out the last two games, and coach Steve Kerr missed Game 3 and will miss Game 4 because of illness.
The 61-win San Antonio Spurs are tied at 2-2 with the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Boston Celtics are in a struggle with the Chicago Bulls, and the Raptors-Bucks series is going at least six games.
The Washington Wizards were roasted by the Atlanta Hawks in Game 3, and the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz are without Blake Griffin and Rudy Gobert, respectively.
The only team in the East to sweep? The Cavaliers. The only other NBA team that can? The Warriors.
Of course, it helps to have James on your team. Against Indiana, James averaged 32.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 3.0 steals and 2.0 blocks while shooting 54.3% from the field, including 45% from three-point range.
“Just going out and being aggressive, putting myself and my teammates in a position to be successful offensively and defensively, and it worked well for us,” James said.
James followed up his mesmerizing Game 3 performance with 33 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks in the series finale, and his threepointer with 1:08 remaining was the game-winner.
A James-led team has eliminated the Pacers from the playoffs in four of the last six postseasons.
“It’s really frustrating to continue losing to the same team or same person,” the Pacers’ Paul George said. “It’s really frustrating. … Ultimately, it’s who I’m al- ways going to see and face.”
The Cavs proved they could win a series without great performances from Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
Though Irving scored 28 points in Game 4, including 16 in the third quarter, he didn’t have a great shooting series, and Love was 2-for-13 from the field Sunday. Love’s scoring wasn’t necessary, but his 16 rebounds were.
It’s easier to absorb mediocre offensive performances from some starters when Deron Williams, Kyle Korver, Channing Frye and Iman Shumpert contribute off the bench. In another encouraging sign, Williams, who had 14 points in Game 4, has discovered a comfort level after initially struggling when the Cavs acquired him in late February.
“When we first got him, he hadn’t played in three, four weeks with Dallas because he was hurt,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. “When he came to us, he was out of game shape. Now, he’s in better shape. Today, without him, we wouldn’t have won that game. He was spectacular.”
Without getting into details, James said, “We did some things defensively in this series that we haven’t done all year.”
After the Pacers took a 102-100 lead with 1:31 remaining, Cleveland allowed just one shot attempt (a miss) and forced two Pacers turnovers.
Is it imperative the Cavs improve defensively? Yes. Can they do a better job protecting leads? Yes. Is this a step in the right direction in what could be another fruitful postseason for Cleveland? Yes.
“We’ve always been pretty calm, no matter if we’re in the lead or down,” James said. “We’re a very resilient team, just evenkeeled.
“We took another step forward in that in this series. … No matter what was going on, we just kept working forward and executing, and we got stops. That’s what it boils down to.”