Cavaliers confident despite close call
‘It’s a great start for us,’ James says
Are the Cleveland Cavaliers vulnerable?
That depends on whom you ask.
Take the pulse of LeBron James, who had game highs of 32 points and 13 assists, and he’ll downplay the significance of Saturday’s close call with the Indiana Pacers.
“I’m happy we got the victory. I’m happy how emotional we were. I’m happy with the energy and effort,” James said after the 109-108 victory in the opener of the first-round series of the Eastern Conference playoffs. “As the series goes on and on, you start to learn more about the team, learn more about your opponent, and we’ve got to be better next game. But it’s a great start for us.”
Said the Pacers’ Paul George on Sunday: “We knew we could go toe-to-toe with them. We challenged them the last time we were here (a 135-130 doubleovertime loss in early April). ... It sucks that we’re the team that’s 0-1. But it’s encouraging. We know we’re right on the cusp of getting this series if we can handle the small things, just don’t give up any cheap baskets.”
The Cavs’ Kyrie Irving, who had 23 points on 11-for-27 shooting, got defensive when asked about being vulnerable: “Hell no. No. Not going into any game with the group that we have. I understand there are some mistakes that happen throughout the game. The regular season didn’t end the way we wanted to. It’s just a step in the right direction. Game 1 of just taking care of home floor.”
Since 2015, the Cavs are 14-1 in the postseason at home. Game 2
is here Monday (7 p.m., ET, TNT).
Neither star sounded particularly concerned that the defending champions were a missed jumper away from being down 0-1. Or that the last two months of the season have hardly inspired much confidence. Or that the Cavs are fielding these questions because they blew a 10-point lead with 9:06 left in the game.
It was a week ago that the Cavaliers let a 26-point second-half lead slip away to the Atlanta Hawks. The night after that, the Cavs blew an 11-point fourthquarter lead to the Miami Heat and lost in overtime. In fairness, James was on the bench for the Heat loss, but the inability to hang on to significant leads is disconcerting at this time of the year.
There were careless turnovers that led to 19 points for the Pacers. But the more glaring stat came via the free throw line, where the Cavs shot 14for-27. James was 6-for-9 after recently proclaiming he intended to shoot 80% from the free throw line during the postseason. At 67%, James is coming off his worst year from the charity stripe. He said he had enlisted Kyle Korver to help with his routine.
As for the defensive lapses that plagued the Cavs during the final few months of the regular season — the transition defense, communication along the interior — they were still evident Saturday. Irving and James combined for five steals, including two late ones during crunchtime, but those won’t alleviate the more pressing defensive issue.
The Pacers shot 49% from the field and were 11-for-24 from the three-point line. They had more points in the paint, more second-chance points and more fast-break points. They also outrebounded the Cavs 41-34, partially because Kevin Love grabbed only four boards.
Should the Cavs be able to remedy their 22nd-ranked defense, it would be a reflection on coach Tyronn Lue. James credited Lue with the scheme for blitzing C.J. Miles on the final shot.
“That’s something we’ve worked on the last three years, especially for like the last year and half, when Ty Lue took over, it’s something we’ve always had in our package vs. any dynamic scorer or any guy that has it rolling,” James said. “We just had it in our back pocket, and we used it tonight.”
Here, the caveat applies. Should Game 1 be viewed in the vacuum of the postseason? It’s hard to ignore the larger context of the Cavaliers’ struggle. They ended the season 9-13. At the same time, James hasn’t lost a first-round game since 2012. He’s also 11-0 in first-round series in his career.
Either way, the Cavs didn’t want to think about the implications if Miles’ shot had fallen.
“It’s no way you can even answer that question,” James said. “If I didn’t get the block last year in the Finals, what happens? Kyrie didn’t make the three, Steph (Curry) would’ve made the three. There’s so many things. Can’t look at a game like that. He missed, we won.”
Lue said he was pleased with the team’s defense overall and the fact it took a defensive stop to earn the win.
“Hats off to them, they played well,” Lue said. “But we’ll be better.”