Game 2 of Eastern Conference first-round playoff series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Indiana Pacers was played on Monday night. Cleveland won Game 1 on Saturday afternoon after CJ Miles missed a potential game winner for the Pacers. The Cavs are the defending NBA champions and on Monday night they wanted to set the tone and take a comfortable 2-0 series lead.
Wire to wire victory for the Cavs
Tryonn Lue's team opened up the game with a 32-point first quarter. It was 32-29 for the Cavaliers after the first 12 minutes of playing time. They increased their lead up to 13 points midway through the second quarter (56-43) but the Pacers managed to cut that to five points before the halftime buzzer.
At halftime score was 63-58 in favor of the home team. Deron Williams scored nine points in that first half as he hit 3 three-pointers. Cleveland played a strong third quarter scoring 33 points in that period.
Kevin Love scored 10 of his 27 points in that period and went on a personal 10-0 run during the third quarter. Cavs' biggest lead was 19 points (89-70) as they pulled away and took a 96-78 lead going into the fourth quarter. Pacers rallied back again and cut it to 113-109 but then Love and Irving drilled four straight free throws and sealed the deal. The final score was 117-111 for the Cavaliers. They outrebounded Nate McMillan's team 37-33 and shot an impressive 55.3% from the field. Cleveland connected on 13 of their 31 three-point attempts (41.9%) and shot 20-23 from the free-throw line.
Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 37 points
On Monday night it was Kyrie Irving's time to shine. He finished the game with 37 points and went 4-10 from the three-point land. Kyrie scored 11 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter and added two rebounds and two assists. He was pretty efficient too as he went 14-24 from the field.Kevin Love also played a great game.
He scored 27 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Love was 12-12 from the free throw line. LeBron James contributed with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists.
This is the first time that Love, Irving, and James have all scored 25 points in the same playoff game. The Cavaliers are now 7-0 when "Big Three" scored at least 20 points each in the postseason.
Paul George led the way for the Pacers. He played another great game and finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Jeff Teague added 24 points, four rebounds, and four assists.
Cleveland now holds 2-0 series lead with Game 3 scheduled on Thursday night. The Cavaliers are 12-0 all-time in postseason series in which they’ve won the first two games.
