The 2016-17 NBA playoffs are on the way. On Saturday afternoon it was the reigning NBA champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers, that got it started with a home game against the Indiana Pacers. Cavaliers finished the regular season as the number two seed in the Eastern Conference while the Pacers finished seventh. Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland was fully packed for Game 1 of this series with 20 thousand fans in the stands. The Cavs haven't been playing good basketball as of late especially on the defensive end, and the Pacers were hoping they can make an upset in the series-opener.
Close game to the end
Cleveland opened up the game with a 34-point first quarter. They shot the lights out in that first quarter and took a five-point lead 34-29. They followed that up with a 32-point second quarter and increased their lead to seven points at halftime. It was 66-59 for the home team after the first two-quarters of play. Cavs' biggest lead of the game was 12 points (90-78) but they couldn't pull away as the Pacers kept on coming. Indiana cut that lead down to six points midway through fourth quarter (100-94), and we were up for an exciting last minute of the game. With Cleveland leading 109-108 and with just 20 seconds left in the game, LeBron James missed a three-pointer that would've sealed it.
Indiana got possession and one last opportunity to win the game. CJ Miles ended up with the ball in his hands and missed a midrange jumper that would've won it for the Pacers. The final score was 109-108 for Tyronn Lue's squad that finished with 26 team assists. They connected on 11 of their 28 three-point attempts but they shot just 14-27 from the free-throw line.
Big night for LeBron James
This was the 200th playoff game for LeBron James and he made sure his team ends up with a win. James finished the game with 32 points, six rebounds, and 13 assists. He has never lost an opening game of the playoffs and that record is now 12-0. This is LeBron's 12th postseason and with 5,604 points he now needs 37 points to pass Kobe Bryant (5,640) for third place all-time in playoff points.
Kyrie Irving added 23 points and six assists, Kevin Love chipped in with 17 points and four rebounds.
Paul George was the leading scorer for Indiana in this one. He finished the game with 29 points, five rebounds, and seven assists. He was 6-8 from the three-point line. Lance Stephenson contributed off the bench with 16 points and seven rebounds while Jeff Teague added 15 points.
Game 2 will be played on Monday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
