The Cleveland Cavaliers absolutely dominated the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday. The Cavs jumped out to an early lead and kept building on it. By halftime, Cleveland was up rather comfortably but despite the large lead, Cleveland’s starting unit played until the final minutes of the third quarter.
There was a reason to this though. Cavs coach Tyronn Lue didn’t want history to repeat itself knowing how his team blew a 26-point lead to the Atlanta Hawks during the latter part of the regular season.
Here’s what coach Lue had to say, per Cleveland.com’s Joe Vardon:
“No way,” Lue said, when asked if he considered sitting the starters earlier in the second half. “You see us lose a game (where) we was up 26 to start the fourth quarter to Atlanta? We was up 26 to start the fourth quarter. To Atlanta. And lost. Yeah.”