Thanks in large part to a Herculean effort from LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers managed to walk away from Wednesday night’s Game 2 matchup against the Indiana Pacers with a 100-97 victory. Now, with the series tied at one game apiece, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue is asking the rest of his players to step up.
Prior to Wednesday’s game, coach Lue called on James to be more aggressive in the first quarter. Boy, did the King answer that bell. The three-time champion erupted for 16-straight points in the opening minutes of the first quarter. And when the smoke settled inside Quicken Loans Arena, James had racked up 46 points on 17-of-24 shooting from the field (2-of-5 from beyond the arc), 12 rebounds, five assists, and two steals in 40 minutes of action.
While it’s true that James had a terrific game, coach Lue would like to see more from the rest of his team.
“I need to see more out of a lot of guys,” coach Lue told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin during his postgame news conference.
Coach Lue’s comments came in response to a question about Rodney Hood’s productivity, according to McMenamin. Hood scored nine points in Game 1 and five points in Game 2.
Hood wasn’t the only player who struggled to get it going for the Cavs in Game 2. Jeff Green had two points in 13 minutes. Jordan Clarkson had two points in 14 minutes. Larry Nance Jr. posted two points in 24 minutes, though he did register five rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal.
As most Cavs fans know, coach Lue decided to change the starting lineup for Game 2, opting for J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver rather than Hood and Green. The adjustment paid off, as the Cavs jumped out to a 33-18 lead after the first quarter, with James accounting for 20 of Cleveland’s points. For a bit of perspective, the Cavs trailed 33-14 at the end of the first quarter in Game 1, with James scoring just two points.
“I think it’s just familiarity with that lineup to start tonight,” James said of the lineup change. “I mean, you got four guys that’s played in postseason games [together] before, and you add G-Hill, who’s got his own experience as well, so that definitely helps from that standpoint. It allowed JG and Rodney to kind of get in and get settled into the game before their number was called, so I think it worked well for us tonight.”
Friday’s Game 3 tilt is scheduled to tip inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse at 7:00 p.m. EST. with ESPN, FOX Sports Ohio and FOX Sports Indiana having live broadcast coverage.