Tonight’s Game 2 matchup of the Eastern Conference Finals started out a bit sloppy, especially for Boston. In fact, the Celtics were just 1-of-8 from the field through the first three minutes of the first quarter. After getting their act together, the Cavaliers managed to build an early lead.
The Celtics mounted a quick 8-2 run to reduce their deficit to one point, but the momentum was short-lived. Kevin Love stepped up and buried a crowd-silencing three to push the Cavs’ lead to seven.
The champs continued to take advantage of Boston’s poor shooting, extending their lead to 13 by way of a 12-0 run. At the first break, the Cavs were up by 14 points, 32-18.
As he usually does, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue called on his reserves, led by LeBron James, to start the second quarter.
Cleveland’s lead continued to grow, Boston couldn’t buy a bucket, and the crowd inside TD Garden began to grow silent. All of sudden, the Cavs were leading by 20 points, then 25, then 30…
At the halftime horn, solid defense and a buzzer-beating shot from J.R. Smith pushed Cleveland’s advantage to an NBA-record 41 points (72-31).
[HALF STATS]
LeBron James: 22pts, 6ast, 3reb, 3blk, 2stl
Kevin Love: 18pts, 8reb, 2ast, 1stl
Kyrie Irving: 14pts, 2ast— Cavs Nation (@CavsNationNet) May 20, 2017
Coming out of the locker room, the Cavs continued to build on their lead. Making things worse for the Beantown faithful, Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas suffered a hip strain and was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Coach Lue called off the dogs near the four minute mark of the third quarter.
With Thomas out, the Cavs built a massive 48 point lead by the end of the third quarter.
In what seemed to be a waiving of the white flag, Boston started the fourth quarter with their reserves. The Cavs obliged by keeping their bench players on the floor.
In the end, Cleveland’s big lead was just too much for Boston to overcome. When the final horn blew, the Cavs had taken a commanding 2-0 series lead with a 130-86 Game 2 victory.
Cleveland’s 130 big ones set a new franchise record for points scored in a postseason game.
[FINAL]
LeBron James: 30pts, 7ast, 4reb, 4stl, 3blk
Kyrie Irving: 23pts, 3ast, 1blk, 1stl
Kevin Love: 21pts, 12reb, 2ast, 1stl— Cavs Nation (@CavsNationNet) May 20, 2017
#Cavs set postseason franchise scoring marks for pts (130) and margin of victory (44) — demolish Celtics, 130-84; take 2-0 series lead. pic.twitter.com/sj8oKgjY73
— Joe Gabriele (@CavsJoeG) May 20, 2017
The tale of the tape. #CavsCeltics pic.twitter.com/GAIZ1Knhsw
— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) May 20, 2017
For the sixth straight game, our Cavs Nation game ball goes to LeBron James. In his — minutes of playing time, The King turned in 30 points (12-of-18 field, 4-of-6 from downtown), seven assists, four rebounds, four steals, and three blocks, giving him an eighth straight performance with 30 points or more.
For #Cavs, who at one point led by 50 and have now won 13 straight Playoff games: @KingJames, 30pts, 12-18FG, 4-6 3ptFG, 7asst, 4stl, 3blk.
— Joe Gabriele (@CavsJoeG) May 20, 2017
The series will now shift to Cleveland. Game 3 is set for Sunday at 8:30 p.m. on TNT.