For at least one game in this year’s edition of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics did look as though they have the formula to stop Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James. For the first time in these playoffs, James shot below 40 percent from the field during Sunday’s 108-93 loss to Boston in the series opener. In that game, LeBron connected on just five of his 15 field goal attempts (31.3 FG%).
Following Cleveland’s tough loss at TD Garden, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue credited Boston’s defensive scheme that neutralized James in the contest, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
From an individual standpoint, Celtics forward Marcus Morris emerged as a winner in the game, too. Prior to the series, Morris made a bold statement, saying he’s the best LeBron stopper outside of Kawhi Leonard. In Game 1, he helped put the shackles on James, who committed seven of the Cavs’ nine turnovers in the contest. To further put that into perspective, consider that James only had eight errors in the entire second round against the Toronto Raptors.
Cleveland’s inability to knock down shots from deep also doomed the team. The Cavs had a horrendous shooting line of 4-for-26 from downtown in Game 1. James was 0-for-5 on his 3-point attempts, while Kevin Love and Kyle Korver were a combined 2-for-9 from behind the arc.
The Cavs have a full day of rest Monday before going back to work this coming Tuesday for Game 2 of the series. They are 4-2 in their last six road games.
