After suffering a 107-94 defeat at the hands of the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves trailing in the series by a count of two game to nil.
The two teams won’t play again until Saturday, which means both sides will have had three days to recalibrate — a fact Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue touched on after Thursday morning’s practice session at Cleveland Clinic Courts.
In an interview with Tom Withers of The Associated Press in Cleveland, coach Lue stated that the extra time between games will allow his team to work on various aspects of their game, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
Most of Cleveland’s players struggled to find any sort of rhythm in Game 2, aside from LeBron James and Kevin Love, who accounted for 64 of the Cavs’ 94 total points. James, who took an inadvertent shoulder to the face in the closing phases of the first half, had 42 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, but it just wasn’t enough in the end.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, James now has three career playoff 40-point triple-doubles, which is good for the most in NBA postseason history.
“We’ve got to be tougher,” Coach Lue told ESPN after Game 2. “I think they’re playing tougher than we are. We see that. They’re being physical. They’re gooning the game up and we’ve got to do the same thing.”
Game 3 is set to tip inside Quicken Loans Arena at 8:30 p.m. EST on Saturday night with ESPN having live broadcast coverage. Let’s see if the Cavs can change their current narrative.
