var opponent = "hawks"; //used in image formatting opponent-dateCode-page.jpg var dateCode = "150526"; var pageSelectorTag = "div" var pageSelectorClass = "article-section" var pageTitleTag = "h4"; var pageTitleClass = "key";
Key: Springtime Reign
Just to put things into perspective, Head Coach David Blatt was an English Literature major at Princeton University and even he is running out of adjectives to describe LeBron James – who seems to rewrite the playoff history books every time he steps on the floor. And to put Sunday night’s game into perspective, the last player to post numbers resembling the stat-stuffer James did last night was Wilt Chamberlain in March, 1968.
To do it in the dramatic fashion that he did – getting off to the worst shooting start of his career to finish with a mammoth triple-double, hitting the go-ahead three-pointer late in overtime, eclipsing Karl Malone on the playoff scoring list, defending his teammate at the postgame podium – is why he’s all-time NBA royalty at just 30 years old. But, like the rest of the other nine guys on the floor, he’s battling through some nagging injuries – not to mention logging a game-high 47 minutes on Sunday night and he'd love nothing more than to end the series on Tuesday.
And for final perspective, here’s what the four-time MVP is averaging in the Eastern Conference Finals: 32.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 10.0 assists per contest.
What will he do for an encore on Tuesday night? The basketball world will be watching …
Key: New York Groove
Think back to the evening of January 5, 2015. Having just lost a one-sided affair to the Mavericks at The Q to fall five games behind the Bulls in the Central, the Cavs traveled to Philadelphia to face the Sixers. That night, the Cavaliers announced the deal that would bring Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to Cleveland. Who – (besides David Griffin) – could have known at the time that this early January deal would be the move to solidify the squad?
But the Wine and Gold’s dynamic backcourt duo has done exactly that – and their efficiency on both ends is what’s allowed David Blatt such huge flexibility. They’re each effective starting or coming off the bench and they play well on the floor together. Each can handle, shoot and defend.
After struggling from the floor in Game 1, Shump is averaging 15.5 ppg over his last two – going a combined 8-of-14 (57 percent) from beyond the arc – all while cross-defending Atlanta’s backcourt. Smith was unconscious in Game 1, cooled off in Game 2 and bounced back beautifully on Sunday night in Cleveland – doubling up with 17 points (including a huge trey early in OT) and 10 boards. Smith has notched double-figures in six of the seven games that he’s come off the bench this postseason, averaging 18.0 ppg during that stretch.
With Kyle Korver unfortunately on the shelf for the rest of the playoffs, this is obviously where the Cavs have the huge advantage over Atlanta.
Key: On Point
Just because Kyrie Irving wasn't at the point for Cleveland on Sunday night didn’t mean that the Cavaliers didn’t get their share of production (and controversy) in his absence.
Still battling left knee tendinitis, Irving was a late scratch in Game 3. He’s still listed as questionable for Game 4 at The Q and will probably once again be a game-time decision. With Irving on the mend, Matthew Dellavedova has gotten the last two starts, and they’ve been eventful – especially from Atlanta’s perspective.
On Friday night at Philips Arena, Delly dived for a loose ball and inadvertently rolled on Kyle Korver’s ankle, sidelining him for the duration of the playoffs. On Sunday night, Delly stumbled off-balance for a loose ball and bumped Al Horford’s knee on the way down. Horford took exception, elbowed Delly on the way down and was tossed.
Aside from the extracurriculars, the sophomore from St. Mary’s has been very good in relief of Kyrie. He went scoreless in Game 1, but affected the game greatly on the defensive end, holding the combination of Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroder to 10 second-half points. He notched 11 points in Game 2 and 17 on Sunday night, going 4-for-9 from beyond the arc.
LeBron defended his teammate at length during his postgame media after the Game 3 win, adding: “If they're focused on Delly, then they're focused on the wrong thing.”
Key: Cleveland Close-Out
Atlanta is lovely this time of year, but the Cavaliers would be content to visit it independently over the summer and not return again this season.
The Wine and Gold are now 11-2 in the postseason – dropping one home game before Tristan entered the starting lineup and one road contest when Derrick Rose banked home a trey at the buzzer. In 14 tries after going up, 2-0, in a playoff series, LeBron James has never failed to close a team out. Getting Sunday’s Game 3 was critical, but the Cavaliers would love to wrap up the East Finals on Tuesday night and get Kyrie, LeBron and Shump some time off to heal up.
The Cavaliers still haven’t lost a playoff game to the Hawks in seven postseason meetings and they’ve been dominant at home since mid-January and through the first two rounds. In the playoffs, Cleveland is undefeated when outrebounding their opponent (11-0) – and they’ve dominated Atlanta on the boards through the first part of the series. Their 114-point output in Game 3 was a playoff high, and the Wine and Gold are undefeated in six tries when topping the century mark.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have flashed the best defense in the playoffs; Sunday night was the eighth time they’ve held a postseason foe under 41 percent shooting from the floor.
All these numbers add up to the Wine and Gold leading Atlanta, 3-0, heading into Tuesday’s matchup. The Cavaliers would love to produce one more set of numbers to send the Hawks fishing for the summer.
Key: Chairmen of the Boards
After uneven performances through the first two games of the East Finals, Al Horford – before his ejection – and Paul Millsap turned in some solid outings on Sunday night.
Before being tossed, Horford had 14 points on 7-for-10 shooting in just 19 minutes of action; Millsap had easily his best game of the series, following up his four-point effort in Game 2 with 22 points (going 11-of-11 from the stripe) and nine boards.
For the Wine and Gold on Sunday night, their big man pairing of Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson combined for just a dozen boards – six less than LeBron did on the night. That speaks more to the greatness of James and the way Atlanta is willing to let anyone other than Thompson beat them on the boards – sending two men to the fourth-year forward every time the ball went up. The Cavaliers still managed to beat up the Hawks on the glass and Thompson still grabbed the biggest rebound of the night – an offensive board that he kicked out to LeBron for the go-ahead trey from the corner.
The Wine and Gold snagged 19 offensive boards in Game 3 – most in a playoff game since 2007 – and are out-rebounding the Hawks, 50.7 to 39.3. If the Cavaliers can turn in one more performance like that on the boards, they can punch their ticket to the Finals on Tuesday night.