Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James gets caught up in a play. "My guys dug in that game and earned the right to be in that game - and they did not even give us a chance", Fizdale told journalists.
Cleveland's Big Three came up huge Monday. So when you have two teams who are both trying to instigate action, it's a better game. Love was called for the foul. Defensive breakdowns. Bad shots. In Game 1, the Cavs had a 118.9 defensive rating, which would have been the worst in the league over the course of the season.
Kawhi Leonard had a postseason career-high 37 points and added 11 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies 96-82 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.
After giving up a late lead and squeaking out the opener by a point, James and Co. showed more intensity on defense, more swagger in general and won their 10th straight first-round game over the past three seasons. At some point in the playoffs, the team will find its groove and make its way through the East to meet the Warriors in the Finals.
Cleveland appeared to be coasting to victory after opening up an 18-point lead at the end of the third quarter at the Quicken Loans Arena. We're right there (near) what we know we can become and we'll figure it out. Irving posted 37 points on 14-of-24 shooting with two boards, two dimes, a steal and four turnovers.
The series will now shift back to IN for Game 3, as Cleveland carries along the same problems that plagued them all season long.
Paul George scored 32 and Jeff Teague 23 for IN, which showed more fight, but now has a steep hill to climb to get back IN the series.
The Cavs, helped by a defense that held IN to 0-for-4 shooting and caused two turnovers over the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second period, went on a 17-4 run that began late IN the first quarter to take a 46-33 lead.
The Cavs vowed they would play better after their near-loss in Game 1 and they mostly backed up their talk, delivering the type of performance that was routine last season but rare in 2017. Irving closed the quarter by draining a 3-pointer over Stephenson and the All-Star made sure Indiana's antagonizing guard knew about it, yapping in his direction long after the horn sounded.
"I thought in the third quarter we just lost our composure", said Pacers coach Nate McMillan. "When they made a run offensively, we tried to get it back ourselves, but we just lost our poise". "And that was big".
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Down 18 to start the fourth, the Pacers quickly scored the first seven points and trailed just 109-104 after a George runner with 2:28 to go.
Now, they're heading home in a hole they believe is not that deep.
"We know what's at stake", C.J. Miles said.
The other hitch for Cleveland was that starting guard J.R. Smith didn't play in the second half because of a left hamstring injury.
Outside of Tristan Thompson, who is a good defensive player, and James, who can be when he's locked in and motivated to be (which, understandably, is not all the time in his 14th year in the National Basketball Association at age 32) Cleveland regularly plays no one who can honestly be considered better than an average defender.
"Shump was unbelievable", Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said. "We can't show our hand early because ... these are some good teams and we don't want them to be able to come into a series and be able to adjust to what we do. We needed that spark". "He's got to learn to just be in the moment". "Lance, in our locker room, is looked upon as a leader".
While Indiana president Larry Bird has taken clear steps to improving his team's versatility and athleticism in recent years by dumping Roy HIbbert, moving on from David West, drafting Turner and trading for Young, all of that purposeful activity has still left his roster without reliable answers to Cleveland's well-balanced frontline. "We're going to work with him". A lot of it is his heart and his competitiveness.
Pacers: Glenn Robinson III returned after missing the past 12 games with a strained left calf.
Still, Stephenson's final line was impressive, as he finished with 13 points, two rebounds, four assists and two steals in 26 minutes. C Al Jefferson was active, but didn't play.
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