The MVP of the league wasted no time showing his fans why he was given the award for the NBA’s best player. Then his team wasted no time showing the Atlanta Hawks where the exit is.
A mere 15 seconds into tonight’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, LeBron James was sending his first slam-dunk through the rim. It was a strong start to an even stronger night. James would finish with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals in his first game with the official title of MVP.
The Hawks looked strong early on, burying 7 of their first 9 shots to take a 15-10 lead, but that was the end of their fun. From that moment on, the Cavaliers clamped down on defense and held the Hawks to 38 percent shooting for the rest of the night. They were equally as miserable from the free throw line, shooting 50 percent on 9-of-18 shots.
An Anderson Varejao tip shot with 3:33 to play in the first quarter gave the Cavs a 19-17 lead which they would never relinquish. The lead grew to 12 points in the second quarter, and as the second half wore on, the lead only grew larger.
Mo Williams paced the non-MVP Cavaliers with 21 points, and Delonte West added 13 points and 9 assists.
The defense for Cleveland was their strongest asset tonight, holding Atlanta to only 28 points after halftime and forcing 17 total turnovers.
But what is especially scary about this team’s performance is that their big men were a complete non-factor, and yet we still won by a huge margin.
- Zydrunas Ilgauskas was 2-for-9 shooting for 7 points and had no defensive rebounds
- Anderson Varejao was 2-for-8 shooting for only 4 points, but grabbed 9 boards
- Joe Smith missed all four shots he took
- Ben Wallace scored on his only attempt, a slam-dunk
When your four big men combine for 23 percent shooting (5 for 22) and grab a total of only 17 rebounds in 89 minutes of action, you do NOT expect to win by 27 points. And yet, that’s exactly what happened.
This team is scary good, and they are perfecting their game at the right time. From what I saw tonight, I see only one team that can beat the Cavaliers in the playoffs.
Themselves.
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