Well.... I went on a day trip with my wife, who was not aware there was a game today (she is a serious non-sports fan and oblivious to everything sports related) -- opted for a nice Mother's Day rather than the game. Not resentful to my wife at all -- actually had a great day -- but a little peeved that Game 1 had to be on Mother's Day. Anyway, just got home thinking I may catch the last minute and saw the score. Wow -- I think I would have been smiling all game long.
If anyone has a minute to give me your synopsis -- who played well? Any surprises? Was it a start to finish blowout? Did Cavs threaten at any point? Did the C's game plan well v. LBJ and take him out of his game, or did he just have an off game? Broadcasters blame it on Cavs rust -- any credit to the C's???
The C's jumped ahead early and didn't really look back. They had a disappointing 3rd quarter where the Cavs cut the lead from 28 to 14, but then the C's opened the 4th on a 7-0 run, and at one point it was 18 points for the C's to 4 points for the Cavs in the 4th quarter. The Cavs waved the white flag shortly after.
Brown had a dominant 1st quarter (13 points) and was an absolute beast almost the entire game. There was a play where he had to guard Kevin Love in the post, held his ground well and made a fantastic block on him, then went got the ball in transition and drained a long 2 in Korver's face.
Tatum came alive in the 2nd half. Made some impressive isolation 3's right in the faces of Cavs defenders. He played well.
MM was huge. He hit some big 3 pointers that stopped some runs by the Cavs. He was a big reason we started the 4th on the 7-0 run which basically iced the game.
Horford had a beast 1st half and absolutely torched Kevin Love. Underrated Al doing what he does.
Overall the C's planned very well. Their ball movement and athleticism was too much for the Cavs' weak defense, especially with Love at center. Our defense was outstanding - our communication, switches, and spacing was excellent. We forced LeBron into either making bad passes or setting for a lot of long jumpers (he went 0-5 from 3). He had an off game but we had something to do with that. As far as the announcers, Van Gundy was giving our team a lot of props and said multiple times that he picked the C's to win and thinks that we're the better team overall.