In a back-and forth game that was touch and go for the entire first half and most of the second half, the Cleveland Cavaliers did just enough to pull away from the Boston Celtics and go up 2-0 in their first-round series with a 99-91 victory.
LeBron led the Cavs with an incredible effort by scoring 30 points, pulling down 9 rebounds and 7 assists. He had an incredible fourth quarter with 15 points to help the Cavaliers pull away with the win.
During the game, he passed Jerry “The Logo” West on the all-time NBA playoffs scoring list with the effort. He did have a few more turnovers, 11 in two games he will have to clean up when the series goes on the road.
Kyrie Irving, the star of game one, also had a big night with 26 points, six assists and five rebounds. Timofey Mozgov did exactly what they Cavaliers traded for him to do as he was a dominant presence all night long in the middle.
Despite playing most of the game in foul trouble, (he would eventually foul out), Mozgov was a monster on the boards by ripping down seven rebounds, but also had an incredible five blocked shots along with a career playoff high in scoring with 16.
While only scoring seven points, JR Smith also put his work in on the defensive side of the ball by swiping five steals and keep the Cavaliers on the break away as much as possible.
The Cavaliers were down as many as nine late in the first half before they sparked a furious rally late to actually hold a 51-50 lead going into the half. Thanks in part to a very strong showing by Kevin Love who refused to be denied and attacked the rim all night long.
Love scored almost all of his 13 points in the rally.
Cleveland stayed hot and built a double digit lead in the second half before a raucous crowd at Quicken Loans Arena. Not to be overlooked was Tristan Thompson, who again, came up big off the bench with 11 monster rebounds.
The Celtics got another big effort out of Isiah Thomas with 22 points of the Boston bench. Outside of Thomas, the Celtics did had four other players score in double digits, but in the end, it was not enough.