The Cavs have already locked up the No. 2 seed in the East, and many thought they’d rest their stars with Detroit in town last night. Nope. LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love all played (don’t you just love that we’ve taken to writing the Cavs trio in that order; the same way we did with James, Wade and Bosh in Miami?). But it was clear from the tip, James wasn’t going to activate chill mode so close to the playoffs.
Just check out this back-court steal and behind-the-back dime to Mozgov early in the first quarter:
The Cavs ended up out-scoring the Pistons 36-14 in the opening session and never looked back on their way to a relatively easy 109-97 win.
James finished with this second triple-double of the season in 32 minutes, scoring 21 points (7/17 shooting), corralling 11 boards and passing for 10 assists. He also added two blocks and a steal on his night, and it’s clear he’s trying to avoid the malaise that can set in when you’ve already secured your playoff positioning before the season concludes — a regular occurrence in Miami.
