LeBron James was dominant in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Atlanta Hawks tonight. He narrowly missed out on a triple double as he finished with 30 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds on 11-of-22 shooting. During one particularly insane stretch in the third quarter, LeBron had scored or assisted on 33 of the Cavs 49 previous points, and eight of his nine assists at that point had resulted in three-pointers.
He was also mic’d for TNT’s Inside Trax, which offered a rare glimpse into James’ in-game communication with his teammates. He also had a little fun with a pregnant fan who was sitting court-side.
DeMarre Carroll, who suffered a scary-looking leg injury in Game 1, suited up and started for the Hawks tonight, but he was clearly still hobbling and largely ineffective on both sides of the court as he finished with just 6 points, despite playing nearly 34 minutes.
After his Game 1 explosion, J.R. Smith was relatively quiet tonight and had a more modest nine points on 3-of-8 shooting, including just 1-of-3 from downtown after he set a Cavs playoff record with eight three-pointers on Wednesday.
It was Iman Shumpert who stepped up in his place with 16 points on 6-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point land.
The Hawks were never really able to get into the flow tonight, and just about everybody struggled from the floor. Dennis Schroder was the high scorer for Atlanta with 13 points, and Kyle Korver, Jeff Teague, and Al Horford all chipped in 12 points apiece, but both Korver and Teague where just 2-of-6 from three. The Hawks as a team were a miserable 6-of-26 from downtown overall (23.1 percent).
They now face a daunting 2-0 deficit to the Cavs as they head to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4. Game 3 tips off Sunday at 8:30 PM ET on TNT.
(Vine via Valerie Vine Star)
