https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6hVpmng1IY
There aren’t enough one-liners from NBA Jam to cover exactly how en fuego the Cavs were Wednesday night in their 123-98 win over the Hawks. Cleveland made a NBA-record 25 threes. J.R. Smith had seven, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving had four, and Kevin Love had three. In all, 10 different Cavs made a shot from beyond the arc and the team went 25-of-45 from three-point land.
So, for your viewing pleasure — unless you’re Charles Barkley — here’s a mashup of every single three made by Cleveland.
The Cavs aren’t going to replicate that type of performance again this postseason — at least one wouldn’t think so. That was one of those “when you’re on, you’re on” nights and they don’t come around often. However, the Cavs are the only team to remain undefeated in the playoffs this year. Not even Golden State can say that. If Steph Curry’s knee remains a problem, the playoff field becomes a lot more intriguing. We’ve already discussed at length what this means for a team like the Spurs. While San Antonio rode in the back seat during Golden State’s record-setting regular season, it nevertheless had its best season ever in the Gregg Popovich/Tim Duncan era.
However, Curry’s injury concerns coupled with Cleveland’s strong postseason play mean the Cavs merit title consideration, as well. For as dysfunctional as Cleveland looked in the regular season, they look like a complete team now. “Complete” means a couple of things here. Not only is this team playing at a high level, but they’re also healthy. Obviously, you couldn’t say that about the Cavs entering last year’s NBA Finals. LeBron did his damnedest to put the team on his back, but ultimately, his best supporting member was Matthew Dellavedova (and that was for a game or two).
The Cavs aren’t likely to make 25 threes again this postseason, but with the way they’re playing, they’re on track to make another run at a NBA title.
