LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers looked unstoppable in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final, casually dismissing the Boston Celtics and making many wonder if there’s anything Isaiah Thomas can do to stop the Cavs from reaching another NBA Final.
To preview Game 2, we already played it, letting NBA 2k17 LeBron and Isaiah square off to see if Boston can even the series before it heads back to Cleveland on Sunday night.
Nope! Looks like LeBron and the Cavs are solidly in control of this series. The Cavaliers at one point held a 20-point lead in this one, while Boston never really had control on home court. Let’s see those stat lines to get a better picture of this one.
Let’s start with Boston, since they were the home team and all. As expected, Thomas leads the way with 22 here and 10 assists. Not too bad. Al Horford also had 21 and eight rebounds, while Amir Johnson had 10 boards. Nothing really stands out here, though Avery Bradley shot just 3-of-13 from the field. Not great!
Meanwhile, James was an assist shy of a triple-double. Kevin Love’s game-high 26 and 10 also helps, and the starters all contributed here. Four Cavs finished in double figures, and it looks like a pretty casual affair for Cleveland again in this one.
Not exactly a beautiful-looking shot chart for either side here, but Cleveland did get a slight edge in rebounds and points in the paint. The key stat isn’t here, though, but in the original box score: Cleveland ran the court with ease and used their size to dominate on the fast-break.
That’s a lot of efficiency in the paint, which paid dividends for the Cavaliers to the tune of a digital 2-0 series lead. There is little surprise in who is MVP of this one.
With the series shifting back to Cleveland, it seems unlikely Boston finds a way to turn this one around. Not with LeBron playing the way he is, both on the court and on the console.
