In a series filled with injuries, including to Kyrie Irving, DeMarre Carroll and Kyle Korver, one player that has remained healthy is LeBron James. He played healthy on Friday night, scoring 30 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Atlanta Hawks 94-82 for a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Cavaliers led by as many as 20 points, and pulled away in the third quarter, a quarter in which Atlanta shot just 32 percent. James contributed 11 points in the third, as the Cavs' defense held the Hawks to 7-of-22 shooting. All of this without their star point guard, who was ruled out before the game with a left knee injury.
Carroll returned for the Hawks, but had the issue of defending LeBron, who took full advantage of a less than 100 percent Hawks' forward. James is beginning to carry most of the load due to Kevin Love being out for the rest of the playoffs, and Kyrie Irving not being healthy. Tristan Thompson helped out down low, grabbing 16 rebounds to help Cleveland outrebound Atlanta 47-39.
The Cavs took the second straight game in Atlanta against the No. 1 seed in the east, and a team that recorded 60 wins in the regular season. James has led both games, as he scored 31 points in game 1 before his 30-point performance in game 2. He shot 10-of-22 from the field on Friday, including a couple of three-pointers, and recorded 11 assists and nine rebounds.
Cleveland shot 12-of-30 from downtown as a team, including four for Iman Shumpert, who finished the game with 16 points.
Dennis Schroder scored 13 points to lead the Hawks, and Carroll finished with just six points. The Hawks injury list got longer when Korver left the game after rolling his ankle. He will miss the remainder of the playoffs with the ankle injury, and may need surgery.
Game 3 of the series will take place in Cleveland on Sunday night.
The Cavaliers led by as many as 20 points, and pulled away in the third quarter, a quarter in which Atlanta shot just 32 percent. James contributed 11 points in the third, as the Cavs' defense held the Hawks to 7-of-22 shooting. All of this without their star point guard, who was ruled out before the game with a left knee injury.
Carroll returned for the Hawks, but had the issue of defending LeBron, who took full advantage of a less than 100 percent Hawks' forward. James is beginning to carry most of the load due to Kevin Love being out for the rest of the playoffs, and Kyrie Irving not being healthy. Tristan Thompson helped out down low, grabbing 16 rebounds to help Cleveland outrebound Atlanta 47-39.
The Cavs took the second straight game in Atlanta against the No. 1 seed in the east, and a team that recorded 60 wins in the regular season. James has led both games, as he scored 31 points in game 1 before his 30-point performance in game 2. He shot 10-of-22 from the field on Friday, including a couple of three-pointers, and recorded 11 assists and nine rebounds.
Cleveland shot 12-of-30 from downtown as a team, including four for Iman Shumpert, who finished the game with 16 points.
Dennis Schroder scored 13 points to lead the Hawks, and Carroll finished with just six points. The Hawks injury list got longer when Korver left the game after rolling his ankle. He will miss the remainder of the playoffs with the ankle injury, and may need surgery.
Game 3 of the series will take place in Cleveland on Sunday night.
