Celtics up 2-0 despite triple-double by LeBron | The Triangle

Celtics up 2-0 despite triple-double by LeBron

Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James had 42 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in Game 2 against the Boston Celtics May 15. (Photograph courtesy of Phil Masturzo/Akron Beacon Journal/TNS)

In the past couple years, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been in the spotlight to win the National Basketball Association Finals with the dominance of not only LeBron James, but the rest of the team as well. The team did lose some major players this year such as Kyrie Irving, but have still managed to make it pretty far into the playoffs. The Cavs have made it to the NBA finals for the last three years, and even with all of these personnel changes, they have still managed to be dominant in the league. It is still up in the air how much this success is from LeBron James, but the success of the Cavs cannot be ignored. This year, they face the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.

In Game 1 of the series May 13, the Celtics started off hot with an almost 20 point lead in the first quarter. In fact, with their first possession, Jaylen Brown of the Celtics drove to the rim and scored an easy layup. Continuing with the game, the Celtics proceeded with the dominance. Al Horford was a big reason why the Celtics had so much success. He usually has some issues against the Cavs, but this game, he came out dominant with 20 points, four rebounds and six assists. In one play, he drove to the basket, made the layup over Kevin Love, drawing a foul in the process.

Going forward with the game, the Celtics did not back down. Brown, as mentioned before, was a immense threat to the Cavs. Against the Philadelphia 76ers, he consistently scored almost 10 points per game, with his final game being the highest scoring with 24 points. This trend continued into this series, scoring 23 in each game. In the end, the Celtics came out with the win with a final score of 108-83.

Lebron was not as dominant as he usually is, scoring only 15 points in the first game. He did, however, hit his staple fadeaway two-pointer in the second quarter to cut the lead to under 20. That shot has been a favorite of his, and it was most notable when he used it against the Toronto Raptors as a buzzer beater to win Game 3 of the series. He also used a fadeaway three pointer to get a 3-2 lead in the series against the Indiana Pacers.

In Game 2 May 15, the Celtics continued their dominance with another win. However, this time the Cavs started off with the lead. With yet another fadeaway three, LeBron brought the Cavs to a 10 point lead near the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Celtics cut that lead to eight. Jayson Tatum drove to the rim, avoiding Larry Nance Jr., and making the layup.

LeBron was much more of a threat this game, scoring a triple-double with 42 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. He had some wonderful bounce passes to Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love, both of whom avoided a handful of defenders.

However, this excellence by LeBron and the rest of the team did not last the whole game, as the Celtics took the lead in the third quarter. From there, they didn’t look back, and took Game 2 with a score of 107-94.