CLEVELAND: Expecting the Cavaliers to go from a lackadaisical, four-consecutive-loss finish to the regular season to a spectacular start to the playoffs might have been asking too much.
Especially when LeBron James has won 19 consecutive first-round playoff games. To James, the opening round of the postseason might feel like a slam dunk, and not even the primal scream variety.
But the Cavs vowed to a man they would learn from Saturday’s one-point victory over the Indiana Pacers, a near-disaster in the opener.
The Cavs made strides in the second half of a 117-111 victory Monday night at Quicken Loans Arena to take a 2-0 series lead, but will surely carry some scars going forward.
Especially Kevin Love.
The physical fight, ramped up a few notches from Game 1, seemed like just what the Cavs needed. Slumbering at times in the first 24 minutes, the Cavs were violently knocked out of their beds.
Love absorbed what looked like two charging calls, the first from Paul George, the second from Jeff Teague, and was whistled for a foul on both. On the first, with 4:31 left in the second quarter, Love took an elbow to the chin from George. On the second, with 9:59 left in the third quarter, LeBron James was so incensed that he drew a technical foul.
After that, the Cavs found their intensity.
Usually dominant in the first quarter and sometimes fading as the game goes on, Love turned it on in the third quarter, scoring 10 consecutive points, capitalizing on a matchup with Lance Stephenson. That helped the Cavs open a 19-point lead and hold an 18-point margin going into the final quarter.
But just as in Game 1, when they led by 12 in the third quarter and 10 with nine minutes left, they slacked off and gave the Pacers a chance to come back. The Pacers cut the margin to four points with 18.1 seconds left.
Even though the Cavs earned their 10th consecutive victory in the opening playoff round over three seasons as the Big Three flexed their muscles, there is more to clean up.
They might have to do it without J.R. Smith, who suffered a left hamstring injury that sidelined him in the second half.
That forced Iman Shumpert, who didn’t play a minute in Game 1, into the lineup with the added burden of the defensive assignment on George. Smith didn’t look happy as he sat on the floor of the end zone before the third quarter began.
Still an issue for the Cavs were turnovers, with 19 leading to 24 Pacers points. Eight of those were committed by James. That came on the heels of 11 giveaways for 19 points in the series opener.
More encouraging was a drastic improvement at the free-throw line. The Cavs made 20-of-23 after missing 13 on Saturday.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue might overlook another outstanding performance by Pacers’ four-time All-Star George (32 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) since George is arguably the second-best player in the Eastern Conference. Only Kyrie Irving supporters might beg to differ.
Determined Pacers
But the seventh-seeded Pacers showed again they will batter the second-seeded Cavs until the end.
They are not intimidated by James and the defending champions.
They will not back down in the paint.
Two Cavs’ victories Thursday and Sunday in Bankers Life Fieldhouse are far from certain.
The way Game 1 ended, with C.J. Miles missing a potential game-winning 14-footer with one second remaining, might have convinced the Pacers they can compete with the Cavs, even though Pacers coach Nate McMillan didn’t agree.
“We believe. We came in believing, we still believe,” McMillan said. “But we’ve got to work harder and do some things better to win the ballgame. But we believed all the time.”
Believing might not be enough for the Pacers, not if the Cavs’ Big Three dominate like they did Monday. Irving scored 37 points, Love 27, going 12-for-12 from the free-throw line with 11 rebounds, and James fell three assists shy of a triple-double with 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
Maybe what the Cavs needed wasn’t just film study and free-throw shooting. Perhaps they needed to get angry, to feel the pain of playoff basketball to remind them of the glory that can accompany it.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.