Kyrie Irving Leads Cavaliers To Game 1 Win Over Celtics In Playoff Debut
USA Today
Before LeBron James took his talents back to Cleveland last summer, point guard Kyrie Irving had to shoulder the load for arguably one of the worst teams in the NBA. Irving improved his game year after year with the Cavaliers, but it wasn’t until Sunday that he was able to play in his first playoff game.
In his first game in the postseason, Irving didn’t disappoint leading the Cavaliers to a 13-point victory over the visiting Boston Celtics. Cleveland struggled early against Boston with Isaiah Thomas and company outscoring the Cavs in the first quarter, 31-27.
Despite the first-quarter struggles, Cleveland was able to bounce back with Irving ultimately scoring a game-high 30 points with the up-and-comer going 5-for-9 from beyond the arc. Not only was Sunday’s game a first for Irving, but Kevin Love also made his playoff debut. Love had a tough time getting going with his shot with the veteran forward hitting only 5-of-14 shots from the field, but he still managed to finish his first postseason game with 19 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.
After winning the first game of the series against the Celtics, Irving said the following, via ESPN:
“We,” Irving said, “are the Big 3. We have really great players on this team, but we set the tone.”
There’s been a lot of speculation over the course of the season that Love simply isn’t fitting in and as a result there’s been a rising tension with LeBron James. LeBron, and the rest of the Cavs organization, have downplayed any problems with Love, but things were firing on all cylinders in Game 1.
LeBron finished his first game of the series with 20 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. Although nowhere near LeBron’s best stat line, the four-time NBA MVP got a lot of help from Love and Irving.
Heading into Game 2 on Tuesday night in Cleveland, the Cavaliers are favored once again with a point spread of -11.5, according to Sportsbook.ag. Even though the Celtics put up more of a fight than anticipated, taking the Cavs to cover on Tuesday isn’t a bad bet.
