5 Takeaways from Cleveland Cavaliers' Game 1 Win over Boston Celtics
It took the Boston Celtics nearly 82 games to gain homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference and just one night to fumble it away.
The Cleveland Cavaliers captured Game 1 from Boston 117-104 in a contest they never trailed and wasn't as close as the final score would indicate.
LeBron James and Kevin Love combined for 70 points, as the Celtics became just the latest Eastern Conference team to look completely overmatched against the defending champs.
Cleveland outhustled and outmuscled Boston in nearly every aspect, and did so while displaying a new rotation.
While Game 1 went exactly as many predicted, the Cavs could actually be much better moving forward.
Isaiah Thomas Contained
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On Isaiah Thomas' very first possession of the game, he dribbled toward the right corner, sizing up Kyrie Irving in the process.
Big mistake.
As predicted, the Cavs sent extra heat at Thomas early. Kevin Love helped trap the 5'9" star in the corner, forcing a turnover. The next time he touched the ball, 6'8" LeBron James stepped up to provide help.
Head coach Tyronn Lue's calling card has been to attack what the other team does best and live with what results may follow. Thomas is averaging 24.8 points these playoffs after finishing third in the regular season at 28.9 a night. He's been Boston's focal point all season, and where the Cavaliers defense remains fixated.
Much like it did with DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors last round, Cleveland's plan was to limit Thomas' impact and force others to beat them. Much like with DeRozan, the strategy worked.
Thomas finished the game with 17 points on 7-of-19 from the floor (36.8 percent) and 2-of-7 from deep (28.6 percent). He got to the free-throw line just three times. At no point did the Cavs ever let Thomas get into a rhythm, using a three-headed combo of Irving, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to take turns guarding the 28-year-old All-Star. Love, James and Tristan Thompson all provided double-team help.
Although he finished with 10 assists, the Cavs forced Thomas to turn the ball over four times as he registered a minus-20 rating, second-worst on the team.
This is exactly what the Cavaliers wanted, and, at least for one night, it worked.
Rotation Change
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Tyronn Lue has now begun three playoff series with three different rotations.
While all have contained nine players, there's been a new odd man out every time. Against the Indiana Pacers, it was Iman Shumpert who was benched until J.R. Smith suffered a strained hamstring.
When playing the Toronto Raptors, Richard Jefferson was reduced to a bench role while Shumpert, Channing Frye, Kyle Korver and Deron Williams all saw time in the second unit.
Now Jefferson is back. The casualty? Frye, who was garbage-time minutes away from a DNP-CD on his 34th birthday.
This certainly isn't an indictment on Frye, who entered the game shooting 60.0 percent from the field and 55.2 percent from long range. Instead, it appears to be a matchup issue. Frye's greatest strength is his ability to stretch the defense and pull shot-blocking centers out of the paint for LeBron James to operate.
Fortunately for the Cavs, the Celtics have no such rim protector, thus negating Frye's importance in this series.
The other major change was the bench unit's core.
Lue typically removes James with one-to-two minutes remaining in the first quarter so he can enter the second surrounded by four reserves. Instead, James played the entire first, while Kevin Love became the centerpiece of the second unit.
Even though Love did an admirable job, Lue went back to his usual lineup with James starting the fourth quarter with Korver, Shumpert, Jefferson and Williams.
Nothing appears to be set in stone with Lue, as he continues to adjust his rotation on a weekly basis.
Frontcourt Differential
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Poor Al Horford.
In nine postseason games against the Cavaliers the past three years, Horford is a perfect 0-9 and likely has night terrors of Tristan Thompson boxing out.
He averaged just 11.0 points and 4.8 rebounds against the Cavs in the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals. Last season in the East Semis, he chipped in a steady 14.8 points but managed just 3.5 boards in 32.9 minutes.
In Game 1, Horford was clearly bothered by Thompson's motor and athleticism once again, as he registered just 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting. He and starting power forward Amir Johnson combined for 11 points and nine rebounds, while Cleveland's big duo of Thompson and Kevin Love racked up 52 points and 21 boards.
Boston is the NBA's third-worst rebounding team this postseason with 38.0 caroms a game. Although they collected 40 in Game 1, Cleveland's 44 felt like much, much more.
Thompson set the tone in the first quarter, keeping possession after possession alive with his six offensive boards, a game high. He cleaned up everything inside, finishing a perfect 7-of-7 from the field for his 20-point night while Love's 6-of-9 shooting from deep fueled his 32.
Boston's strength lies in its backcourt. Cleveland needs to continue to bully their way inside.
LeBron James Continues His East Assault
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In a game where it looked like James might be nice and let Love actually lead the team in scoring, the three-time champion eventually just wouldn't allow it.
James finished with 38 points to Love's 32, racking up nine rebounds, seven assists and a pair of steals in the process.
What's more impressive is the way in which he chose to score. A whopping 20 of James' first 23 points came inside the paint, as the Celtics foolishly switched big men onto him. All James had to do was gather a head of steam, time the right moment to create separation and then finish with a twirling, acrobatic layup at the rim. In all, Boston used six different primary defenders on James.
"The way that he reads defense and offense and everything else, he's always picking the matchup that he wants," Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said. "It's hard to believe, but he's better than when I got in the league. A lot better. I didn't think he could get any better, but he is."
Among players who've logged at least nine playoff games this spring, James is first in scoring (34.8 points), fifth in rebounding (9.0), third in assists (7.1), first in steals (2.1) and fifth in blocks (1.3).
This could ultimately go down as James' best postseason run, a remarkable feat in his 14th professional season.
Room for Improvement
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What's not to like about a double-digit road victory that gives you back homecourt advantage?
A lot, if you're the world's best basketball player.
"I don't even think we played that great tonight," James said, via SI. "Definitely didn't shoot the ball as well as we're capable of shooting it. Kyle (Korver) had three or four very, very good looks that he missed."
He's got a point. Cleveland entered the night leading all playoff teams in three-point makes (14.4 a game) and success rate (42.9 percent). It finished Game 1 just 11-of-31, or 35.5 percent. The Cavs didn't even make a three until Iman Shumpert connected with 8:27 remaining in the second quarter. Korver was just 1-of-6 after coming in with a 48.5 percent mark this postseason.
While James, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson were brilliant, Kyrie Irving was somewhat quiet overall. He finished with 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting and only shot three free-throws. After putting up 23.8 points a night in the first eight games, expect Irving to bounce back this series.
Overall, Cleveland can't complain about its performance. For not having played a game since May 7, there was hardly any rust to be found.
Moving forward, containing Isaiah Thomas will still be key, as well as getting Irving going while pounding away at the Celtics' shallow frontcourt. With James playing at his current level, however, nothing else may even matter for Boston when trying to prevent a sweep.
Greg Swartz is the Cleveland Cavaliers Lead Writer for Bleacher Report.
