Tristan Thompson After Cavaliers' Game 1 Loss vs. Celtics: 'They Punked Us'
Cleveland Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson didn't mince words after his team dropped Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Boston Celtics on Sunday at TD Garden, 108-83.
"They punked us," he said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. "Early and often."
He wasn't wrong about the "early and often" part, as the Celtics jumped out to a 29-9 lead on the way to a 26-point halftime advantage. Even though Cleveland won the third quarter by 12 points, it still found itself facing a daunting deficit for much of the game.
Despite his comments, Thompson was one of the only Cavaliers who played well from a statistical standpoint with eight points and 11 rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting.
LeBron James struggled throughout and finished with 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the field to go with seven turnovers. The four-time MVP also sported an ugly plus-minus of minus-32 throughout the contest, per ESPN.com.
He wasn't worried, though, per McMenamin:
"I have zero level of concern at this stage. I didn't go to college, so it's not March Madness. You know, you get better throughout the series. You see ways you can get better throughout the series. But I've been down 0-1, I've been down 0-2, I've been down before in the postseason. But for me, there's never no level of concern, no matter how bad I played tonight with seven turnovers, how inefficient I was shooting the ball."
Those looking for a silver lining from Cleveland's perspective don't have to go back too far to find a similar situation for the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions. They lost Game 1 in the first round to the Indiana Pacers by 18 points, and that was at home. Even though it took the Cavaliers a full seven games, they eventually bounced back to oust Indiana and advance.
It is easy to point to the high-profile absences of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward and assume the Celtics are overmatched like the Pacers were against a team featuring James, but that would be a disservice to a stifling defense that set the tone Sunday.
Boston led the league in defensive rating during the regular season, per NBA.com, and is yet to lose a home game in the postseason.
James and the Cavaliers still have the chance to earn a split and seize home-court advantage with a win in Tuesday's Game 2, but the Celtics proved Sunday they won't be a pushover.
