The Cleveland Cavaliers started into the playoffs with an away win against the Toronto Raptors. LeBron James thanked his teammates – and explained why he had so much fun.
James played a triple double with 26 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds in the 113:112-OT victory of his Cavs, but with 12/30 goals from the field he was not as strong as usual. “I wasn’t as efficient as I imagined. I had a lot of open throws, even open threesomes that didn’t go in,” explained LeBron after the game.
“But the only thing that counts at the end of the day is victory – and my teams were incredible today. You were there when I wasn’t in top form.”
James specified: “Kevin[Love] had problems in the first half, but Jeff[Green] was there and stood in for him. And then Kyle[Korver] had a great second half – and suddenly Kevin was back again. He was a monster on a board. JR[Smith] was very consistent as a shooter and Tristan[Thompson] continued where he left off in game 7[against the Pacers]. He gives us a lot of extra posessions and has hit important free throws. All in all, it was a team effort that ensured victory.”
Shortly before the end of the regular season, however, it was James himself who forced extra time with a Fadeaway. “In the end, it was a one-possession game – and I prefer situations like that, games like that,” he explained.
But of course one should not sit back after the opening success: “Our goal is to show our best possible basketball every night. Today we reached our goal, now we want to try that in Game 2,” James set the course.
Head Coach Tyronn Lue was pleased with the result with his team: “The boys have shown that they can win in a hostile atmosphere. We’ve played hard and that’s how we want to go on.”
Shooter Kyle Korver admitted: “Victory feels good, of course – but I think we were very lucky today.
Game 2 of the series goes up in the night on Friday again in Toronto.