Cavaliers prevail over pesky Pistons in Game 1
Kyrie Irving scored 31 points in his first playoff game since being injured in last year’s NBA Finals and Kevin Love added 28, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 106-101 win over the young and confident Detroit Pistons in the opener of their first-round playoff series Sunday.
LeBron James added 22 points and 11 assists for the top-seeded Cavs, who are favored to win the Eastern Conference again but got all they could handle from the Pistons.
Love, knocked out of the playoffs with a shoulder injury in the first round a year ago, made two critical 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 21 and Marcus Morris 20 but just one after halftime for the Pistons, making their first playoff appearance since 2009. Andre Drummond had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Detroit made 15 3-pointers, but the Pistons’ playoff inexperience showed in the final minutes.
Game 2 is Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena, which was on edge for much of Game 1 as the Pistons, who beat Cleveland three times during the regular season, flirted with an upset.
For more than 40 minutes, the Pistons, who have just one starter with playoff experience, matched the Cavaliers shot for shot. Detroit’s young squad wasn’t intimidated and Reggie Jackson’s 3-pointer tied it 88-88 with 6:29 left.
But that’s when Love, who has had two uneven seasons since coming to Cleveland, buried consecutive 3s to put the Cavs ahead by four and finally allow a sellout crowd of more than 20,000 a chance to relax.
Miami 123, Charlotte 91: Luol Deng scored 31 points on 11-for-13 shooting, Hassan Whiteside added 21 points and 11 rebounds in his postseason debut, and the Miami Heat wasted no time taking control of what became a 123-91 victory over the Charlotte Hornets in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Dwyane Wade scored 16 points in 25 minutes for the Heat. Joe Johnson and Amare Stoudemire each scored 11 points and Goran Dragic had 10 assists for Miami.
Miami scored 41 points in the first quarter to tie one franchise playoff record, set another with the 123 points – topping the 121 in the 2012 NBA Finals clincher against Oklahoma City – and never trailed.
Nic Batum scored 24 points for the Hornets. Kemba Walker added 19.
Game 2 is Wednesday night in Miami.