Photo Courtesy: Dominic Ceraldi
LBJ Leads Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference Finals
LeBron is back in the Eastern Conference Finals this time with his first team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Remember this is his second time with the Cavs, but he was a fixture in the Eastern Conference Finals with the Miami Heat. Last night the Cavs finished off the Chicago Bulls. Now, looking at both teams rosters Chicago was stronger because of the injury to Kevin Love with a separated shoulder and Kyrie Irving. After being down two games to one, the Cavs showed the NBA and the rest of the world what they were made of. Game 5 in Cleveland a last second game winner by LeBron with less than a second in Cleveland propelled the Cavs into a Game 6 with Chicago. “A closeout game is just as tough as any other game in the playoffs,” James told reporters at Thursday morning’s shoot around in Chicago. “It’s always difficult to win in the playoffs no matter if it’s a closeout game or Game 1. It takes maximum effort and concentration to win a playoff game. James has a career record of 23-10 in closeout games, with half of those losses coming during his first three trips to the postseason with the Cavs. Only once in his career has he failed to win a series when given multiple chances at a closeout as the Cavs have here. That was in 2006, in his first trip to the playoffs, when the Cavs lost Games 6 and 7 to the Detroit Pistons in the conference semifinals. Shumpert and Smith, dealt away in a salary-dumping move by Phil Jackson in January, combined to score 25 points, while Matthew Dellavedova pumped in a team-high 19 off the bench for the Cavs. James shot just 7-for-23 from the floor but nearly recorded a triple double with 15 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. Kyrie Irving has been hobbled by a foot injury and didn’t return to the game after suffering a left-knee injury in the second quarter. The rest will be very helpful for the ailing Cavs. If Washington wins the series with Atlanta the Cavs will have home court advantage in the Eastern Finals. If Atlanta wins the Cavs has to travel to Atlanta and right now the Cavs would rather have home court. Lets see how the series end with Atlanta and Washington. The Cavs need all the rest they can get to make it back to the NBA Finals.
