The Cleveland Cavaliers took a 1-0 series lead Monday night, holding off a rally by the Atlanta Hawks for a 104-93 victory.
LeBron James (25 points, 9 assists and seven rebounds) and Kyrie Irving (21 points and eight assists) led the way for the Cavs.
Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver was completely shutdown by Cleveland’s defense.
Per the Akron Beacon Journal:
The Cavs’ defense on Korver remains as stifling as ever. He took just one shot in Game 1 as the Cavs rendered one of the league’s best 3-point shooters ineffective yet again. He touched the ball just 30 times – the same number of touches Mike Scott received – and passed on 27 of them. The Cavs believe slowing down Korver is a huge piece to slowing down their offense so they’ll commit as many bodies to him as necessary.
On this night, that meant Dennis Schroder. His 27 points were a career playoff high, as were his five 3-pointers. In fact, Schroder made just three 3s in the Hawks’ first-round series against the Celtics and had only 12 career postseason 3s prior to Game 1. […] “It’s the game in between the game that people don’t see. We have a scouting report and we followed that scouting report for 48 minutes,” LeBron James said in response to a question about Schroder’s big night. “We are professionals. Guys make shots and things happen over the course of the game, which is OK. Schroder hit some big shots. He played exceptionally well. But we followed the game plan that our coaching staff gave us and it gave us the best possible chance to win.”
Kevin Love took another blow to that right shoulder late in the game when Kent Bazemore landed on it during Love’s 3-point shot. He needed the shoulder worked on again by trainer Steve Spiro – it was the same shoulder Love injured in Game 4 against the Pistons, but the opposite shoulder he had surgery on last spring. Love later cramped up, but said he’d be fine for Game 2. “I’m fine,” he said. “I can’t catch a break with that shoulder, but I’m fine.”
