The Cavaliers broke out the fancy highlights against the Celtics
The first meeting between Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook was clearly the big draw of Thursday night’s NBA schedule, and it offered all the excitement we hoped for (before halftime, at least). Yet the evening’s other nationally televised game was good for plenty of highlights, as well, if not quite the same level of drama. When LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers take the court, there’s always the potential for something fantastic.
Of course, the first amazing play of the night came from someone more known for doing the dirty work on the boards. With 3:48 remaining in the second quarter of Cleveland’s home game against the Boston Celtics, Thompson unloaded on former Cavaliers teammate Tyler Zeller for this powerful dunk:
Then, in the third quarter, Kyrie Irving and LeBron teamed up for this off-the-backboard alley-oop:
These highlights serve as a pretty fair representation of the game as a whole, although it will not show up in the eventual score. The Cavaliers led by 17 after three quarters before allowing the Celtics to creep back in during the fourth. The 128-122 final is perhaps most representative in that it shows just how thoroughly Cleveland’s offense dominated the game. LeBron put up 30 points and 12 assists to pace an attack that balanced 24 assists against only eight turnovers.
The Celtics have some decent excuses for the result never really looking in doubt. In addition to playing the second night of a back-to-back on the road, Boston was without starters Al Horford (concussion) and wing Jae Crowder (rolled ankle). The loss of Crowder was particularly important given his usual assignment in guarding LeBron James.
– – – – – – –
Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
