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One year after he carried the Cavaliers as far as he could in the postseason,
James once again has Kyrie Irving and Kevin
Love by his side.
Cleveland's Big 3 is playoff healthy
again.
Cleveland's championship chances were dealt a major blow when Love's
shoulder was dislocated in just his fourth playoff game last year at Boston.
The Cavs advanced to the Finals without him only to have Irving break his
kneecap in Game 1 against Golden State, an injury that left James to fight the
Warriors on his own.
As he sat between his teammates -- who combined with him for 81 points,
24 rebounds and 18 assists -- following the game Sunday game, James looked
relieved.
"For these two guys, they were just excited to get back to this
moment," he said. "These guys have been working hard, Kyrie on his
knee, Kevin on his shoulder just to get back to this moment. It was great to be
out on the floor with them and for them to put together the performance that
they did."
Love made two critical 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and the Cavs
overcame a seven-point deficit by outscoring the Pistons 30-18 over the final
10:52.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 21 points and Marcus Morris had 20 --
but just one after halftime -- and Reggie Jackson added 17 for the Pistons,
making their first playoff appearance since 2009. Andre Drummond had 13 points
and 11 rebounds for the Pistons, who made 15 3-pointers but missed a couple
open ones down the stretch when their playoff inexperience showed.
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