Cavaliers annihilate Celtics to take 2-0 lead: 3 takeaways from Game 2

The Cleveland Cavaliers destroyed the Boston Celtics, 130-86, at the TD Garden on Friday night. Here are three takeaways from Game 2 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

It didn’t seem that things could get much worse for the Boston Celtics after the Cleveland Cavaliers came into the TD Garden and dominated them in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. And then Game 2 happened.

The rout didn’t happen right away, but it didn’t take too long for the Cavaliers to get hot. Boston actually did lead Game 2 in the early minutes but a 10-0 run by the Cavs midway through the first quarter took care of that and the game was essentially over from there. Cleveland outscored Boston 14-4 in the paint and 8-0 on the fast break in the opening frame to take a 14-point lead into the second, and then things just got ugly.

Cleveland completely dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Celtics 40-13 while also playing brilliantly on the defensive end of the floor. Isaiah Thomas was a non-factor, scoring just two points on 0-for-6 shooting before leaving the game with a strained right hip at halftime, but he also wasn’t getting that much help from his teammates anyway. The Celtics shot just 29 percent from the floor in the first half and could never get comfortable on offense. The Cavs’ defense was stifling from the outset, forcing 10 turnovers in the first half, including five steals and four blocks, the best coming from … you guessed it, LeBron James, who once again delivered one of his patented blocks from behind as Avery Bradley thought he had an easy layup.

But while the Cavs’ defense was good, the offense was even better and the big three for Cleveland led the way as usual. LeBron was 9-for-14 from the floor in the first half and also 2-for-3 from beyond the arc to lead the way with 22 points and also added six assists, five of those coming in the first quarter. Kevin Love was 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-8 from deep to add 18 points and Kyrie Irving chipped in 14 for good measure. Overall, Cleveland shot 26-for-44 (59.1%) from the floor and 10-for-22 (45.5%) from the 3-point line, and took a 41-point lead into the locker room, a new NBA Playoffs record thanks to J.R. Smith’s incredible buzzer-beater.

The second half was extremely difficult to watch. The Boston crowd was obviously dejected and the Celtics players were right there with them. Essentially, the only reason to watch was to see if the Cavs could get the lead to 50, which they did with just under 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but in the end the final margin was 44 as the beating mercifully ended with a 130-86 final score. LeBron James finished with 30 points, Kyrie Irving ended up with 23 and Kevin Love had a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds. The Cavaliers shot 56.5 percent (48-for-85) from the floor and 48.7 percent (19-for-39) from beyond the arc and now take a 2-0 lead back to Cleveland for Game 3.

Here are three quick takeaways from Game 2.

Takeaways

LeBron James played with a purpose. LeBron James might not come out and say that he was disappointed about not being named one of the three finalists for the NBA MVP, but his performance in Game 2 might have just done the talking for him. Or maybe LeBron James was just being LeBron James. After all, he did come into Game 2 having scored 30 or more points in seven straight games, and did so once again on the number on Friday night to tie Michael Jordan for the most consecutive 30-point playoff games, so perhaps he was going to perform like he did regardless of that announcement.

But there was a look in his eyes from the get-go that told the world he and the Cavaliers were going to dominate this game and that’s exactly what happened. He looks so confident in everything he’s doing right now, especially his outside shooting. We all know that when LeBron wants to get to the rim, he’s going to get to the rim, but now that he’s shooting the basketball from the perimeter the way he is, there’s no way to defend him and that leads right into my next point.

The Celtics are simply overmatched. The Boston Celtics came into these NBA Playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference but did anyone really believe that they had a chance against the Cavs? This was a must-win game for the Celtics, and just as it was in Game 1, they were out of it almost immediately. Boston just doesn’t have the roster to match up with Cleveland and they’ve got zero answer for LeBron, who just had his 18th 30-point playoff game against them. You can’t back away from him because he’s shooting the three-ball much better as of late, you can’t get up on him because he’ll either back you down or just go around you and you can’t double him because he finds the open man better than just about anyone in the NBA and his teammates are just as hot as he is.

Boston relies so heavily on Isaiah Thomas, and with him not being able to get anything done on Friday night, even before exiting, someone has to step up and nobody is doing that in this series. Rookie Jaylen Brown had a nice game, scoring 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting, but with all due respect, is Jaylen Brown going to lead the Celtics to the NBA Finals? And if Thomas ends up not being able to go in Game 3, then what? Do the Cavs win by 60? The Celtics are a good basketball team but they’re not ready for this just yet. But hey, at least they’ve got the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.

This series is over. There’s really not much to say about this one, is there? Yes, the Celtics were able to overcome losing the first two games at home to Chicago but Jimmy Butler and the Bulls aren’t exactly LeBron James and the Cavaliers, are they? There’s just absolutely no way that the Celtics can win this series, and like most people out there right now, I don’t even think there’s a chance they win even one game.

Cleveland is just playing too well right now and an NBA Finals matchup with the Warriors is inevitable. This last one may seem like a bit of a copout but the Cavs just won a playoff game on the road, in Boston of all places, by almost 50. Am I wrong?

Next: Every NBA team's greatest playoff moment

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