The NBA playoffs standings has the Cleveland Cavaliers leading the Atlanta Hawks 2-0 in the eastern conference semifinals after winning on Friday night and heading into Game 3 the Cavs could be without Kyrie Irving, as the point guard is dealing with a knee injury and that will put more pressure on LeBron James to take care of things on Sunday.
The Cavaliers took both games in Atlanta after a 94-82 victory and the end was not in question at the end on Friday night for Cleveland. The team did it without Kyrie Irving playing and that left LeBron James to dominate to put his team up two games in the series. James had 30 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists in the game and now the Cavaliers head home up 2-0.
Irving is questionable for the Game 3 matchup on Sunday after injuring his knee earlier in the series and there is a chance the team could hold him out. The Cavs did go up two games on the road, so it wouldn't be the biggest deal in the world if the team played without him for another game. Irving will likely want to play if he feel healthy enough to do so, but it might be in the best interests of the team to limit his play a bit moving forward in this series.
According to ESPN.com, when teams take a 2-0 lead in the NBA playoffs, the winner of those games has a 94 percent rate of winning the series. The Hawks will not give up, but they are dealing with numerous injuries with DeMarre Carroll and Kyle Korver ailing and that doesn't even include Thabo Sefolosha, who had his leg broken by the NYPD earlier in the season.
The Cavaliers have been getting strong play from their supporting cast with JR Smith, Iman Shumpert and James Jones all contributing, while Matthew Dellavedova has also played well. Carroll was injured in Game 1, but he was able to suit up but did not look like himself and he was limited in what he could do while spotting up James on defense. Carroll's injury looked very serious, but he was able to play and now the Hawks have to find a way to win in Cleveland to stay alive.
The Cavaliers were one of the best home teams in the league this season and they can sweep the Hawks with wins at home in Cleveland at Quicken Loans Arena. The Hawks were the top team in the east this season, but they have been playing near .500 ball for the last couple months and now they are banged up with injuries. The Cavs got off to a slow start and really turned things on in the second half of the season to vault into second place in the conference.
Al Horford had 12 points, six rebounds and two assists for the Hawks and he also had a knee scare in the game, but it was not anything serious. James led the Cavs in scoring and assists, while Tristan Thompson had 16 rebounds. Dennis Schroder had 13 points for the Hawks, while Mike Scott had seven rebounds and Jeff Teague had six assists.
The Hawks pulled within four at one point in the third quarter, but the team was outscored 30-17 in that frame. The fourth quarter saw the Hawks outscored the Cavs 16-10, but they were not able to pull ahead and now they have a daunting task in the east finals to overcome.