The message was simple from the Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenney Atkinson before the team tipped off its first playoff game against the Miami Heat on Sunday, “Be ourselves.”
And they did just that. The wine and gold came into the postseason fresh off a 64-win campaign as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for a reason.
Playing their game got them this far, why would they change it up now?
Even though the team had a week-long break between the final game of the regular season and their first playoff game, rust did not play much of a factor and was a non-issue for the Cavaliers
The core-four of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen really set the tone for the Cavaliers out of the gate. That quartet had combined for 24 of the teams 31 first-quarter points in the opening period.
Mitchell put up 30 points and tied a playoff career high with four steals and the Cavaliers creamed the Heat 121-100 on Sunday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first-round series.
“He can get in the lane and finish and he’s a great shooter. Such a complete player,” Cavaliers coach Atkinson said. “Whatever we ask him to do, he’ll do it. He never shies away when we ask him to do the dirty work.”
Embed from Getty ImagesIt was the seventh straight series where Mitchell has scored at least 30 points in Game 1, tying Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, who had two streaks of seven games as a member of the Chicago Bulls.
“Just setting the tone. I have to be aggressive and see how the defense reacts to me,” Mitchell said.
Sixth Man of the Year finalist Ty Jerome came through in the clutch, scoring 16 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter for the top-seeded Cavaliers, who host Game 2 Wednesday night.
Allen’s motor ran particularly hot, collecting seven rebounds to go along with his four points in the first quarter. Any concerns over the well-rested Cavs getting off to a sluggish start quickly dissipated.
By the halfway point of the second quarter, Cleveland had built a 15-point lead over Miami. And even though the Heat sliced it to eight just before the break, 62-54, the Cavaliers still felt like they had this game in the bag.
The same was true throughout an up and down third quarter, where they shot just 45% from the floor and a miserable 28% from 3-point range. Throughout that stanza, the Heat managed to cut the lead to single digits multiple times, but the Cavaliers stayed composed.
Then came the Jerome avalanche. Jerome ended the third, scoring four of the team’s final nine points and that was just a preview of things to come. Then he went unconscious in the fourth, scoring 16 in the closing period to cover nearly half of the team’s points for the entire quarter (34).
Garland added 27. Garland and Jerome each knocked down five 3-pointers and the Cavaliers were 18 of 43 from downtown.
At one point, the Cavaliers ‘Energizer Bunny’, Jerome, had accounted for 20 of the team’s 33 points during a nearly 12-minute stretch from 4:07 in the third quarter until 4:29 to go in the game. When the dust settled, he had dropped a ridiculous 28 points in just 26 minutes. Second only to Mitchell, who racked up 30.
Bam Adebayo had 24 points and Tyler Herro added 21 for the Heat. They are the first No. 10 seed to advance to the playoffs out of the Play-In Tournament.
A national viewing audience may have been surprised by an offensive outburst from Cleveland’s sixth-man. Inside Rocket Arena, it was just another day at the office for Jerome and the Cavs.
That is why the 121-100 win felt very familiar. So too was a balanced box score that saw Mitchell, Garland and Allen all join Jerome in double figures. Other role players found their spots to contribute, as usual.
The Cavaliers were themselves in Game 1. When they are, they will be a team that is too much to handle for the Heat to beat four times over six more potential opportunities.
