Eastern Conference Finals has officially kicked off on Sunday night with a showdown between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Although the Cavaliers were given bigger chance for the win despite not playing on the home court, it was the Celtics who made the statement in the Game 1 and ended up on the better side of the 108-83 score.
Celtics have been playing this entire postseason as the underdogs, being without their two main stars in Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving. Still, Brad Stevens managed to find a winning formula against the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers, and now maybe even the Cavs.
Cavaliers never really settled into the game and were trailing 26 points in the first half. They managed to cut into the deficit in the third and entered the fourth quarter being 14 points behind, but that was all they could do. Celtics once again made a big run in the fourth and closed out the Game 1.
LeBron James managed to score only 15 points to go with 9 assists and 7 rebounds, while Kevin Love ended the game with 17 points, 3 assists, and 9 rebounds. The rest of the Cavs starters – George Hill, Kyle Korver, and JR Smith – combined for 14 points.
On the other side, Celtics had three players who scored 20 points or more. Al Horford had a monster game, delivering 20 points, 6 assists, 4 rebound and 2 blocks while playing excellent defense on Kevin Love.
“I feel like the coaches came out with a great game plan for our group,” – said Horford after the game. “We just bought in and did what we were supposed to do.“
Marcus Morris did the same against LeBron James while managing to score 21 points and add 10 rebounds. Jaylen Brown also had a stellar performance with 23 points and 8 rebounds.
Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals is scheduled to take place on Tuesday night.
