LeBron James led Cavs' historic comeback against Pacers
The Eastern Conference's top 2 teams this season, Cleveland Cavaliers, are one win away from winning the first round matchup against the Indiana Pacers when Cavs star player, LeBron James, led the team into overcoming a 26-point deficit.
The Cavs were down ten after the first quarter and by fifteen after the second quarter, leaving them with a 25-point lead by the Pacers at halftime. The Cavs' lack of defense on the first half was well-documented along with the Pacers strong offensive end for the first two quarters of the game. At the start of the third, the Cavaliers began shooting effectively which cuts the deficit to less than twenty.
Indiana answered their made shots during the early minutes of the third quarter but the lack of defensive play by the Pacers has been brought out. Cavs small forward LeBron James began playing on both sides of the court, shooting back-to-back three-pointers with shots from J.R. Smith, Channing Frye and Kyle Korver also going in. They have made 50% of their shot attempts, which resulted for the lead to get cut down to a single digit.
During the fourth quarter, without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, LeBron James had a complete dominance on the floor, shooting a layup and a slam dunk under seven minutes to go to give the Cavaliers a lead. Later on, he again made a three-pointer to further bring the lead, with Channing Frye who made a deep three to give the Cavs a seven-point lead. The Cavs took game 3 with the final score of 119-114 and James' triple double 41 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists.
According to ESPN, on the postgame interview, James acknowledged the team effort that helped the Cavs overcome the 26-point deficit by the Pacers. James was also praised by many sports analysts and critics with the historical night he had with the Cavs, which he had taken over the whole 4th quarter. The Cavs have tied the NBA playoff record for the largest comeback in playoff history with 26 points. They are now up 3-0 in the first-round series against Indiana.
