What a long way the Cavs have come from the subtweeting anxious mess everyone thought they were just three months ago. In their ninth straight playoff win Tuesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavs unleashed holy hell on the Toronto Raptors. This time, not with a barrage of threes, but instead in the easiest at-the-rim game you will ever see in the NBA. Toronto's utter terror of having hell rained down them from beyond the arc caused them to completely abandon help in the paint, and the Cavs took advantage of it. All of the Cavs.
Most of the Cavs, like maybe LeBron James, just decided to just attack--James went 7-for-7 against the likes of DeMarre Carroll and the Raptors--taking the ball to the rim with ease as Toronto refused to help. Reports are that LeBron actually murdered the basketball ring also.
Back cuts, drives, transition passes, alley-oops. The Cavs did anything they wanted to in the paint, and walked away with a 31-point victory.
But the highlight for me was this Kyrie Irving crossover, in which he hesitates, crosses over behind his back (!), breaks both of Corey Joseph's kneecaps, shins, ankles, and all ten toes, and coasts in for one of his many finishes at the rim. This feels to me like, if it were MJ or LeBron, or if it was a Finals, it would be in non-stop NBA highlight rotation forever. Absolutely beautiful, and amazing, and this team and fan base is clicking like nobody expected.