CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Cavaliers’ fourth straight trip to the Eastern Conference Finals had a rocky start at TD Garden in Boston Sunday.
Despite having three days to prepare for Game 1, as opposed to jumping into another series, as they did between rounds one and two of the 2018 NBA Playoffs, the Cavaliers struggled to find consistency on the offensive end of the floor and suffered a 108-83 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 1.
And yet, there was a sense of calm about the Cavaliers following the loss.
“I have zero level of concern at this stage,” Cavaliers small forward LeBron James said. “I didn’t go to college, so it’s not March Madness. You get better throughout the series. You see ways you can get better throughout the series, but I’ve been down 0-1. I’ve been down 0-2.
“I’ve been down before in the postseason, but for me, there’s never a level of concern, no matter how bad I played with seven turnovers, how inefficient I was shooting the ball. Just as confident going into a series, no matter if it’s an 0-0 series or I’m down 0-1. We have another opportunity to be better as a ball club coming in Tuesday night, and we’ll see what happens.”
PHOTOS: Cleveland Cavaliers face Boston Celtics in Game 1 of 2018 Eastern Conference Finals
For the first time this postseason, James was not the Cavaliers’ leading scorer in a game, as center Kevin Love totaled 17 points, pulled down eight rebounds and handed out three assists in the loss.
Against the second-seeded Celtics, who had the best defensive efficiency rating in the league heading into Game 1, James went five of 16 from the field, and missed all five of his three-pointers on the way to a 15-point showing.
“Physical basketball is part of the playoffs,” James said. “That’s what you expect. Physical basketball is a part of the postseason, so, you know, it’s easy to make a narrative when you win or lose and say, ‘Okay, you guys played bad offensively, and you lost.’
“Then, when you win, you’re like, ‘Oh, you know, you played better.’ Physical basketball started from Game 1 of the Indiana series when Indiana punched us in the mouth too, and it’s been like that throughout.”
As the on-court leader for the Cavaliers, James sets an important tone, and following the Cavaliers’ second-worst loss of the postseason, they echoed his sentiments and showed a quiet confidence despite the lopsided setback.
“We’re not pressing the panic button,” Love said. “We’re going to go back to the drawing board, find where we can get better on the defensive end and let the offense take care of itself.”
Shooting guard Kyle Korver added, “Just one bad game. A bad first game. There’s lots of things we can do better in the next one.”
The Cavaliers will look improve on those “things” Korver alluded to and try to even up the best-of-seven series with the Celtics in Boston Tuesday night.
“Just go out there and win Game 2,” shooting guard JR Smith said. “It doesn’t matter how you get it done. Just win. Whether you win by one or win by 30, a win is a win in the playoffs, so you’ve just got to go out there and play hard.”
