Cavs set National Basketball Association record with 41-point halftime lead

The Boston Celtics wanted to make a statement that the Game One one-sided loss to the Cavaliers was just a blip in the screen.

Only the 1998-99 Los Angeles Lakers have won as many straight in the postseason as the Cavs, who can take sole possession of the mark on Sunday.

Even if guard Isaiah Thomas had returned to Game 2 with his hip strain, or if he does play Sunday in the third game of this lopsided Eastern Conference final, he alone is not enough to bridge the gap between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics.

The Cavaliers built a 31-point lead in the second quarter, which was the largest deficit the C’s had faced all season. The Cavaliers could finish off the sweep with victories in Cleveland.

“Anytime we don’t have Isaiah on the court is obviously a minus for us”, said Green. We need to go out there and play better, compete throughout the 48 [minutes] and see what happens.

The win was the Cavaliers’ 12th in a row in the playoffs (one shy of matching the National Basketball Association record, set by the 1988-89 Los Angeles Lakers), dating back to last year’s finals.

James is 73 points from passing Michael Jordan as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer in the playoffs. They are 10-0 in the 2017 playoffs. Out of the break, the Cavaliers outscored the Celtics, 11-8, over the final four minutes of the quarter.

Kevin Love continues to be terrific, he stonewalled Horford in the post, grabbed 12 rebounds, was terrific. They are now getting outscored by 46.2 points per 100 possessions over James’ 75 minutes this series. He was first injured in March, aggravated the injury in Game 6 of the conference semifinals against Washington, and didn’t play in the second half against the Cavs Friday night.

With Thomas hobbled and then gone for Boston, it kills more than just their offensive system.

Cleveland has received 20-plus points from three different starters in both games this series. The Cavs led 103-57 after three quarters. Rookie Jaylen Brown had a nice game, scoring 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting, but with all due respect, is Jaylen Brown going to lead the Celtics to the NBA Finals?

The Cavs’ Tyronn Lue was not chosen as a coach of the year finalist. The shine of getting the first overall pick had worn off (even if momentarily) after the Game 1 loss.

But the Cavaliers might simply be on another level than the rest of the East; they certainly seemed to show that on Friday night. “You looked at me insane”, LeBron said when asked about his team hitting another gear.

LeBron James followed up a 38/9/7 performance in Game 1 with the less-impressive stat line (largely due to playing nine less minutes than Game 1) of 30 points, four rebounds, and seven assists to go along with four steals and three blocks. Off the bench, small forward Richard Jefferson scored 10 points.