ATLANTA: Another series, another sweep.
But there was nothing ho-hum about it, nothing that seemed routine.
As the Cavaliers’ historic milestones mount, the records fall and the number of victories required for an NBA championship now down to eight, none of them are taking it for granted.
The Cavs now know their roles. They feel everything is starting to click. Trust is building, along with a belief that even if something doesn’t go their way, if they can stay close they can pull it out in the end.
It may have taken one of the most important jump balls in Cavs history, but they escaped Philips Arena with a 100-99 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday to close out the Eastern Conference semifinals.
They will have at least a week off as they await the winner of the Toronto Raptors-Miami Heat series.
As LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving sat alongside each other for the postgame interview, the Browns’ Joe Haden and Paul Kruger watched from chairs on the side. There are lessons they can take back to their football teammates, a tangible feeling of camaraderie building between the three Cavs that will be essential to make a run at the title.
Numbers-wise it’s practically mind-boggling what the Cavs are doing.
They became just the ninth team in league history to start the playoffs 8-0 and the first since the 2012 San Antonio Spurs. That list also includes the 2009 Cavaliers, who saw the Orlando Magic end their season in the conference finals.
The Cavs ran their record to 7-0 in closeout games when they were up 3-0.
They improved to 12-0 in the playoffs against the Hawks, including a sweep in the conference finals a year ago.
Then there are the shooting numbers, according to ESPN Stats and Information. With 16 3-pointers Sunday, they became the first team in league history to make at least 15 3-pointers in four consecutive games. They set the record for most 3-pointers in a four-game series with 77, besting their record of 57 in the first round against Detroit. Their total of 3-pointers in a single series fell two shy of the record 79 by the 2014 Hawks, but it took Atlanta seven games to hit that number. In Game 2 against the Hawks at Quicken Loans Arena, they set the NBA record for most 3s in a game with 25, then followed that up with 21 Friday night in Atlanta.
But the chemistry and the confidence in themselves and in rookie coach Tyronn Lue seem more important than any of that.
Any night any one of the Cavs can carry the load, as Love did Sunday with a career playoff-high eight 3-pointers for 27 points and 13 rebounds, both team highs. But it was a balanced effort by the Big Three. On a sub-par day for James because of his six turnovers, he still finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Irving added 21 points and eight assists.
Asked if this is what he expected of the three, Irving said: “It’s what I genuinely enjoy about playing basketball. I’ve had a few great coaches in my life and played with a few great players, but when you put a team together like our GM has … our first year we make a great run. When you come into the postseason the second time around, there’s a sense of calmness within our locker room. Reality sets in that there’s a bigger task that we’re trying to get to. There are steps we need to take in order to get to that.
“This is more than I dreamed of, honestly. I just live in the moment and not take anything for granted. We’re constantly staying on each other to be great every single day.”
Irving isn’t the only one excited by what he’s seeing. So, too, is 12-year veteran James Jones.
“I can still see our chemistry developing,” Jones said. “More than anything we’re becoming more unselfish and when you do that you have a chance to be special because teams can’t take you away if you don’t know where the ball’s going.
“We’re becoming more disciplined and not deviating from our game plan. I think early in the year you probably would have found us trying to play hero ball. We’re trusting if we just wear on a team over 48 minutes, we’ll give ourselves a chance to be in a one-possession game. We like our odds when it comes to that.”
Hero ball crept back in occasionally in the second half Sunday. At times, the Cavs seemed to rely too heavily on the 3-pointer as they hit just 16-of-37 (43 percent), 10 percentage points less than they shot from beyond the arc in the first three games of the series.
But closeout games are never easy. The Detroit Pistons fought them to the end before being swept in the first round.
On Friday night, James said, “We’re a team that’s destined for greatness.” On Sunday afternoon, even in the frazzled final seconds, nothing happened to quash that feeling.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.