In Game 1 of the playoffs against the Indiana Pacers, the Cleveland Cavaliers escaped an upset bid thanks to a huge performance from their bench
The credit goes to LeBron James for having a LeBron James-y kind of game, but he wasn’t the only reason the Cleveland Cavaliers were able to escape with a Game 1 victory against the Indiana Pacers.
James put up 32 points, six rebounds and 13 assists in the team’s Game 1 win, but he struggled from the floor in the fourth quarter. In the final frame, LeBron was just 2-7 from the field and missed a pair of layups along the way. He was also 2-4 on free throws.
Kyrie Irving wasn’t much better. On the game, the point guard was 11-27 and 1-9 from deep. Much like James, Irving was 1-5 in the fourth quarter.
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So how did Cleveland win a close game in which their two best players were 3-12 in the final 12 minutes? The bench did it.
In the fourth quarter, with the two superstars struggling, the bench put up a solid stretch. By the time the starters were fully back on the floor at about 4:30, here’s what the bench had done.
- Channing Frye: Two defensive rebounds, one assist, 1-1 on threes in seven minutes
- Deron Williams: 1-2 on threes in four minutes
- Kyle Korver: One offensive rebound, one defensive rebound, 1-1 on field goals in four minutes
That may not seem like a lot, but that was eight points when the Cleveland Cavaliers were struggling to score. While the points were relatively small, Korver gave the Cavs a great second chance opportunity on the offensive glass and LeBron managed to miss a layup. Those two points could’ve gone a long way.
Every team’s rotation tightens down in the playoffs, meaning fewer bench players see fewer minutes. That was the case in Game 1, where Iman Shumpert saw his role go from 6th man to 10th man. Shump didn’t play at all.
The guys who did play, however, showed up big. Those three guys mentioned above, plus Richard Jefferson, combined to go 5-7 on threes and 8-13 overall. It doesn’t show up as a great +/- but they scored, and that’s what the Cavaliers needed.
This combination of high-volume three point shooting and low-volume minutes wasn’t necessarily a recipe for success in the regular season. The Cavaliers had the 3rd lowest average of bench-minutes and the 3rd lowest average of bench points.
However, in Game 1 of the playoffs, it was enough.
The story of the game may still be LeBron’s big night or Kyrie’s poor shooting, or both of them struggling in the 4th quarter, but my game ball goes to the bench. If the bench had shot 7-13 instead of 8-13, who knows what the headlines would read?