LeBron James leads Cleveland to a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals
In front of a packed house, The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Atlanta Hawks 97-89 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night to take 1-0 lead in the seven-game series.
LeBron James was the star of the show for the Cavaliers, netting in 31 points and giving him good support was J.R.Smith, who scored 28 points, including a very impressive 8 three-pointers.
For the Hawks, it was Jeff Teague, who scored 27 points on the night, but more than the loss, what would concern them would be the knee injury sustained by DeMarrre Carroll while driving to a basket with just under 5 minutes remaining on the clock and was helped to the locker room. An MRI scan will be done on the injured left knee and the Hawks will be desperately hoping for him to recover in time for Game 2.
Talking about the impact the 28-year-old small forward, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said that he was a complete player and was effective on both ends of the court.
"DeMarre is a complete player. He has a big impact at both ends of the court,” he said.
Not a good sight to see someone get hurt: James
Carroll also found some words of solace from the opposition as well, in the form of LeBron James.
"We're all a brotherhood. You don't want anybody to get hurt like that,” He said.
Game 2 will be played on Saturday in Atlanta.