LeBron James sparked defending NBA champions Cleveland Cavaliers over the Toronto Raptors while James Harden powered the Houston Rockets to an epic rout of San Antonio in second-round play-off openers on Monday.
James scored 35 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Kyrie Irving added 24 points and 10 assists and Kevin Love had 18 points and nine rebounds as Cleveland ripped the visiting Raptors 116-105 in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference matchup.
“The energy was phenomenal,” James said. “We pushed the ball, passed the ball like we wanted.”
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Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player James hit 13-of-23 shots from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line while Tristan Thompson contributed 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who James warned will be better in Game 2.
“I feel like I’ll be a lot better on Wednesday,” James said. “Little bit of rhythm here and conditioning there, I think a lot of our mistakes we were able to cover up for because our energy level was high.”
Records tumble in Rockets win at San Antonio
James Harden drives to the basket during the Houston Rockets’ Game 1 win over the San Antonio Spurs. Eric Gay / AP Photo
Harden had 20 points and 14 assists while Trevor Ariza scored 23 points and Clint Capela contributed 20 points and 13 rebounds as the Rockets beat the host Spurs 126-99 to start their best-of-seven Western Conference series.
“It’s just one win,” Harden said. “It’s a good win but we’ve got to be ready for Game 2. They’ve got a lot of fight in them. We missed a few shots. We’ve got to play better in Game 2.”
The Rockets sank a team play-off record 22 three-pointers on 50 attempts, inflicting the most three-pointers allowed by the Spurs in play-off history.
San Antonio trailed by as many as 39 points in the team’s largest Game 1 defeat in play-off history. The Spurs’ 69-39 half-time deficit was also their worst in play-off history.
“We lost and they won and they played better,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “We competed but I don’t think we executed in a very wise manner.”
The Spurs and the Rockets, in their first play-off meeting since 1995, were two of the three teams with the best winning records in the NBA this season, both trailing the Golden State Warriors, who open their second round on Tuesday against Utah.
A 15-2 run to open the second quarter put Houston ahead 49-25. The Rockets had 30 assists on 40 baskets, their passing and fast pace humbling the veteran Spurs.
“There are no individual efforts here,” Harden said. “I’ve been proud of that all year.”
The Rockets went 12-of-27 from 3-point range in the first half, already hitting more shots from beyond the arc than in any first-round contest.
Kawhi Leonard led San Antonio with 21 points and 11 rebounds but the Spurs made only 31-of-84 shots from the floor.
* Agence France-Presse
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