The Cavaliers Brought Total Ruination Upon The Celtics

The Cavaliers scored the first six points of last night’s Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Things only got much, much, much worse for the Celtics. By the end of the first quarter, the game had all the markings of a massacre; by the end of the second, it was historic. LeBron James was his best and most transcendent self, a superhuman force on both ends of the court, and Boston had absolutely nothing to counter. Some facts about the extent of the destruction, which ended with all of Cleveland’s starters sitting for the fourth quarter as they cruised to a 130-86 win:

The 41-point halftime lead was the largest in Conference Finals history. Which isn’t at all surprising when you consider that Cleveland made 10 three-pointers in the first half while Boston made just 11 shots in total. Or that the trio of James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love collectively outscored the Celtics by more than 20, all on their own.

LeBron scored 22 points in the first half; Isaiah Thomas scored 2. The hip injury that was visibly nagging Thomas throughout the first two quarters kept him on the sidelines after halftime, making for a glaring production gap between the best players of the two teams. Thomas went 0-6 from the field and scored only on a pair of free throws before being forced to make his exit, while LeBron romped to his eighth straight playoff game with more than 30 points:

This shot is a fact:

Monstars, indeed. Game 3 is Sunday night.