The Cavaliers did what most analysts and basketball fans thought they would Tuesday night, stepping onto the Quicken Loans Arena court in Cleveland and dismantling the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. But it wasn’t LeBron James who led the 115-84 rout; it was fellow Nike athlete Kyrie Irving.
The guard lit the Raptors up for 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting in a yellow, burgundy and navy player’s edition of his latest signature shoe, the Nike Kyrie 2. Irving also had five assists, two blocks and two steals in the win.
But James wasn’t too far behind Irving in scoring. The two-time NBA champion dropped 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting in just 28 minutes last night. James wore a yellow and navy colorway of his Nike LeBron 13 Elite signature shoe.
Other key offensive contributors for the Cavaliers on Tuesday included Kevin Love with 14 points (in a burgundy and white colorway of the Nike Hyperdunk 2015), Matthew Dellavedova with nine points (in a white and burgundy Nike Kobe X) and veteran Richard Jefferson with nine points (in a yellow and burgundy colorway of the Nike Zoom HyperRev 2016).
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Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals is set for 8:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday, with Cleveland hosting Toronto at the Quicken Loans Arena.
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