Cavaliers' Irving shines in NBA playoff debut

Kyrie Irving made the most of his playoff debut, scoring 30 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Boston Celtics 113-100 in the opening game of their first round series.

Guard Irving played with the poise of an NBA veteran as he drained his first five shots from beyond the arc. He was backed up by LeBron James 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds and Kevin Love's 19 point and 12 rebound performance as Cleveland took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series.

"Having four days of preparation and being with my brothers in the war room going over film, going into the game, you feel prepared," Irving said. "I'm just glad I got game one out of the way, all the nerves."

In other playoff action Sunday, Kyle Korver finished with a game-high 21 points to lift the Atlanta Hawks to a 99-92 win in game one of their East series.

Irving scored 20 of his 30 points in the first half. He had 12 in the second quarter, including a buzzer-beater to give the second-seeded Cavs a 62-54 halftime lead after they trailed by eight.

"He's our floor general," said James. "He set the tone early with his ability to shoot the ball and to get in the lane."

Love also got his first taste of the postseason, following 439 regular season games with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Cleveland.

After a slow start Sunday he caught fire in the third, scoring eight points in the first seven minutes of the quarter. He said once he got the early jitters out of the way he was able to find his groove.

"My first playoff game was just a little anxiousness," Love said. "More than anything, I just wanted to stay aggressive. From really the second quarter on, I settled myself and was able to play my game."

Cleveland led by as much as 20 in the third quarter. James didn't sit much in the game, but was on the bench when Cleveland scored the last nine points in the third after letting Boston close the gap to six points.

The Celtics never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.

Cleveland was hosting their first playoff game since May 11, 2010, when James was booed by some fans after going three-for-14 in a game five loss to Boston in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

The Cavaliers were eliminated two days later and two months after that, James announced he was leaving Cleveland to play for the Miami Heat, who he would lead to two NBA titles in four seasons in southern Florida.

Isaiah Thomas had 22 points and 10 assists off the bench to lead the seventh-seeded Celtics. Evan Turner and Kelly Olynyk added 12 points apiece and Marcus Smart, Brandon Bass and Jae Crowder each scored 10.
Source: AFP