A missed jump shot at the buzzer by Indiana Pacers wingman CJ Miles allowed the second-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers to outlast the No. 7 Pacers109-108in Game 1 of their 2017 first-round Eastern Conference playoff series Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.Playing in his 200th career playoff game, LeBron James registered a game-high 32 points with 13 assists and six reboundsin the victorious effort.His biggest play came with just over three minutes remaining and the Cavs trailing by two, as he threw down a thunderous dunk to tie it up, as seen in this video courtesy of the Cavaliers' official Twitter account:Following LeBron's game-tying slam, Kyrie Irving put the Cavs on top with a jumper, which gave them a lead they never relinquished.Cleveland's entire Big Three came to play Saturday with James, Irving and Kevin Love putting up impressive stat lines:Paul George led Indianawith 29 points, but the Pacers squandered his performance with an awful defensive showing that resulted in Cleveland shooting 53.8from the field, including over 60 percent in the opening half.According to NBA.com, King James made history Saturday by simply stepping on to the court:LeBron was far from content with that, however, as he was the best player out there and produced several highlight reel plays.As seen in this video, James passed with the type of velocity and accuracy that would have made New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady proud:LeBron's passing and ball distribution were on point, but he didn't lack in terms of finish.Even at the age of 32, James nearly hit his head on the backboard when putting away a 360-degree alley-oop delivered by Irving in the first half:Per Chris Herring of ESPN's FiveThirtyEight, a huge reason for LeBron's success was the fact that Indiana was unable to avoid bad matchups:When the Pacers shrunk their deficit to as little as two points late in the third quarter, LeBron once again imposed his will and punctuated a 10-0 Cavs run with this emphatic dunk, provided by the NBA's official Twitter account:That put the momentum firmly in Cleveland's favor, but it still had to grit out the victory when Indiana made a run in the latter stages of the fourth quarter.Saturday's contest was largely about LeBron and his overall body of work in terms of playoff excellence, but Irving made some Cavaliers postseason history in his own right:Although the Pacers played a strong offensive game by shooting 49.4 percentfrom the field, their lack on the defensive end was perhaps the biggest difference-maker Saturday.ESPN.com's J.A. Adande pointed out, Indiana essentially allowed the Cavs to do whatever they pleased offensively:ESPN's Ryen Russillo was in disbelief regarding the Pacers' defensive performance as well:Despite Cleveland's leading for nearly the entire game, Indiana managed to remain within reach almost entirely because of George's play.He was especially effective from downtown, hitting six of eightthree-point attempts, including this contested trey in LeBron's face during the first half, courtesy of the Pacers' official Twitter account:PG's hot shooting carried over to the second half as well with more trifectas such as this one:George's biggest shot was a three-pointer with about 40 seconds remaining, which cut the lead to one and set the stage for Indiana to have a chance to win at the buzzer:Aside from George, Lance Stephenson was Indiana's biggest spark plug with several big shots in the second half:He turned back the clock by netting 16 points, but the rest of the Pacers roster didn't do enough to supplement the scoring performances of George and Stephenson.Cleveland's ability to share the scoring load among the Big Three while also getting offensive contributions from the likes of Tristan Thompson and Channing Frye created the final margin of victory for the Cavs.With Saturday's win, Cleveland improved to 9-0 in first-round playoff games during LeBron's second stint with the organization.The Pacers appeared overmatched in terms of defending the Cavaliers offense, but George's play kept it close, which gives them some hope to keep the series competitive moving forward.
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