2016 NBA playoffs: Heat, Cavs, Clippers cruise to 2-0 series leads

Cleveland tied an NBA playoff record by hitting 20 three-pointers in the win, committing to a heavy dose of threes early on and sticking with it. Nearly half of the team’s 80 shot attempts were from beyond the arc and eight different players hit at least one three.

One of the big reasons the Pistons were able to give the Cavaliers issues for the first five periods of this series was their shooting. Stan Van Gundy’s team shot 50 percent from the field and hit 15 three-pointers in Game 1. Without that, Cleveland’s talent advantage begins to become painfully obvious.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

WHAT SERIES IS STANLEY JOHNSON WATCHING? The Pistons are putting up a good fight against the defending East champs, but LeBron James and company are just too good. LeBron had 27 on 12-18 shooting in Cleveland’s Game 2 win. There was a moderate amount of in-game chirping, and afterward Pistons rookie Stanley Johnson announced that he believes himself to be in LeBron’s head. Johnson was a minus-20 in 21 minutes of action. I appreciate the gumption, but you’re not going to win this one, Stanley.

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RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN

Johnson kept going, ridiculing the trash talking that the Cleveland bench does and the way James apparently eggs it on. Here’s what he told Nick Friedell:

Using really strange logic, Johnson kept talking.

The Clippers have a fairly substantial lead early against the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 2 of the NBA Playoffs. But a lead can sometimes lead to complacency, which is why assistant coach Mike Woodson thought that DeAndre Jordan needed a gentle punch to the face. Jordan didn’t see it coming, but he didn’t seem too bothered by it either.

At least Jordan didn’t get hit like John Henderson’s pregame warmups. Now, those were scary.

The Cleveland Cavaliers finally turned their first-round matchup in the 2016 NBA Playoffs into the blowout many expected it would be all along. The Cavs took control in the second half to hand the Pistons a 107-90 loss in Game 2 on Wednesday, sending the series back to Detroit with a 2-0 series lead.

This game didn’t always look like it was going to be an easy victory for Cleveland. The Pistons led by five with 9:12 remaining in the third quarter, but the Cavs went on to outscore Detroit 25-8 over the remainder of the period. The game was never close after that.

The Heat went 16-of-19 in the third quarter, meaning the Hornets missed TWICE as many shots on one possession as Miami did the entire quarter. Williams’ second-to-last attempt was the best one, and it’s somewhat surprising he missed that. But this pretty much sums up the start to Charlotte’s series, where they’ve fallen behind 2-0 with atypical play for what they’ve done the rest of the season.

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There’s having a good half of shooting, and then there’s torching the rim like the Heat did in the first two quarters in this game. At halftime, Miami led 72-60 and was shooting an astonishing 29-of-39 (74 percent) from the field, including 7-of-10 from three-point range.

Much of Miami’s advantage in this game ultimately came from the fact that it hit eight more three-pointers on the same number of attempts as Charlotte. The Hornets can easily point to their 1-of-16 effort from behind the arc as a key reason that they fell short in Game 2.

GOOD GOD, LEBRON, DON’T HURT EM.

LeBron doesn’t throw down these sensational highlight-reel dunks as often these days, but make no mistake, it doesn’t mean he can’t do them. Goodness, he made that look easy. His celebration was just as violent, and deservedly so.

It will be interesting to see how Van Gundy elects to matchup with this lineup, which the Cavaliers are certain to continue riding, in Game 2.

Place: Quicken Loans Arena