Cavaliers in good shape after sweeping Pistons

Associated Press

AUBURN HILLS, Mich.

When LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers swept Boston in the first round of last year’s playoffs, their championship hopes had already taken a major hit because of an injury to Kevin Love.

Not so this season. The Cavs took four straight games from Detroit — and look no worse for wear after doing it.

“We’re not satisfied with what we’ve done, but we are happy where we are today,” James said. “Being able to leave out of this series, knowing that we’ve got 15 guys ready to go.”

James didn’t even have to lead Cleveland in scoring in the series against Detroit. That honor went to Kyrie Irving, whose 31 points in the finale Sunday night lifted the Cavs to a 100-98 win over the Pistons. Cleveland will face either Atlanta or Boston in the next round.

The Cavaliers closed out another series quickly. Cleveland has taken a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven series on six different occasions, and the Cavs have finished off the sweep each time.

This series ended when Detroit’s Reggie Jackson missed a wild shot from 3-point range at the buzzer — with Irving hounding him defensively. Irving had made a big 3-pointer with 42 seconds left to give Cleveland a four-point lead.

“He was huge and he was aggressive — in attack mode the whole series, and that’s what we needed from him,” coach Tyronn Lue said.

Here are a few things we learned from Cleveland’s 4-0 series win over the Pistons:

BIG THREE

James, Irving and Love combined to average 69 points a game in the series, an early indication of what that trio might be capable of this postseason if those three players stay healthy.

“They just put maximum pressure on the defense from Game 1 to Game 4,” James said.

STRONG SECOND HALVES

The Pistons actually outscored the Cavs by a point in the first half over the four games, but Cleveland won the second halves by a total of 35.

Irving scored 20 of his 31 points in the second half Sunday, including a 10-point flurry near the start of the third quarter.

BENCH PLAY

In a span of 2:15 at the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth Sunday, backup Matthew Dellavedova scored 11 points. The only other Cavs player to score during that stretch was Irving, who made a halfcourt shot to end the third.

“It was a total team effort,” Lue said.

Dellavedova also scored 12 points in Game 3.