{"id":27068,"date":"2016-04-17T08:04:03","date_gmt":"2016-04-17T15:04:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/lebron-has-mastered-art-of-first-round-playoff-knockouts\/"},"modified":"2016-04-17T08:04:03","modified_gmt":"2016-04-17T15:04:03","slug":"lebron-has-mastered-art-of-first-round-playoff-knockouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/lebron-has-mastered-art-of-first-round-playoff-knockouts\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron has mastered art of first-round playoff knockouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND \u2014<\/strong> LeBron James is a perfect 10 in the first round of the NBA playoffs.<\/p>\n

As he enters his 11th postseason in 13 years, James, who is seeking a sixth straight appearance in the Finals, has a spotless record in the opening round while playing for Cleveland and Miami. And the four-time league MVP figures to continue his streak of first-round knockouts when the Cavaliers take on the Detroit Pistons starting Sunday.<\/p>\n

Although the top-seeded Cavs are heavily favored over the eighth-seeded Pistons, James isn\u2019t taking anything for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got a well-coached, balanced team and they\u2019ve fought their way into the playoffs and we have to respect them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2009, the young-and-talented Pistons won\u2019t be intimidated by the matchup after winning three of four \u2014 both teams rested their starters in the finale \u2014 against the Cavaliers in the regular season. Detroit\u2019s future is bright, but it\u2019s hard to imagine a team with little postseason experience taking down James.<\/p>\n

Overall, James is 40-7 in the first round and only had one series extended to six games.<\/p>\n

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy, who has faced James before in the playoffs, knows his squad has a tough task.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be difficult,\u201d Van Gundy said. \u201cThey\u2019re the No. 1 seed in the East. They\u2019re a team that went to the Finals last year. They\u2019ve got three All-Star-caliber guys, one probably the best player in the world. And their complementary guys are very good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, the Pistons\u2019 primary objective will be to slow James, who had a fabulous finish to the regular season and is focused on returning to the Finals.<\/p>\n

James, who has also won 13 straight first-round openers, can\u2019t be guarded by one player, which presents Van Gundy and the Pistons with the dilemma of how much help to bring when he has the ball.<\/p>\n

Van Gundy, a baseball junkie, said it\u2019s like pitching to Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like major league hitters,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you have a hole somewhere and people find out about it and they can hit it, you\u2019re not going to be very good. If you\u2019re Miguel Cabrera and you don\u2019t have a hole \u2014 good luck. Pitch him the best you can, he\u2019s still going to hit the (snot) out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are other things to watch as the Cavs and Pistons meet in the postseason for the first time since 2008-09, when Cleveland won in four games.<\/p>\n\n

Welcomed back<\/strong><\/p>\n

Injuries derailed Cleveland\u2019s championship chase last year, when Kevin Love was knocked out in the first round with a shoulder injury and Kyrie Irving went down with a serious knee injury in the Finals. Love and Irving are eager for their second tastes of the postseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel like I\u2019m in a good place,\u201d Irving said. \u201cAnd last year, going through the playoffs injured, obviously it\u2019s still in my head. But I\u2019m way past that point, which I\u2019m happy about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love and Irving are playing well lately, which should ease the burden on James, who can carry the Cavs by himself but is even more dangerous with a strong supporting cast.<\/p>\n\n

Lue\u2019s debut<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the second straight year, the Cavs enter the playoffs with a first-year coach. Tyronn Lue has postseason experience as a player, but this is his first foray as the man in charge. Lue took over in January when David Blatt was fired and guided the Cavs to a 27-14 record and top seed in the conference.<\/p>\n

James doesn\u2019t know if his coach\u2019s familiarity with playoff pressure will serve him, but he\u2019s confident in Lue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to find out, but he\u2019s our coach and we love him,\u201d James said. \u201cWe trust the system that he\u2019s put in. We trust the process that he\u2019s put in, and the game plan going into Sunday we trust. So I think the fact that he\u2019s been a part of big playoff games as a player and as a coach benefits our team \u2014 for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Action Jackson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pistons starting point guard Reggie Jackson should be close to 100 percent after being kept out of the final two games with an abdominal strain. Jackson averages 18.8 points and Detroit\u2019s counting on him to provide offense to counter Cleveland\u2019s firepower.<\/p>\n

Jackson scored 23 points in two of the Pistons\u2019 wins over the Cavs, and his matchup with Irving will be entertaining.<\/p>\n\n

Board battle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lue\u2019s recent decision to move Tristan Thompson into the starting lineup ahead of Timofey Mozgov gets an immediate test as the Cavs try to keep Pistons big man Andre Drummond \u2014 the NBA\u2019s leading rebounder \u2014 from dominating the boards.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-11 Drummond averaged 14.8 rebounds, one more than DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to do our best to keep him off the boards and have it be a team effort,\u201d Love said. \u201cHe\u2019s a load down there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND \u2014 LeBron James is a perfect 10 in the first round of the NBA playoffs. As he enters his 11th postseason in 13 years, James, who is seeking a sixth straight appearance in the Finals, has a spotless record in the opening round while playing for Cleveland and Miami. And the four-time league MVP […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-27068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27068\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27068"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=27068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}