CLEVELAND -- Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving knew something had to change from the team's Game 1 loss to the Chicago Bulls in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup at Quicken Loans Arena Monday night.
That change came in the form of more aggressive play from Irving and small forward LeBron James. After the pair of all-stars went scoreless in the final six minutes of Game 1, Irving and James combined to score 54 points, hand out eight assists and steal four passes in a 106-91 win over the Bulls, which evened the series at 1-1.
"I just feel like that mindset, that feeling that me and him (LeBron), we have a lot of similarities, but also, what makes it special, is that we're also different," Irving said. "I think when he talks about his efficiency, that's something that I definitely want to emulate going into every, single game. I just try to speak as much wisdom, little wisdom, that I have going into the game, but that killer mindset of never stopping, never giving the defense a night off on any possession.
"I feel like he definitely did that. There wasn't one possession where you could look on the floor and he wasn't dominant. Whether it was a pass, a score, a defensive stop, a rebound or anything like that, he was all over it, which we expect him to do. When he has that mindset, that killer mindset, not really caring what's going on except for his teammates, he's the greatest player playing in the game right now."
James and Irving combined to make 18 of their 38 shots in the victory over the Bulls.
"When you have great players -- they have two of them -- it requires help, but you can't do it recklessly," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said after Game 2. "We have to have the discipline to be able to do both. (We have) to take care of the ball in the paint, react out, cover the line, challenge the shot and finish with the rebound.
"When we do that, we're pretty good. When a guy goes to help and we don't stunt, they're going to get a rhythm shot. This team requires you to make multiple efforts. If you don't, you're going to pay. We paid tonight."
The Cavaliers were playing their second straight game without power forward Kevin Love and shooting guard J.R. Smith.
Love is out for the remainder of the postseason because of surgery to repair damage to his left shoulder after suffering a dislocation in a Game 4 win over the Boston Celtics two weeks ago. Smith was out for his second straight game because of a league-mandated suspension due to a flagrant-two foul committed against Boston.
The combined losses of Love and Smith meant the Cavaliers had to find a way to replace 24.1 points per game, but James carried the offense by scoring 33 in the Game 2 win, which was an eight-point increase in his scoring average over the first five games of the 2015 NBA Playoffs.
"It's inevitable," Irving said of stepping up. "Two of our other primary scorers are out, one indefinitely and one is out for one more game. You definitely have to shoulder some of the responsibility and pick up the slack and the let-off that those two guys would give us any given night. It's just a responsibility for me and 'Bron to shoulder this thing no matter what.
"Kevin spaces out the floor so well, and so does J.R., but for us, we just have to make adjustments and be ready for whatever the Bulls throw at us. As a growing player, being a student of the game, throughout the course of the game, you've just got to learn to choose your spots and learn where you can be effective on both ends of the floor and go from there."
Although Irving's point total dropped by nine from Games 1 to 2, his offensive efficiency increased.
After going 10 of 23 from the field (43.5 percent) and one of five from three-point range (20 percent) in the Game 1 loss, Irving converted five of his nine attempts (55.6 percent) and one of three from beyond the three-point arc. Irving also got to the free-throw line 12 times, which were his most single-game attempts of the postseason.
"The shots that I was taking down the stretch, they were fatigue shots," Irving said of his Game 1 efforts. "They weren't in the flow of our offense, and regardless of whether I'm hot or not or if LeBron's hot or not, when other guys are out there on the floor, I just have to make better decisions whether it's making one of my teammates better or me taking a shot.
"Whether it's tough or not, I just have to be well prepared, especially in the fourth quarter when it's going to be a little bit more tough. I've just got to be resilient and be prepared with my body. You get fatigued in the playoffs, but that's not necessarily an excuse. I've just got to be better.
"It's a rollercoaster right now, but for me, it's remembering what I've done, the body of work I've put together and just getting my body ready every night as best I can."
