The Cleveland Cavaliers are facing an uphill battle to get back into their Eastern Conference Semifinals series after losing Game 1 to the Chicago Bulls at home on Monday night. Here's three things we learned from that game:
3) LeBron James and Kyrie Irving need to carry the Cavs
LeBron and Kyrie combined for 49 points in Game 1, and that wasn't enough to get them past the Bulls. They'll get help when J.R. Smith returns from his suspension in Game 3, but it's clear they're going to have to pick up the slack on the offensive end without Kevin Love. If James and Irving don't put up Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook type numbers every single night, they'll lose this series.
2) Jimmy Butler is a problem
Butler outscored LeBron James (2o points to LeBron's 19) and limited him to just 9/22 shooting from the field in Game 1, and his production essentially neutralized what James did on the court. LeBron statistically struggles more against Butler than anyone not named Kawhi Leonard, and considering the type of effort the Cavs need from their best player on a nightly basis, Butler has the potential to be a big problem for Cleveland in this series.
1) Kevin Love didn't get enough credit
Love received a lot of criticism all year for being the odd-man out of Cleveland's "Big 3" and not living up to expectations, but it became clear how big of a factor he was in the Cavs' success. The Cavaliers had a bunch of spacing problems on offense, weren't as good on the glass, and weren't as good from three-point range without Love. Cleveland is going to have to totally change the way they play on offense without him, and they're going to have to do it fast.
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