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| DeMarre Carroll and LeBron James |
Through
three-and-a-half quarters of a 97-89 Game 1 loss, the Atlanta Hawks looked physically overwhelmed against
the Cleveland Cavaliers.
They
had a tough time containing LeBron James (31 points, eight rebounds, six
assists), got bludgeoned on the boards (49-37) and appeared submissive on the
offensive end against a more muscular Cleveland team coming off a six-game
slugfest against the Chicago Bulls.
Through the first two rounds, Atlanta posted a defensive rating of 99.9 with Carroll
on the floor—which trumped the team's seventh-ranked regular-season mark (100.7) by nearly
a full point.
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| DeMarre Carroll |
With
under five minutes to go in the final frame, DeMarre Carroll tumbled
to the floor and suffered what appeared to be a non-contact injury to his left
knee.
"Hard
to see that," Hawks swingman Kyle Korver told reporters, according to the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution's Chris Vivlamore. "We
love him like a brother."
Defensively,
he's the one stout perimeter option the Hawks had to throw at James. During the
regular season, Carroll held him to 2-of-13 shooting, according to NBA.com/Stats on Twitter,
and his coach readily acknowledged that profound impact.
"DeMarre
all year has taken the challenge of guarding the opponent's best wing and best
perimeter player," head coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters before Game
1, according to CBS Sports'
Zach Harper. "He has a high belief in his ability to guard. He
knows that his teammates are there to help him and participate with him. He
just loves the challenges. He's a great competitor."
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