BOSTON — Ang ibinigay na assignment ni head coach Brad Stevens kay Celtics forward Marcus Morris ay pigilin si LeBron James.
Ngunit higit pa doon ang ginawa ni Morris.
Kumolekta si Morris ng 21 points at 10 rebounds at pinuwersa si James sa playoff-high na pitong turnovers at playoff-low na 15 points para tulungan ang Boston na talunin ang Cleveland Cavaliers, 108-83, sa Game One ng kanilang Eastern Conference Finals.
“He’s obviously the best player in the game,” wika ni Morris sa four-time NBA MVP na si James. “Because I’m a competitor. He’s the best player, and I’m going to be able to tell my kids this one day.”
Umiskor naman si Jaylen Brown ng 23 points at nagdagdag si Al Horford ng 20 markers para sa Celtics, tumipa ng 17 sunod na puntos sa first period at hindi hinayaang makadikit ang Cavaliers sa single digit.
Hawak ng Boston ang 28-point lead nang ipahinga ni Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue si James sa 7:09 minuto ng fourth quarter.
Nakatakda ang Game Two sa Miyerkules (Manila time).
“I have zero level of concern at this stage,” wika ni James, tumipa ng 5-for-16 fieldgoal shooting at naimintis ang lahat ng kanyang three-point attempts.
“I’ve been down before in the postseason, but for me there’s never any level of concern — no matter how bad I played tonight, with seven turnovers, how inefficient I was shooting the ball. We have another opportunity to be better as a ball club coming in Tuesday night, and we’ll see what happens,” dagdag pa ng three-time NBA champion.
Humakot naman si Kevin Love ng 17 points at 8 rebounds at tumapos si James na may 9 assists at 7 boards.
“I think we’re very alert to the fact that we’ll get a heavyweight punch on Tuesday night,” ani Stevens. “It’s another great challenge, another great opportunity to experience something for this team.”
Itinayo ng Celtics ang malaking 28-point lead, 61-33, laban sa Cavaliers matapos ang three-pointer ni Brown sa nalalabing 32.4 segundo ng second quarter.