Cleveland Cavaliers can repeat incredible ‘LeBron era’ playoff record

The Cleveland Cavaliers put the Miami Heat to the sword on Saturday, inflicting a 124-87 loss on the embattled Heat. It gives the Cavs a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series and a biggest-ever postseason victory over the Heat.

Despite a 22-point performance from Bam Adebayo, Miami were sorely outplayed and the defeat eclipses the 36-point loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 NBA Finals. That Heat team still managed to win a championship but this iteration is now on the brink of a humiliating first round exit.

“Clearly, a very disappointing day,” Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Our guys really want this, and it probably looks like our guys don’t. But I know what our last six weeks have been like, just to fight and scratch and claw to get into this. And that’s why this is such a disappointing game.”

With a 3-0 series win, the Cavs have wound back the clock to the LeBron James-inspired glory days. This is only the 11th time in franchise history that the Cavaliers have taken a 3-0 lead in a seven-game series, all ten previous occasions came during James’ time with the team.

Each of those was culminated in a 4-0 sweep for Cleveland. The Cavaliers will be hoping to repeat the trick this year but head to Miami for Game 4.

“Our guys knew that was the key, rebounding and winning the rebounding battle,” explained Kenny Atkinson, Cavaliers head coach. “We really executed defensively.”

The fact that all ten Cavaliers 4-0 sweeps came during LeBron James’ two spells with the team highlights the extent of his impact. All five conference titles were won by James-inspired teams, as was the sole NBA championship in 2016. Now, this year’s team have the chance forge their own history as the Cavs challenge for postseason glory.

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