Tristan Thompson was one of the best stories of Game 1. His domination helped the Cleveland Cavaliers absolutely dominate.
He proved to be more than just a defense/offensive rebounder. Tristan Thompson, one of the most powerful weapons for the Cleveland Cavaliers, showed he can score also. Thompson went 7-for-7 from the field and scored 20 points en route to a 13 point Cav victory.
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It was one altercation with Marcus Smart during the game that brought back all the memories that these two teams have had. Just two seasons ago, Kelly Olynyk, a current forward for Boston, yanked Kevin Love’s shoulder out which crushed the Cavaliers finals dreams that year. So, if you think there is not any bad blood between these teams, you are sorely mistaken.
Following the game and understanding the history between these two teams, Tristan Thompson gave a commanding statement on how he will handle the rest of this series. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin captured the quote in which Thompson said the following:
"“Whatever happened in the past is in the past,” Thompson told ESPN after finishing with a career-playoff-high 20 points on 7-for-7 shooting, nine rebounds and two steals. “We got guys that understand that whenever you take extracurricular actions, there’s consequences for it and for us. We need everyone, every game. So I’m not going to put myself in the position to hurt my team or my teammates.”"
It will be hard for Thompson to not get into any more altercations this series. The way he plays gives itself to pushing and trash talking. I mean that in the best way possible, but TT grinds down low and getting rebounded over is not ideal for opponent.
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As Game 2 will be just a few days away, it will be interesting to see if the Celtics get chippy if they find themselves down 10+ early.