Cleveland Cavaliers star forward LeBron James vowed before their huge 95-93 overtime win in Game 2 of their NBA Finals series against the Golden State Warriors that they should not be counted out despite the absence of All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving.
Irving lost his footing in the extra period of Game 1 and exited the court limping.
After further tests, the 23-year-old was diagnosed with a fractured knee cap and went through successful surgery Saturday in Cleveland.
Before their Game 2 OT win to tie the series, James said according to USA Today, "Understand that we were the underdog coming into the series, and with Kyrie being out people are writing us off. So, I mean, that's fine. That's fine."
"I'm motivated to get our guys ready to go (Game 2, Sunday), and we will be ready," he added.
The four-time MVP and two-time champion spoke about the impact of Irving's loss to the team this Finals.
"Knowing that he's out for the rest of the Finals and out for a period of a long time, first of all, it sucks for him personally. It's a huge blow for our team, especially at this stage," James said according to USA Today.
He added that everyone needs to step up to fill the void that Irving left and accept the challeng of playing with a depleted lineup and they did in Game 2.
James led the Cavs Sunday with a triple-double of 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists also adding one steal and one block to win one on the road against the best team in the NBA.
Irving's replacement, Matthew Dellavedova, had nine points only but was a lock-on defender for the Warriors' Stephen Curry.
Dellavedova played efficient defense limiting Curry to only 19 points in 5-of-23 shooting from the field.
The biggest assist to James came from center Timofey Mozgov who had 17 points and 11 rebounds.
"I tried to give it all to my teammates. And they do a great job of giving it back to me. Total team effort. To be back in the same position we were in three days ago and to come back and even the series is big time," James said after their Game 2 win according to the Associated Press.
