Cavs' Big 3 combine for 81 points in Game 1 win over Pistons

CLEVELAND - Kyrie Irving scored 31 points in his first playoff game since being injured in last year's NBA Finals and Kevin Love added 28, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 106-101 win over the young and confident Detroit Pistons in the opener of their first-round playoff series Sunday.

LeBron James added 22 points and 11 assists for the top-seeded Cavs, who are favored to win the Eastern Conference again but got all they could handle from the Pistons.

Love, knocked out of the playoffs with a shoulder injury in the first round a year ago, made two critical 3-pointers in the fourth.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 21 and Marcus Morris 20 - but just one after halftime - for the Pistons, making their first playoff appearance since 2009. Andre Drummond had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Detroit made 15 3-pointers, but the Pistons' playoff inexperience showed in the final minutes.

Game 2 is Wednesday night at Quicken Loans Arena, which was on edge for much of Game 1 as the Pistons, who beat Cleveland three times during the regular season, flirted with an upset.