Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James (23) looks to drive against Boston Celtics’ Jae Crowder (99) during the first half of Game 3 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals, Sunday, May 21, 2017, in Cleveland.
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All is not lost – far from it. James later put the Cavaliers back in the lead with two free throws, and they led for the rest of the frame. They now have a maximum of three games to get that one crucial win.
“He’s a special talent”, James said. “But I’m kind of glad it happened the way it did”. We just kept fighting.
“I feel we have to have some type of adversity in order to be successful”. If it’s going to happen, let it happen now.
“(Being) 12-0 is great, but it doesn’t mean anything going into the next series, and we understand that”, Curry said. “I’m just happy and blessed that when I made a decision to come back that I was able to help him blossom, I guess, because he gets to play in games that he’s always been built for”.
LeBron was in a sour mood during his postgame press conference, and being ridiculed in your own arena by a guy who plays in the North Coast Athletic Conference may have had something to do with it. A game we should have won, but they played hard.
The Celtics were humiliated and bickering among themselves. The Celtics open as 15-point underdogs, with the spread set at 15.5 on Bovada.
“It’s fun to watch knowing that when he has bad nights, a lot of times some very, very, very good nights follow”, said Cavs forward James Jones, who has been James’ teammate the past seven years. LeBron James is a prideful guy, but I also don’t think he feels the need to go insane because in his eyes the Celtics aren’t a team good enough to go 100% against.
So let us count the ways, beginning with King James.
“We know what we did wrong in game three”. That will help you win a ton of games in the regular season, enough perhaps to be the #1 seed in the eastern conference, but his offense alone will not win them enough games in the playoffs. “It’s a huge accomplishment, and I tip my hat off to all of our players, our coaching staff was phenomenal”.
Las Vegas isn’t buying what Bradley is selling. In fact, they were pulled with 76 seconds left in the third quarter. Perhaps foreshadowing what’s to come from him in Game 4, James is averaging 24.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 6.4 assists in the nine playoff games following such a loss (the 10th game will be Tuesday).
Cavaliers: The 42 points were a career playoff-high for Irving, who scored 41 in Game 5 of last year’s Finals. He was three of six from the foul line.
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Boston’s Al Horford anticipates seeing not just James but the entire Cavs roster try to be more aggressive at the start. J.R. Smith, on the day his family brought their daughter, Dakota, home from the hospital for the first time since she was delivered prematurely in January, scored five points on two momentum-boosting plays in a tip dunk and 3-pointer. “He was happy. He was excited”, Bradley said. He played like a man on a mission, not backing down from any shot nor any challenge on the defensive end.”We called him on FaceTime, so he got to celebrate with us a little bit”, Bradley said.
