It’s odd to imagine the Celtics could lose their leading scorer – Thomas was averaging 23.3 points a game before a hip injury in Game 2 of the conference finals ended his season – and be more of a challenge.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers, fuelled by another milestone night for LeBron James, powered into a third straight NBA Finals meeting with the Golden State Warriors with a dominant 135-102 win over the Celtics in Boston on Thursday.
James spoke Thursday during the morning shootaround before the Cavaliers play the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.
“Like, they hit the post, Golden State runs splits and all that stuff, but these guys are running all kinds of s–“, Lue said of Boston coach Brad Stevens” schemes. We know ways we can get better.
“He knew that we needed it”, Cavs power forward Kevin Love said.
Furthermore, Golden State leads all playoff teams in points per game (118.3), field goal percentage (50.2) and assists per game (27.8), and it is second in offensive efficiency (115.8 points per 100 possessions).
Add a 44-point blowout in Game 2 to the mix, along with the loss of their leading scorer and the Celtics weren’t given even a tiny glimpse of a chance against a team comprised of stars. Comparatively, they were blown out at home in their first two playoff games before Thomas’ hip injury. However, everything changed when Kyrie Irving took control of the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, he stayed in the game.
That proved to be fateful as Irving took over in the third stanza, finishing with 42 points overall on 15-of-22 shooting, including four 3s.
The Cavaliers showed a little spark with a transition-inspired rally. That was my mindset when I started playing the game. Jae Crowder got the Celtics off to a quick start with 10 points in the first quarter to finish with 18 points for the game.
But without question, the biggest storyline was the foul trouble of LeBron James.
“A game like that just happens”, Lue said. Cleveland won the three road games in the series by a combined 90 points, the last two by a total of 77.
James left the game with 6:46 remaining in the second quarter with four fouls. The fantastic trio from OH scored 93 points combined.
Celtics: Never led at home in the series. People expected the Celtics to originally win at least a game against the Cavaliers, but certainly not without Thomas.
Having Irving is a luxury that oftentimes gets overlooked. “The only thing that matters now is to get a win back in Boston”. Tipoff is around 8:30 PM ET so tune in to see what goes down. Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley did the same in Game 3 of this series. James found a wide-open Smith for a three, cutting Boston’s lead to three, 69-66.
“I’ve become more of an observer as well as a leader at the same time, which I’m super proud of”, Irving said.
And then handing the ball to Kyrie Irving, getting out of the way, and watching him bring the team to the doorstep of the NBA Finals. Deron Williams, who had been quiet for most of the series, also got in on the act with a series-best 14 points for Cleveland.
Kyrie Irving gritted his teeth, tightened up his left sneaker and hopped to his feet.
He didn’t exactly slow down. Yet, LeBron had the worst performance of the 2017 playoffs (and his worst performance in years.) He only scored 11 points, his lowest offensive numbers since he put up just seven points since May 28, 2014. The Cavs outscored the Celtics, 40-23, in the third.
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He put the Cavs on his shoulders when LeBron really wasn’t in any sort of rhythm. Another James jumper extended the lead to 110-97.
