Though his squad lost the game, James took the eventual National Basketball Association champs to the distance almost by himself. One game, one win, stands between your Cleveland Cavaliers and a fourth consecutive trip to The Finals. On Monday night, the airwaves are a little more crowded than on Sunday, with ABC airing a new Bachelorette, Fox running two bonus episodes of the just-canceled Lucifer, and NBC offering Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. “I expect the crowd to be really into it”. It’s about poise. It’s about keeping your head. Marcus Morris has played center and forward, guarding James, Love, and others, and is 11-18 from beyond the arc in the series. But getting this one, with all the challenges, misadventures and misgivings that have engulfed the Cavs this season, would qualify as perhaps his most meaningful East title.
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He had a 46-point, 12-rebound outing and a 45-point Game 7 against IN in games where he didn’t make a buzzer-beater. Either way, he’s going to make plays. “But also Jeff Green will be in, we’re aware of him”. In Game 7 James went for 37 and 12 boards.
Five minutes into game six, Kevin Love collided with Jayson Tatum and suffered a concussion, which will keep him on the sideline for Game 7. That, alone, is not enough to get the Cavaliers a win, which leads us too…. But then he found himself engaged in a seven-game slugfest with the upstart Pacers, who carried over their impressive regular season play into the playoffs, and gave James all he could handle.
Nance struggled in Cleveland’s first-round series against the Indiana Pacers.
“We’ll have to prepare our team to play well, regardless of who plays for them”, Stevens said. If The Machine can churn out one more game for the ages, he’ll bring the Cavs home. He has not been the same guy on the road, what does he have to do to be that guy again? On Saturday, Love was placed in the league’s concussion protocol and he’ll be watching the final game of the ECF in street clothes. The Celtics are going to need every bit of Smart’s emotional spirit to end Cleveland’s season. That’s my pregame meal, so I’m up two games – well, the three games here, that’s what I ate before the game. James was noticeably affected, but stayed on the court to make sure the game didn’t get away from them.
“I was proud of the way we fought back”, coach Brad Stevens said, following his team’s 109-99 loss. “It’s not about that”.
If there’s one aspect of either squad that’s been an indicator of how this series has varied from venue to venue, it’s the play of the starting guards – and there’s no better example than George Hill.
The Cavs looked to have figured out the former Shaker Heights star, holding him to eight points on 3-for-15 shooting in Game 5.
Now, his focus turns to Game 7 and what he’ll do to get ready, especially with teammate Kevin Love potentially sidelined. But Pierce had a heck of a game himself, scoring 41 points, and P.J. Brown hit a couple of key late jumpers to allow the Celtics to – barely – survive. Our game plan doesn’t change much.
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So far this series, Love has proven to be a matchup problem for Boston. They need to force switches and run sets that get Horford space from Thompson. The problem? They may have to try and do so without Kevin Love.
