var opponent = "celtics"; //used in image formatting opponent-dateCode-page.jpg var dateCode = "170521"; var pageSelectorTag = "div" var pageSelectorClass = "article-section" var pageTitleTag = "h4"; var pageTitleClass = "key";
Key: Red-Hot Return
In the 18 days since the Cavaliers last played at The Q, they’ve dropped the Raptors twice in Toronto to complete the Second Round sweep and absolutely crushed the Celtics twice in Boston to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Now, two wins away from their third straight trip to the NBA Finals, the Wine and Gold return to Cleveland to try to close out a wounded Celtics squad trying to bounce back from two straight drubbings with their best player – and the Eastern Conference’s top scorer – on the shelf for the rest of the series.
On Friday night, the Cavaliers took a two-touchdown lead after one quarter, went up 41 at intermission and led by as many as 50 in the second stanza. When the smoke cleared, Tyronn Lue’s squad had set franchise marks for points in a Playoff game (130) and margin of victory (44) in a historic thumping that gave Cleveland its 13th straight postseason win dating back to last year’s Finals.
Without Isaiah Thomas – who suffered a hip injury that sidelined him for the second half of Game 2 – the Celtics face long odds against a white-hot Cavaliers squad that has Golden State – which went up, 3-0, over San Antonio on Saturday – squarely in their sites.
Key: Homecoming King
LeBron James has been on a mission since his return to Cleveland in 2014, but the four-time MVP has been as laser-focused and locked in as he’s ever been during Cleveland’s current postseason run.
In 10 Playoff games for the Cavaliers this year, James has notched at least 30 points in nine of them, including eight straight. In just three quarters of work on Friday night, the King tallied 30 points on 12-for-18 shooting, including 4-of-6 from deep, to go with four boards, seven assists, four steals and three blocks. The +46 that James posted in his 33 minutes of action was also a career-high for him, regular season or Playoffs.
He also comes into tonight’s contest needing just 73 points to pass Michael Jordan and become the leading Playoff scorer in NBA history.
The Celtics have tried to slow James down with just about every frontcourt player on their roster, but from Kelly Olynyk to Marcus Smart to Jae Crowder – there isn’t a matchup he hasn’t been able to exploit.
Key: Love's Theme
Through the first two rounds of the postseason, Kevin Love was solid but slightly inconsistent – posting two double-doubles through Cleveland’s first eight games. But he’s found his rhythm against Boston in the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals – doubling-up in each of the first two games and leading both squads with 12 boards in each.
Love had his Playoff run ended two seasons ago in Beantown, but he came out of the first two games this year on a serious roll – averaging 26.5 points and a dozen boards per.
Trying to shake things up after a lopsided Game 1 loss, Brad Stevens moved Gerald Green into the starting lineup over Amir Johnson, but we saw the results of that move in Friday’s final boxscore.
Key: Changing of the Guard
Whether they came into the contest struggling from the floor or not, just about every Cavalier warmed up on Friday night in Boston.
Kyrie Irving went 4-of-11 from the floor in the Game 1 opener, but he looked like Uncle Drew again on Friday night, notching 23 points – the 32nd 20-plus point Playoff game of his career – finishing 8-of-11 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from long-range.
With his 22nd point on Friday night, the four-time All-Star became just the second player in Cavaliers history to notch 1,000 career Playoff points.
Kyrie still hasn’t completely found his stroke – shooting 42 percent from the floor and just 29 percent from beyond the arc in the postseason. But if he can parlay Friday night’s performance through the rest of the Playoffs, the Wine and Gold could very well be hoisting the hardware in June.
With Isaiah Thomas sidelined, the Celtics will likely turn to Marcus Smart at the point, with Youngstown native, Terry Rozier coming off the bench.
Key: Canadian Bakin'
Celtics fans have yet to warm up to their starting center, Al Horford – who had a solid first season in with the Celtics, but whose game will not invoke memories of Robert Parrish in Boston.
The Cavaliers have controlled the boards through the first two games and a big reason for that is that Horford – while being an excellent shooter and passer for a big man – is not a banger down low, grabbing just 13 boards through the first two contests. Unfortunately for the Celtics, the 11-year veteran from Florida has struggled shooting the ball in the series – combining to go just 8-of-20 from the floor through the first two games.
Tristan Thompson didn’t have the big offensive output that he posted in Game 1, but was effective in just three quarters of work on Friday night. Through Games 1 and 2, Thompson is now 10-of-12 from the floor and the Wine and Gold have owned the glass – especially on the offensive end, where has grabbed over his half his boards.
Through the first 10 games of the 2017 Playoffs, Thompson has snagged 46 of his 96 total rebounds off the offensive glass.