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Key: Back on Track
Let’s be honest: If the Cavaliers had to drop a game in the Eastern Conference Finals, Sunday night’s Game 3 was probably the one. The Wine and Gold are still up in the series, 2-1, still have two games remaining at home if they need them, and are taking on a team that they stomped twice with their top scorer – and are now without him.
That doesn’t mean the Cavs are out of the woods by any stretch, and they’ll need to re-establish momentum on Tuesday night at The Q.
Sunday’s game was sticking completely to the script through the first two quarters – with the Wine and Gold scoring 66 points and leading by 16 heading into halftime. But Cleveland cooled off after intermission – going just 5-for-18 from the floor in the third – and the shorthanded Celtics chipped away until Avery Bradley rattled-home the game winner as time expired.
The loss was Cleveland’s first of the postseason and snapped its 13-game run that dated back to last year’s Finals.
The Cavaliers are still 14-0 in franchise history after taking a 2-0 lead in a series, but they’ll have to contend with a desperate Celtics squad that smells a little bit of blood after being left for dead following last Friday’s beatdown in Beantown.
Key: Royal Return
LeBron James’ postseason run this year had been otherworldly through his first ten games, but even the King came back down to Earth on Sunday night – posting the fourth-lowest Playoff point total of his career.
He had notched at least 30 points in eight straight games and nine of Cleveland’s 10 outings so far, but he struggled mightily on Sunday night – finishing with 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting, including 0-of-4 from beyond the arc. James – who averaged 20.0 points in just the second-halves of the four-game sweep against Toronto – posted just three points in Sunday’s second stanza, going 1-of-8 from the floor and making just two trips to the line.
But those who’ve watched James over the years know that the future Hall of Famer never has two bad games in a row, and if there’s an opposing franchise who knows what he’s capable of, it’s the Celtics. He still leads all postseason scorers with a 32.2 ppg average and has scored at least 25 points in 10 of Cleveland’s 11 postseason contests.
As usual, Jae Crowder started out against James in Game 3 – doubling-up in the improbable win with 14 points, 11 boards and a game-high three steals.
Key: Reserve Judgement
The Cavaliers’ second unit figured prominently in their eight-game win streak through the first two rounds of the Playoffs, but in the early part of the Eastern Conference Finals, Cleveland’s Big Three (plus Tristan Thompson) had been doing most of the heavy lifting.
The same was true for Boston up until Sunday night’s upset – with Kelly Olynyk and Jonas Jerebko coming off the bench to key the second-half rally.
Jerebko – who was a DNP-CP in six of Boston’s 15 previous Playoff games before last night – came off the bench to go 4-of-4 from the floor for 10 points and five boards, including the 22-footer that put the Celtics up a deuce with 30 seconds to play. In Jerebko’s 12 minutes of play, he led both teams with a +22 mark.
Olynyk was even better – adding 15 points in relief, going 5-of-8 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the stripe.
For the Cavaliers, all five starters tallied double-figures, but got just nine combined points off the bench – six from Iman Shumpert.
They haven’t gotten much from the rest of their bench so far against Boston. Kyle Korver is averaging 4.7 points and shooting 25 percent from deep, Deron Williams is averaging 2.0 points and shooting 18 percent from the floor, Richard Jefferson finished with 10 points and five boards in Game 2, but hasn’t scored in either of the other two contests.
Key: Feeling the Love
After an uneven first two rounds of the postseason, Kevin Love has been outstanding against Boston – notching his third straight double-double on Sunday night at The Q.
In that Game 3 performance, Love connected on seven first-half three-pointers, notching 22 of his 28 points in the first half. On the night, the four-time All-Star finished 8-of-16 from the floor, including 7-for-13 from long-range and 5-of-6 from the line, adding 10 boards, three assists and a pair of blocks.
Through the first three games of the Eastern Conference Finals, Love is averaging 27.0 points and 11.3 boards, shooting 52 percent from the floor, 55 percent from long-range (17-of-31) and 84 percent from the stripe.
Amir Johnson was back in the starting lineup for Boston last night, but Olynyk and Jerebko got the majority of minutes against Love in the second half of Game 3. The duo combined for 9-for-12 shooting and did a good job helping slow down Love after intermission.
Key: Middle Men
One player who will never be accused of not bringing maximum energy and effort is Tristan Thompson, who played like a man-possessed in both halves of Sunday’s Game 3 loss – tallying his second double-double of the postseason, 14th of his playoff career.
Cleveland’s blue-collar big finished with 18 points, a game-high 13 boards – including seven off the offensive glass – and a blocked shot. On the night, Thompson went 3-of-4 from the floor – (and is now 13-for-16 in the series) – and was 12-of-15 from the stripe, setting a career-mark in made free throws.
Through the first three games of the series, Thompson is averaging 15.0 points and 8.0 boards per. Boston’s starting big, Al Horford, had his best offensive night of the series, finishing with 16 points on 7-for-18 shooting, adding six assists but just two rebounds in the win.
Despite drawing Boston fans’ occasional ire, Horford has had a rock-solid Playoff run in his first season with the Celtics – averaging 15.4 points on 59 percent shooting to go with 7.0 boards and 5.6 assists.