var opponent = "celtics"; //used in image formatting opponent-dateCode-page.jpg var dateCode = "180521"; var pageSelectorTag = "div" var pageSelectorClass = "article-section" var pageTitleTag = "h4"; var pageTitleClass = "key";
Key: Getting Even
It can’t surprise anyone who’s watched a minute of the Wine & Gold’s wild 2017-18 season that they’d bounce back from the brink with a one-sided win – blowing out the Celtics in convincing fashion to cut Boston’s series edge in half on Saturday night at The Q.
In that Game 3 win, Cleveland jumped all over Brad Stevens’ young squad, using a 13-0 first-quarter run to put the game away early. Boston never led, trailed by as many as 23 in the second quarter and 30 points in the fourth.
The Wine & Gold played one of their most complete games of the postseason – with all five starters notching double-figures while Kyle Korver and Larry Nance Jr. had perfect shooting nights off the bench.
Defensively, Cleveland was just as good, holding the Celtics – who didn’t score more than 24 points in any quarter – to 39 percent shooting as a team, including a 6-for-22 mark from long-range, while forcing 15 turnovers.
The Cavaliers have now won six-straight Playoff games at home and each of their last two by at least 30 points. Tyronn Lue’s squad has held five of Cleveland’s seven opponents under the century mark and is coming off their best defensive performance in the postseason – holding Boston to 86 points and 39 percent shooting.
The Cavaliers will try to match Saturday night’s intensity and even the series. The Celtics – now 1-5 on the road in these Playoffs – will look to rediscover their mojo from the first two games.
Key: Going Fourth
LeBron James has scored 40 or more points in five games this postseason – with the Wine & Gold going 4-1 in those contests.
In the first three of those, the Cavaliers won by an average of 3.3 points. In the fourth, they blew out the Raptors by 18 and in his most recent, the Celtics crushed Cleveland by two touchdowns.
The point is that LeBron James and his team are at their best when the four-time MVP posts a performance like Saturday night’s – still finishing with a game-high 27 points, but on an efficient 8-of-12 night from the floor, including 3-of-3 from long-distance and 8-of-10 from the stripe – adding a game-high 13 assists, five boards, two steals and a pair of blocks in 37 minutes of work.
James was able to take almost the entire fourth quarter off and should have plenty of juice for Monday night’s critical Game 4 matchup at The Q. LeBron, who notched his league-leading 10th double-double of the postseason, is once again on the cusp of history – needing only six field goals to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time postseason leader.
He’ll have plenty of time to think about that record when the postseason rolls around. On Monday night, he’ll be locked into Marcus Morris, who he’s held to 7-for-22 shooting after doubling up with 21 points and 10 boards in the series opener.
Key: Go Big or Go Home
Even when Kyrie Irving was healthy, the Celtics ran a lot of their offense through Al Horford, easily one of the best passing big men in the Association.
Horford stymied the Cavaliers early in the series – netting 11 of his 20 points in the first quarter of Game 1 before Tristan Thompson was able to slow him down.
Horford, the five-time All-Star, notched nine points the rest of the way in that contest, went 5-for-13 from the floor in Game 2 and was almost invisible in Game 3, finishing with just seven points, seven boards and four assists in 30 quiet minutes of work.
Thompson has posted solid numbers – grabbing double-digit boards in the series opener and finishing as one of five Cavalier starters in double-figures with 10 points on Saturday night – but his game isn’t predicated on offensive production.
With Tristan manning the middle, it’s freed Kevin Love to return to his natural position at power forward – and he’s made the most of it, doubling-up in his second-straight game and for the fifth time in the postseason – finishing with 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting to go with a game-high 14 boards.
Cleveland’s five-time All-Star got off to a shaky start against Indiana to start the postseason, but he’s been right as rain since – averaging 21.2 points and 11.7 rebounds (with four double-doubles) over his last six games.
Key: Long-Distance Love Affair
Despite having one of the most physically dominating players of his generation on the floor, a big part of the Cavaliers’ DNA is their three-point shooting. For all of LeBron’s dominance, the Wine & Gold are playing their best ball when the long-ball is falling.
That was certainly the case on Saturday night, when the squad set the high-water mark for this postseason – drilling 17 triples on 34 attempts.
JR Smith finally got off the schneid in the series, going 3-of-4 from long-range on Saturday after starting 0-for-7 through the first two games. Even with a scoreless Game 3 in the mix, Swish was rock-solid against the Raptors before the Celtics began slowing him down. Getting Smith’s engine going again could shift the series.
Kyle Korver has been on a quiet roll since the start of May – shooting .582 (32-of-55) from the floor and .538 (21-of-39) from long-distance over his last seven outings.
Even LeBron – who had hit three triples in his previous 23 attempts before Game 2 – has been good from beyond the arc, drilling all three threes he attempted on Saturday night and eight overall in his last two games.
For their part, the Celtics struggled shooting the long-ball on Saturday night – going just 6-for-23 on the night, their lowest three-point output of the 2018 Playoffs.
Key: On a Roll
The Cavaliers have been waiting for a total team effort – including their strong second unit – throughout the postseason. And they finally got it on Saturday night.
All five starters netted double-figures, but Kyle Korver was also outstanding in relief – adding 14 points in the win, going 5-of-5 from the floor, including 4-of-4 from deep.
Korver wasn’t the only reserve who was perfect from the floor in Game 3, with Larry Nance turning in his most impactful outing of the Playoffs – chipping in with eight points, six boards, three assists and a game-high three steals. Nance was the first big off the bench in Game 3 and his fresh legs have made a difference improving Cleveland’s overall energy in the series.
Jordan Clarkson is just 7-for-22 from the floor in the Eastern Conference Finals, but he canned three triples for the first time in the postseason on Saturday night (after taking a DNP-CD in the previous contest).
Jeff Green, who was outstanding off the bench in the Toronto series, has yet to find a rhythm against his old squad – turning in his third straight six-point performance in Saturday’s Game 3 victory.
The Celtics had been getting big production from reserves Marcus Smart and Aron Baynes in the series, but Saturday was a different story.
After finishing with a game-best +21 in Game 2, Smart finished with just seven points and a +19 mark in Game 3, and Baynes was essentially a non-factor, adding seven points, six boards and a pair of blocks.