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Cavs Always Have Answers for Gritty Celtics

addByline("Peter Stringer", "Celtics.com", "PeterStringer");

BOSTON - Every time the Boston Celtics made things interesting, the Cleveland Cavaliers had a response. Or the Celtics made a mistake. And it’s cost Boston a 3-0 series deficit.

The Celtics fell to the Cavaliers 103-95 Thursday night at TD Garden, and now find themselves on the brink of extinction. To make another trip to Cleveland and avoid the sweep, they will have to find answers over the next two days, with Game 4 and potential elimination looming Sunday afternoon.

With an energetic home crowd behind them, the Celtics kept things close throughout the first half. But the C’s gave away the lead in the final minutes of the second quarter, negating what should have been a confident walk to the locker room at the midway point. They trailed 56-48.

Boston’s 8-0 run to start the third knotted the game at 56-56, but then a familiar theme set in – the Celtics spent the second half chasing the Cavs. Every time the Celtics needed a basket, they couldn’t hit it. Every time a ball sprang loose, they couldn’t grab it. And every time they started a rally, LeBron James or Kyrie Irving had an answer. Or Tristan Thompson came up with one of his five offensive rebounds.

“We were talking about it after the game and I think every offensive rebound they got led to a 3 for them,” Avery Bradley, who shot just 7-for-18 from the field, noted after the game. “We know what Tristan Thompson is going to do out there and he just out-worked us.”

The Cavs’ answers to the Celtics runs and rallies were abrupt and deflating. James tended to hit bombs from the perimeter, or in one case, a long-range bank-shot that would have made Rick Fox smile. Meanwhile, Irving only hit three shots all night, but he did hit a ridiculous shot with a hand in his face, as well as a leaning layup that defied gravity and physics, not to mention belief.

And of course, the Cavs love to shoot from long distance. J.R. Smith (3-for-8 on 3-pointers) enjoys lofting 3s. Kevin Love (6-for-10 behind the arc) loves to shoot 3s. Cleveland hoisted 29 attempts from downtown and connected on 12 of them, with several coming on the heels of their 11 offensive rebounds.

“Second-chance points seem to be magnified in this series. And they seem to be happening at critical, critical times for them,” Celtics Coach Brad Stevens said. “We cut it to one in the third quarter; they get a rebound, kick-out 3.”

Isaiah Thomas (five points, 2-for-9 shooting), who almost single-handedly kept the Celtics afloat during Game 1 and 2, couldn’t get it going for Game 3. The Celtics’ spark plug played just 21 minutes on the night and saw only the first 3:26 of the fourth quarter.

“They’re paying him a lot of attention, and for whatever reason he was having an off night,” Celtics Coach Brad Stevens said of Thomas. He also added that Evan Turner was “terrific in the second half” and indicated that Turner’s play kept Thomas off the floor.

Turner, for his part, submitted another near-triple-double performance, dropping 19 points to go with his eight rebounds and eight assists. He also hit a huge 3-pointer that drew the Celtics to within 95-92 with 2:45 to play.

Yet again, the Cavs had a swift response. Another Love trey, set up by Irving, pushed the lead back up to six points. And when Turner tried to dunk on everyone and re-electrify the TD Garden crowd, James met him at the rim and rejected his slam attempt.

Jae Crowder, who turned in a hard-nosed Havlicekian effort (16 points, seven rebounds, and stout defense and dirty work in the paint), came up with the loose ball and connected on one of two free throws to make it a five-point game with 1:14 remaining.

When the Celtics needed a stop to stay alive, briefly, they got one -- only to see Thompson come up with the offensive rebound. That rebound led to James finding Love in the corner for a 3 that sunk the Celtics for good.

There wasn’t a single zero in Crowder’s box score line, but he sat at the postgame podium unfulfilled and frustrated by the close-but-no-victory-cigar effort.

“I think we’re trying to hold ourselves accountable but we have to take it another level, it’s the playoffs,” Crowder said.

Through three playoff games, whatever level the Celtics have been playing at, it hasn’t been enough to match the Cavaliers. The ascension Crowder’s seeking either needs to happen on Sunday, or the season comes to a close.