The Cleveland Cavaliers have equalized the Conference Finals against Boston Celtics for 2:2. They dominated the 111-102 win in the first half as they did in Game 3, but Boston struggled to make a comeback. This nipped a strong LeBron James, who reached another great milestone, but in the bud.
Contrary to speculation, Celtics coach Brad Stevens did not change his starting five. Tyronn Lue on the other side saw no reason for it either and sent his usual lineup onto the floor.
After a balanced opening phase, the Cavs set off for the first time thanks to a wide trio from J.R. Smith and an And-one from LeBron James, because the Celtics left many chances on the board and were also cold from outside. LeBron shone in the transition, Marcus Morris took his third foul, Jaylen Brown darkened one-on-zero and much recalled game 3:34:18 after the first quarter.
Kyle Korver (!) opened the second quarter with his second (!) block against Brown and in return committed a foul on the third. Afterwards Boston finally succeeded in generating an offensive rhythm. Korver, however, prevented the Cavs lead from becoming a single digit – for the time being. The guests had now arrived in Cleveland, they even met their own threesomes in back-to-back pos sessions. So they came up to 46:55, but the Cavs had the last word before halftime: 68:53.
After the break tea the Celtics unpacked a 6:0 run, LeBron answered on the board. Kevin Love had to get on the bench early because he got his fifth foul – but Morris did the same on the other side. The Celtics now managed to keep the gap constant at around 10 points, Jayson Tatum even set back-to-backups at 72:80, but as always the Cavs had a suitable answer ready: 89:76.
In the final part Love met his first threesome, but the goblins remained persistent. A great Postmove from Horford reduced the lead to 8 points, the crowd in the “Q” got nervous as Aron Baynes rebounded from the free-throw line. James was there with a Eurostep from the textbook to calm the situation. In a rather inconspicuous manner, he broke through the 40-point mark without hitting a single threesome – until 1’40” before the end when he started from downtown to the dagger. The Cavs won 111:102.
James had 44 points (17/28 FG) and 5 rebounds in the end, Korver got 14 points, Tristan Thompson and George Hill 13 points each, Brown was top scorer of the Celtics with 25 points, Tatum played 17.
Game 5 goes up on Thursday night in Boston (2.30 live on DAZN).
Cleveland Cavaliers – Boston Celtics 111:102, Series 2:2 (BOXSCORE)
His jump shot didn’t want to be as constant as he was last time. But he didn’t have to, because James managed again and again to refuel himself with his physique to the board and score points there. He also benefited from the fact that Morris had foul problems and was therefore often defended by smaller opponents, which he could move back and forth in a relaxed manner. There was also a new milestone: He passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the All-Time Playoff Ranking of the field goals scored and now ranks first with 2,368.
His dedication and intensity were again exemplary, but that could not conceal his playful weaknesses in this game. Over-hasty finishes and bad pass decisions ran like a red thread through his offense, all 3 Celtics turnovers of the first half went on his cap. His first goal from the field was in Crunchtime (2/8 FG, 1/5 3FG in total).
In games 1 and 2 the defense of the Cavs was a disaster, especially on screens and cuts off the ball. Thanks to switches that communicate much better, they now have this under control; there were only a few simple terminations for the guests. Cleveland’s approach had the same effect at times as in the final phase of the 2016 finals, when they encountered offball screens of the warriors with hard physique, often also in the grey area of control technology (clamps, jersey plucking and the like).