The Cleveland Cavaliers are in the NBA Finals for the fourth time in a row. Thanks to another strong performance by LeBron James, the Cavs won game 7 at the Boston Celtics 87:79. 87:79 was also decisive that the Celtics scored almost nothing from a distance after the break.
Without Kevin Love (concussion), the Cavs went into Game 7 with Jeff Green as a replacement, but Boston got off to a better start because Jayson Tatum showed no nervousness and put three of his first four throws in the basket. Cleveland, as so often, was almost completely dependent on LeBron James. It took over seven minutes before a non-LeBron Cavs player scored a field goal. One thing united both teams at first: the threesome did not want to fall yet.
When Tristan Thompson sat on the bench with the Cavs, the Celtics were looking for Al Horford (14 points in the first half), who went to work several times in the post and had a big part in the 9-0 run to the end of the quarter, which gave the hosts a 26-18 lead.
Cleveland, on the other hand, could not use the many open throws, even Kyle Korver shot one ticket after the other from a distance (0/4 threesome in the first half). Boston, on the other hand, played with concentration, stayed over 17 minutes without losing the ball and let LeBron work hard for his points. But on the offensive it was sometimes tough what Boston offered and so the Cavs nibbled a little bit behind before the break, because Green LeBron could now also take some of the pressure off. At the break, the Celtics were only leading 43:39.
But the Cavs could not preserve their improved offense and remained almost five minutes without a field goal before J.R. Smith from downtown ended the drought. But since Boston didn’t hit anything either, Cleveland equalized the game a little later after a three-point game from Green. With the Celtics nothing worked anymore and nobody embodied this as much as Terry Rozier, who threw one brick after another and was then also badly cleared away by LeBron during the dunk attempt in Transiton. The Cavs entered the final section with a 59:56 lead.
The Celtics seemed to have caught up. Horford used an Alley Oop, Marcus Morris added a threesome, so the fans in the TD Garden were back again. Cleveland, on the other hand, scored better from a distance but quickly ran into foul problems. Boston was in the bonus after four minutes. So the hosts moved aggressively into the zone all the time – so did Tatum, who elitistly scored over James and immediately followed up with a three-man lead (72:71).
But Cleveland’s answer was Green again, who also hit from downtown. The Cavs went into the final phase with a small advantage, but were also lucky that Boston could not continue to use the many open threesomes. George Hill scored 76 seconds before the end after a dream pass from LeBron in Transition and the Cavs led with 7 points. Jaylen Brown then left another threesome and James punished it in fast break with an And-One. Game Over!
Cleveland’s best scorer was James with 35 points (12/24 FG), 13 rebounds, 9 assists, but also 8 ball losses. The King got relief from Green (19) and in the second half also from Smith (12). For Boston, Tatum (24, 9/17 FG) scorte the most points. In addition, Al Horford (17) and Morris (14, 12 rebounds) had good performances and had a double-double.
The Cavs are now waiting for the winner of Game 7 between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors (Tue. live at 3am). Game 1 of the finals is scheduled for 3 am in the night from Thursday to Friday.
Boston Celtics v Cleveland Cavaliers 79:87, series 3:4 (BOXSCORE)
He actually played through the entire 48 minutes. His performance was somewhat less dominant than in other victories, but in the decisive phases he once again brought his team to the finals. Despite initial problems of his teammates, LeBron continued to trust his supporting cast and it paid off after the break. Defensive with some breaks, but also highlights like his monster block against Rozier in the third quarter.
Whew. Rozier played great playoffs, but in game 7 he shot his colours out of play. 0/10 from a distance was an absolute disaster. Just in the fourth quarter, when the Cavs had collected many fouls early, he did not pull to the basket to get to the line and preferred to continue using jumpers that did not fall.
Without Kevin Love, Cavs coach Ty Lue had few options in the front court, not least because Larry Nance had committed 3 fouls early. So there was even more Jeff Green to see. After LeBron, who played all the way through, the forward saw the most time in the first half. And he did quite well, as he was one of the few players, along with James, who could create offense himself and thus give LeBron some breaks during the game. In halftime two Lue tried the small version with green on center and only little play time for Nance, which paid off absolutely.