The Boston Celtics also won their tenth home game in the playoffs and beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96:83 (BOXSCORE). The Celtics led almost the entire game and had little problems with an uninspired Cavs team. LeBron James also disappoints the guests. Boston now leads the series with 3-2.
It was foreseeable that Celtics coach Brad Stevens would play bigger, at the beginning Aron Baynes actually started for Marcus Morris and the Australian was immediately active. First the center blocked George Hill at the basket, then he typed the spalding into the basket for a 7:2 lead. Cleveland tried to include Kevin Love on the other side and he also had 10 points (two threesomes) in his account. Otherwise the Cavs took some bad litters and had problems to finish at the ring.
The Celtics, on the other hand, played with their usual self-confidence at home and let it ring from a distance with six goals. Jayson Tatum was incredibly aggressive with 9 points in the first quarter, Boston led 32:19 after 12 minutes thanks to a late 23:7 run and Larry Nance Jr., who fought Marcus Morris after a slight push, both got techinals and Terry Rozier, who interfered, received the same penalty.
It seemed to wake up the Cavs a bit, Jordan Clarkson and Kyle Korver hit their triples, resulting in a 12:3 run. The Celtics had problems to make their litters in this phase, although the selection was quite good or the Cavs regularly collapsed defensively. Boston were helped by a few throws that jumped onto the ring and finally fell in, while LeBron James now also enjoyed the game and played a few points in a row. Boston had everything under control, but should have led much higher during the break. So we went into the cabin at 53:42.
Cleveland missed it, because the Celtics had lost their rhythm for a while. With the Cavs, LeBron still seemed strangely lethargic (except at the end of the second quarter) and played some really bad passes, which resulted in ball losses. It splashed a little, so that the Cavs were not yet out of play despite their weak performance. But when Boston speeded up again with Jaylen Brown, the weaknesses of the guests were clearly visible again. The Celtics took a 76:60 lead into the final section.
The lead grew to 20 points, but LeBron came back after his usual break. And Cleveland actually tried again, after a three-pointer from Jeff Green it was only 12 points. The Cavs suddenly played defense and the Celtics lost over four minutes before Al Horford broke the spell in transition (85:71). The Cavs had their chances, but could no longer convert them into points, because James also mutated into a turnover machine again. Just four minutes before the end, Horford was again 17 points behind from downtown – it was the Dagger.
Cleveland had only two players in Double Figures – and these were LeBron (26 points, 11/22 FG 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 turnovers) and Love (14). Boston, on the other hand, could rely on a balanced team performance. Tatum was the top scorer with 24 points (7/15 FG), Horford (15, 12 rebounds) had a double-double, Morris (13) and Smart (13) were convincing. Only Rozier (8, 3/15 FG) was a total failure for the hosts and pimped his stats only in the final phase.
The Celtics are only one victory away from the NBA Finals. This could already be entered in game 6 in the night from Friday to Saturday in Cleveland.
Boston Celtics v Cleveland Cavaliers 96:83, series 3:2 (BOXSCORE)
Whenever the rookie held the ball in his hands, something good seemed to come out for the Celtics. Tatum was always aggressive and exposed the porous Cavs-Defense over and over again. The forward pulled clever fouls, scored from a distance and dared even heavy midrange jumpers. Also in the defense he had his fingers in the pass ways again and again with his long arms, 3 steals were the reward for it.
That wasn’t anything from the Cavs’ re-builders. Even the much criticized Clarkson at times had more influence than Hill and J.R. Smith (together 2/11 FG). Hill tried a lot, in contrast to Smith, but was cleared several times by Baynes. Smith, on the other hand, was mostly overwhelmed by Tatum. It wasn’t a coincidence that Smith wasn’t playing at all in the fourth quarter and Hill only came because Clarkson didn’t hit anything anymore.
Where was Kyle Korver, anyway? Some of you may have asked yourself this question that evening. It wasn’t until the second quarter that the marksman saw minutes (at the end of the 18th), after Cavs coach Ty Lue had initially preferred a formation of Jeff Green, Nance (the only bright spot of the Cavs with 4 blocks and lots of Hustle) and Tristan Thompson. Not only did it sound difficult to digest, it looked like it. Even with such an arrangement the Cavs could hardly take advantage of their economies of scale. Stevens’ decision to place Baynes in the top five paid off. The Australian was simply solid with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.
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