Game 3 was pretty much a must-win game for the Boston Celtics to stay in the series, but they weren’t able to pull it off.
The game started off in Cleveland’s favor, with Timofey Mozgov throwing down a huge slam past Tyler Zeller early on. The Celtics stayed right with them though. Marcus Smart knocked down a trey and then got an impressive and-1 layup a few plays later. The Cavaliers led 31-25 after a high-scoring first quarter, despite poor free-throw shooting from Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson.
The Celtics played well in the second quarter behind a lot of hustle from Jae Crowder, and some missed layups by LeBron James. The Celtics lit the TD Garden on fire when Crowder’s hustle earned a Cleveland turnover and led to an and-1 bucket by Tyler Zeller. A couple plays later, Zeller hit a midrange jumper to tie the game up. The Celtics then took the lead after Evan Turner’s layup was goaltender by Mozgov in transition. The second quarter was a very physical one. There was a small scuffle that led to a technical foul called on J.R. Smith, and a hard foul on LeBron James led to a flagrant-1 being called on Evan Turner.
Throughout the second quarter the Celtics played their hearts out, turning a 9-point deficit to a lead. However, they began to look a little lazy after taking the lead, and slowed the pace down. That was the worst thing they could’ve done, and Cleveland ended the half on a 12-0 run, topped off by a LeBron stepback with 6.8 remaining. LeBron, who had looked a bit lazy thus far, had come alive. The Cavs were up 8 going into the third quarter.
The Celtics came out of the break on fire, opening with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 56. Then Cleveland began to play well again. LeBron converted an impressive and-1 jumper, and also threw down a nice windmill in transition. The Cavs went on a stretch where they just couldn’t miss. LeBron and J.R. Smith were both knocking down tough shots despite good defense. The Celtics were letting the Cavs score at will, but were managing to stay in the game, due to Evan Turner shooting well and Jae Crowder sinking 3s. Turner may have been shooting well, but was very turnover-prone. At the end of the third the Celtics trailer 84-76.
LeBron stayed hot through the break, opening up the third quarter with a tough jumper over Luigi Datome. Not long after, he banked in a 3. The Celtics just couldn’t catch a break. LeBron was draining tough shots, and Boston kept turning the ball over. Evan turner was keeping Boston in the game with his jumper, which looked unstoppable for awhile.
Nearing the end of the game, Boston made one last run for the win. Jae Crowder’s tough defense forced a backcourt violation on LeBron. Evan Turner knocked down a 3 to cut the lead to 3. However, Boston couldn’t pull ahead, as Kevin Love and LeBron James came through for the Cavs. Love sealed the deal with a 3-pointer late in the game.
The Cavs ended up winning 103-95. LeBron James wound up with a monster statline, going for 31 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals. Kevin Love finally performed at the level that Cavs fans had been expecting him to, scoring 23 points to go with 9 rebounds. Love also shot 6-10 from deep.
Boston was led by Evan Turner, who nearly had a triple-double(19 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists), and Jae Crowder. Crowder had 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. but his worth to the team can’t be seen in the box score. He provided superb defense and hustle all night, and forced multiple jump balls.
The Cavs managed to beat Boston once again, but they may need to play better once they’re further into the playoffs. LeBron James had an excellent night, but early on in the game he looked disengaged, particularly on defense. He may be able to get away with that against the 7th-seeded Celtics, but there will be tougher foes down the road.
