After an absolute beat down of a loss at home in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston Celtics had absolutely no answer to stopping LeBron James and co. Threes rained from “Believeland” as the Celtics look to rebound down 0-2 in Cleveland following the 130-86 debacle of a loss.
The Game Flow
Once again, another slow start to the game for the Celtics as they missed their first six shots of the game while the Cavaliers stumbled into a groove of their own halfway through the quarter. The open opportunities were there for Boston, the team just couldn’t get their shots to fall. Cleveland took full advantage of the dull shooting by extending their lead to double digits thanks to a 12-0 run. The C’s finished the period shooting 60% from the field, down 14 heading into the second quarter. LeBron James stuffed the stat sheet with 5 points, 5 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. Isaiah Thomas finished the first without a made field goal, something he’s struggled mightily with in game one.
Frustrations are already beginning to hit Boston. After James drove in against the rookie Jaylen Brown to score the and-one, Thomas got his 5th technical foul of the playoffs. Not even a minute later, Brad Stevens got t’d up himself for his opposition towards the IT technical foul. In the meantime, the Cavs bench was loving what was happening on the court and as Marv Albert so generously put “they are absolutely doing whatever they [the Cavs] want right now”. Cleveland continued to penetrate and kicked the ball out to the open man with ease. James went on a personal 7-0 scoring run as a part of a 15-2 run proving that age is truly just a number to him. Boston appeared defeated not even halfway through the first half of the quarter, as they failed to even contest the easiest of shots. Boston find themselves in an abyss of a hole heading into the half down FORTY ONE. Even J.R. Smith added a total bullshit fade-away buzzer beater to add insult to injury.
Not much changed for either side in the second half. Boston kept forcing unwanted shots and the Cavs were still on fire from the field. There’s not much you can do down 40+, especially to a LeBron-led squad. The Celtics now are fighting for pride, looking towards game three in Cleveland. When James has a night like he had tonight shooting-wise, it’s almost impossible to stop this potent offense. The Cavs rolled through the C’s 130-86.
There’s one thing you CANNOT do against defending champion Cleveland and that’s finding your way down big early on. Boston had every open look they could conceivably shoot from the field but for some reason the ball couldn’t find the net. The Cavs are a notoriously great three point shooting squad that will exploit an off shooting night.
Jaylen Brown for his comments towards LeBron on not backing down. This is a huge moment for the rookie to be playing this deep in the postseason in just his first season. Brown finished the night with 19 points.
Minus the awesome part, Thomas departed the game in the second quarter with a strained hip. IT was clearly frustrated the whole game so the extent of his injury is definitely up for discussion.
The Grid
LeBron James: 30 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks
Kevin Love: 21 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal
Jaylen Brown: 19 points, 4 rebounds, assists, 2 steals
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