Down by 5 with 8 seconds left in the game, a J.R. Smith foul, which was not what Cleveland expected, gave hope to the C’s and Avery Bradley answered.
Bradley hit the game winning 3 as time expired to knock off the top team in the East 104-103. This was a back and forth game which ultimately looked like Cleveland had this in the bag, until Kevin Love’s injury happened. When Love went down, Stevens and company knew that without Love, the game looked brighter but it was still a difficult challenge with LeBron and Kyrie running the show.
All game long, the C’s defensively looked phenomenal as they forced 14 turnovers on Cleveland, 6 of them on LeBron James. James dropped 30 points and Kyrie scored 19 but they were just short of the game’s outcome. J.R. Smith was the Cleveland player who stepped up and made clutch shots. Smith scored 20 points and went 5/10 on 3 point shooting while Iman Shumpert scored 4 points off the bench but had an all around game effort with 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 steals.
The C’s were guided by Evan Turner, who had 19 points and 12 boards to go along with 6 assists, which is pretty darn close to a triple double. Celtics All-Star PG Isaiah Thomas led the C’s in scoring with 22 points and 4 rebounds. Spreading the ball was a big priority to he C’s as shooting as a bit off during the 1st half but during the 2nd half, they were climbing the ladder and it eventually caught up to Cleveland, who at one point had a 12 point lead. Give credit to the Cavs for trying to contain Boston the entire game but the C’s played relentlessly throughout the entire game and it turned out to be another win for the Celtics.
Coach Stevens in his press conference last night, talked about the elite level Cleveland plays at and how versatile Kyrie and other players are throughout the game.
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