What a game. In the western conference we have KD saying, "If you don't like it don't watch it", and while I was just about fed up with the playoffs, the Celts of ALL teams left steal one. Now I think everyone, similar to myself, had the Celts getting swept. With the Cavs blowing them out through the first two games, and then Isaiah Thomas going down, it was safe to say everyone else who believed at first had also lost the belief. But here we go! The Celts steal one! "They're back in it", Boston fans rejoice. Sadly I believe this is untrue, and in this article I'll explain my case.
Take a look at the game preview written by Vahan Shakhpazyan.
What The Celts Did Right
Luckily the Celtics found some magic at the end of the rainbow last night. While the shooting percentage wasn't great from 3pt land, Marcus Smart was able to rally the team late and ended the night 7-10 from 3pt. Notable shout-out to Jerebko who shot 2-2 from 3pt, because when playing these Cavs every point matters. Brad Stevens was drawing up some great plays as always and getting distribution down pact. They got it through to the post and let Al Horford get some buckets. But most importantly, THEY WON THE GAME. Off of a shaky and semi-lucky Avery Bradley 3pt but hey, they won nonetheless. This win also comes off of them challenging LeBron to tough shots, and it not going LeBron's way last night.
All in all, they did what they had to do offensively without their team leader in points - which is a win in any event.
What The Celts Did Wrong
Listen, I always thought Kevin Love was a superstar in Minnesota - but I of all people will also admit that those days are behind him. While I do still think he is an amazing player, you CANNOT be letting him fire away from 3 all day and letting him score 28.
The Celtics need to be better defensively, which is tough when you have pieces like LeBron and Kyrie to defend and then you leave Kevin Love open. But it is all about knowing who you can leave open on the perimeter - which admittedly isn't many guys. But Brad Stevens needs to take the reins and stop letting bad matchups persist.
The main exposure to all of this is the Celtics do not have a strong post presence, and it is being felt heavily. Which is nothing they can solve now.
Bottom Line
Unfortunately, the Celts are probably going to go down in 5, maybe 6. I could see them maybe stealing one more, no more than that. The Cavs just have too many pieces for the Celts to be able to guard - and that's in open play. Beyond that, the Cavs are just going to continue to switch for favorable matchups because LeBron and Kyrie can pretty much get to the hoop whenever they want. In addition, Korver came off the bench to go 1-5 from 3pt last night, and that just isn't going to happen every night. Last night was an off night for the Cavaliers, and the Celtics were barely able to scrape out a win.
Going forward, Brad Stevens needs to continue to motivate his guys to perform at extremely high levels without Isaiah and hope for the best. If they carry this momentum I can see game 4 being close with a Cavs win, and a potential win in game 5 for Boston.
Closing note
Jaylen Brown would be wise to not talk about LeBron being a regular guy from this point further.
