With Isaiah Thomas sidelined for the remainder of the playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers were expected to sweep the Boston Celtics easily in Eastern Conference Playoffs. Unfortunately, the Cavs got a game behind when they unexpectedly lost to the Celtics in Game 3, a game where LeBron James' performance was so bad that many questioned what might be wrong with the NBA superstar.
What was wrong with LeBron?
LeBron James' performance in game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals was one of the worst playoff performances of his entire career. LeBron went 4 for 13 and only scored 11 points in the entire game.
This was his second worst playoff game, beat only by his performance against the Pacers in the 2014 Eastern Conference finals when he went 2 in 10 and only scored 7 points. Land of Basketball reports that LeBron James averages 28.25 points per game in the playoffs, making his recent performance not only sub-par but also a reason to be concerned.
Richard Jefferson says he knows why the Celtics were able to overcome a huge Cavs lead in order to sneak in a last minute win in game 3. After the Cavs won game 4, Jefferson spoke to Fox Sports Ohio and said that LeBron James performance during game 3 against the Celtics was off because the superstar was battling with a "bug" and was feeling lethargic during the game.He said that it all made sense after Deron Williams missed the shootaround before game 4 because he was also suffering from the bug.
The Boston Celtics ended up taking over after the Cavs started with a commanding lead and forced the series to go at least 5 games while the Golden State Warriors wait for the winner after sweeping the San Antonio Spurs.
LeBron and company come back to win game 4
The Cleveland Cavaliers are only one game away from moving on to the NBA Finals after beating the Boston Celtics in game 4 with a score of 112-99.
In game 4 of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, the Boston Celtics were able to maintain the lead in the first half and put LeBron on the bench for the last 6:46 of the second quarter after forcing four fouls on him.
🗣️ Kyrie Irving...PUT 👏 THE 👏 TEAM 👏 ON 👏 HIS 👏 BACK 👏 pic.twitter.com/oFQ8eIdUJs
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 24, 2017
It was Kyrie Irving who managed to save the night for the Cavs when he put away a playoff career high of 42 points in game 4.
21 of Irving's points happened during the third quarter as the starting point guard heated up and managed to turn the game around. It's worth noting that the entire Celtics team scored a total of 21 points in the third quarter.
LeBron James also managed to make a second half comeback. pulling off 34 points while shooting 15 of 27 during the game. Kevin Love also was a major contributor to the Cavs' game 4 win with 17 points and 17 rebounds. According to Bleacher Report, the Cleveland Cavaliers shot 59.5 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from the three and managed to win the game, taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.