Playoff Recap: Cavs 112, Celtics 99 (or, All The King’s Men)
2017-05-24
Lest you think I’m comparing LeBron James to the fictional and corrupt Governor Willie Stark from Robert Penn Warren’s 1946 novel… or the metaphorically broken Humpty Dumpty who couldn’t be put back together again… just know that I chose this subtitle more out of respect for the contributions of the other two members of the Big Three in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
If you hadn’t seen the game, and were just perusing the box score… you wouldn’t get the full picture of what transpired. After all, The King still managed to pour in his almost guaranteed 34 points, to go along with six assists and five rebounds. What you’d miss, however, would be the four fouls he was assessed in the first 17 minutes of play (the first time in his career he’s ever had four fouls in a first half), limiting his time on the floor. You might also have missed his continued oddly tentative approach, reminiscent of the majority of Game 3, including his preference for corner threes (he missed all three he took in the first half) instead of bullish drives to the hoop. LeBron managed just 10 of his points in his truncated time, and looked frustrated by the constantly switching and physical Boston defense, as well as a general lack of calls.
Though The King did score 24 in the second half, 15 of them to put the Celtics away in the fourth, the primary reason he was in position to do it was all of his men… well, at least two of them. For the second game in a row, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were terrific… actually, terrific doesn’t quite do Uncle Drew justice. Kyrie was transcendent. He just got buckets… period. He might not quite be Governor Stark’s right hand man, Jack Burden, in the extended metaphor… but he carried the actual burden of the entire team on his back in the middle quarters. Kyrie helped the Cavs tread water with LeBron out… then was the motor driving the comeback from a 16 point deficit, scoring 36 of his career playoff high 42 points after LBJ’s fourth foul. Meanwhile, Kev not only hit key shots, but he was an absolute demon on the boards with 17 rebounds, and very likely the best defensive force on the floor for the Cavs.
In the end, the Big Three scored or assisted on 103 of the team’s 112 points. Their 93 combined points scored was second in Cavalier playoff history behind the 94 scored by Brad Daugherty, Mark Price and John “Hot Rod” Williams. And, after two halves of uninspired play (the second half of Game 3 and first half of Game 4), they were able to avoid letting Boston even the series… and found a way to put the Cavs back together again.
The Game:
The first two minutes of the first quarter showed promise, as the Cavs got back to feeding Kevin Love early. KLove hit a three and then got inside for a trip to the line. This would unfortunately be the last time the Cavs would have the lead until late in the third quarter, as the Celtics went on runs of 11-0, and then 11-2 to take a ten point lead at the end of the period, 29-19. The Cavalier defense seemed as sluggish and porous as it had in the second half of Game 3, giving up five layups and four three pointers. Jae Crowder was particularly hot going a perfect 3-3 from three, as the Cavs failed to close out on him. Compounding matters were the four turnovers the Cavs committed, as they were fairly sloppy with the rock. There weren’t many highlights for the wine & gold… with the exception of this touchdown pass (the first of several) from Love…
Touchdown, @KingJames! 🙌 https://t.co/wa9DWZM8AQ
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 24, 2017
The poor interior defense and carelessness with the ball continued to start the second quarter. The Cavs gave up a dunk to Jonas Jerebko and two more layups… one following LeBron’s second turnover of the period. But, at least the Cavs were getting it back on the other end with some improved ball movement resulting in an LBJ layup and jam. After an Iman Shumpert three and Love bucket (both assisted), Brad Stevens called a timeout to stop the momentum. Then things got nutty, as LeBron was called for a touch foul (his third) on a Marcus Smart three point attempt (replays seemed to indicate no contact was made). After a Shump reverse thump, and a trading of threes by Terry Rozier and KLove… LeBron was whistled for a questionable offensive foul for running over Rozier. The King had to sit out the remaining 6:46 of the half…
LeBron has never had 4 fouls in the first half in his career. Only had 3 playoff games with 4 fouls over last two years.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) May 24, 2017
Over the next minute of play, both Jaylen Brown and Avery Bradley hit open threes to give the Celtics their biggest margin of the game of 16. Then, Kyrie began his hostile takeover. Uncle Drew scored the next 10 straight points for the Cavs, and 12 of 14 for the rest of the quarter, hitting two threes, two driving layups and two free throws. He was able to cut the lead to six, before Boston closed the half on a 6-2 run.
Halftime didn’t do much to slow Kyrie down. He started the quarter strong with another driving layup… then assisted on back to back buckets for LeBron to try and get him going. Then, the Cavs got within three after another LBJ layup and this JR Smith put-back dunk off a missed triple try by James…
JR PUTBACK! #DefendTheLand https://t.co/2o6ksAHkEX
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 24, 2017
A ridiculously lucky banked-in three from Smart (his only one of the game, as he was just 1-9 after going 7-10 in Game 3), and a turnover leading to two Jerebko free throws, pushed the lead back to eight, but the Cavs were able to get the ball inside to Love for a couple of layups. A terrific offensive sequence led to an open three for JR, which cut the lead back to three… and then, Kyrie Irving went nuclear.
Even though he tweaked his ankle and was down on the floor for a couple of minutes at one scary point… nothing could stop Kyrie from just getting buckets. Uncle Drew scored 19 of the final 21 points for the Cavs in the quarter… executing one Kyridiculous drive after the next, while peppering in a couple of threes… including this one from Shaker Heights to close out the quarter…
Uncle Drew's favorite spot to cap off a dominant 3Q. #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/ijeZYqTDbL
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 24, 2017
When it was over… Kyrie and the Cavs had turned a 10 point deficit into a seven point lead with a 40-23 third quarter. They had momentum going into the fourth, but a three from Al Horford and another from Crowder cut the lead to four just a minute into the quarter. But, after Deron Williams hit his lone bucket of the game, the Celtics never got closer than six points the rest of the way. The primary reason for this, was that LeBron, likely well-rested from his time on the bench in foul trouble in the first half, picked up the torch from Kyrie and scored 15 of his 34 points in the period. LBJ also regained his sharpness with his passes… finding KLove for a three, and Tristan on a beautiful bounce pass in the paint. And, he pulled off this baseline spin move highlight… which probably wasn’t all that legal, but still counted…
.@KingJames has the moves. #DefendTheLand https://t.co/KONcniF2oO
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 24, 2017
The Cavs defense also picked up, limiting Boston to just 13 points in the last 11 minutes, forcing them into three crucial turnovers, and holding them to 35% shooting during that span. Fittingly, Kyrie closed out the scoring on a nifty behind the back ball fake that led to an uncontested layup. Cavs win 112-99 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.
The Evil:
All The Other King’s Men
It wasn’t a particularly good night for the Cavs’ perimeter defenders (namely JR and Shump), and in the first half at least, the bench looked particularly old and slow. Some of this keyed off of The King himself having another tentative game early, and the foul trouble he found himself in for much of the game. LeBron was also a frequent culprit of allowing the annoying Kelly Olynyk back cuts to the basket. Still, they tightened up just enough to contain the Celtics in the second half.
Offensively, it’s not like JR and the bench bunch shot poorly… they just didn’t take many shots at all. Between Swish, Shump, RJ, DWill and Korver, they combined to shoot 5-8 (2-4 from deep) in 80 minutes of play. In fact, Korver and Jefferson didn’t even attempt a shot.
Tristan was also fairly neutralized, as the Celtics made a concerted effort to double-team him on the boards to prevent him from snagging offensive rebounds and easy put-backs. TT still managed to pull down seven boards and seven points, while logging a game high +14. The extra attention Boston paid to him meant more dividends on the glass for Love.
Lastly, I can’t quite figure out why Ty Lue is deciding not to play Channing Frye in this series, especially against finesse big men like Al Horford and Kelly Olynyk. It would stand to reason that Frye might be able to help loosen up the paint for more driving lanes. Maybe we’ll see him in Game 5.
All The President’s Men
Brad Stevens deserves some credit… yes, this guy…
He’s found ways to take advantage of the sometimes poor defensive rotations of the Cavs, and no longer has to concern himself with working overtime to try and hide Isaiah Thomas on defense. He’s always seemingly been able to get guys with average talent at best to punch above their weight. Yes, I chose that boxing analogy because a key component to this try hard mentality is encouraging physical/borderline thuggish play. It became clear as the game wore on that the Celtics are going to push the envelope on physicality until the officials call them out. Not to mention get in the refs’ faces like Jonas Jerebko did repeatedly. Let’s just hope the Cavs can finish off this series without incurring any serious injuries.
I also can’t recall in recent memory a team that has had more lucky bounces, banks and caroms go their way. There were at least three shots that bounced multiple times on the rubber rims at the Q for the Celtics (and that doesn’t include Avery Bradley’s Game 3 winner), as well as two banked-in threes, and several fortunate long rebounds and possession calls. Talk about the luck of the Irish. Hopefully, their luck runs out in Boston.
A Confederacy of Dunces
Normally, unless it involves Tony Brothers, I’m loathe to complain about the officiating. This game was a glaring exception. There were so many terrible calls (on both sides by the way), that they were almost too many to tally. Aside from the questionable fouls on LeBron, my favorite was probably a tie between Jaylen Brown slipping on a wet spot resulting in a Kevin Love foul… and Marcus Smart getting an “in the act of shooting” foul when he was clearly doing anything but taking a shot. The NBA is supposed to reward good officials during the year with important playoff games… which has me wondering if there are any good officials left in the League…
The Genius:
Every King Needs A Successor
After LeBron James picked up his 4th foul, Kyrie Irving carried the Cavaliers. We take a closer look pic.twitter.com/5dLibVxVWS
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 24, 2017
Kyrie Irving is figuring out he can carry this team. He was absolutely spectacular in this game, and did what needed to be done to not only keep the Cavs in range, but also slingshot them past the Celtics with his supernova 21 point third quarter. He shot 15-22 (4-7 from beyond the arc and 8-9 at the line) for a career playoff high 42, and also dished out four assists. Irving was nothing short of a wizard driving to the hoop, making 10 buckets in the paint and a perfect 7-7 in the third quarter alone. Here are all of them in their glory…
All The King’s Horses
Kevin Love was a workhorse on the glass and on defense. He poured in 17 points (on 6-13 shooting, 3-5 from deep), and pulled down 17 boards. Kev was a consistent presence in the paint, and needed to be with all of the attention Boston was spending trying to prevent TT from beating them on rebounds. The last two games, Love has played even beyond his Minnesota vintage self, and his confidence has been refreshing. Not to mention, he’s probably the “best Quarterback in Cleveland…”
"I do have the best receiver in the entire NBA in LeBron James." – @kevinlove #InsidetheNBA #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/UgDUdGMBFB
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 24, 2017
All Hail The King
Despite the slow start… despite the four fouls… despite the five turnovers and poor three point shooting (just 1-6)… LeBron James was still able to fill up the stat sheet with 34 points, six assists, five boards, a steal and a block. And, unlike Game 3, he was able to take the support he was getting from his men and flip the switch to close out the Celtics with 15 points in the fourth.
And For Good Measure…
The Cavs shot 59.5% for the game, matching their franchise playoff record for single-game field goal percentage. They also shot 71% in the second half.
The Cavs had the advantage on points in the paint 58-34, and on fastbreak points 16-4.
The Cavs out-rebounded the Celtics, 37-29.
Even though he didn’t attempt a shot… Kyle Korver had four assists, three rebounds and was +12 on the night.
JR probably had a good reason for having a rough game on defense…
J.R. Smith and his wife brought their baby home today after a 5-month hospital stay following her premature birth. #Cavs
— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) May 24, 2017
Parting Shot:
For what it’s worth… the Cavs seem to have an easier time staging comebacks than holding onto leads. Maybe adversity helps them focus on the task at hand, and they just can’t help but get complacent when they are up by double digits. There’s also the theory that it’s sometimes harder to play at home than the road because there are more distractions (see JR above). The Cavs played two of their best games in the post season in the first two games in Boston. Granted, they had a game plan that revolved around defending Isaiah Thomas… and it was working beautifully. Now that they can’t take advantage of the four on five situation defensively, Ty Lue will have to continue to adjust the plan to combat the way the Celtics move bodies, since there’s a lot less ISO with IT out. The biggest factor, however, remains the overall health of this team. Hopefully, Kyrie’s ankle doesn’t get too cranky on him… and hopefully, there’s nothing wrong with LeBron beyond the rumored flu bug he might have caught from Deron Williams. My original prediction for this series was that the Cavs would win in five games. I still believe that will bear out, and that The King and all his men will still be able to get nearly a week off before the rubber match with the Warriors. The silver lining of the struggles at home this series is the continued evolution of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love into the superstar supporting court for King James. Something like we saw tonight might just give them a different kind of edge…
11 Down… 5 To Go…
GO CAVS!
Good stuff EG… really interesting point you make about Frye…. I thought the pu-pu platter of Horford, Jerebko, Olynyk, and Zeller would’ve given Frye plenty of opportunities to make his mark. The only possible explanations to me for his absence are that he’s either low-key injured, the tendency for Boston to play small ball, or Lue being overly concerned with his defense.
Hope Lebron is okay. Whatever this is, wherever this lethargy is coming from, whether mental or physical, hopefully he will be okay. The level he was at for the first ten games of this year’s playoffs is the level he needs to be for five more games. It’s possibly the highest level anyone has ever been on in regards to quality of play. Otherwise, we have no chance.
The craziest thing to me about Kyrie was he was 13-16 from the field during his hot streak in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Think about how hard the shots he was taking were, and then think about 13-16. That is insane. Part of what makes his explosions so electric is they are so efficient. I remember when he had 57 against SAS it was on like 32 shots. And when he blew up in G6 last year for 40+ it was on like 24 shots. His skill level on offense is one of the best all-time. So when he… Read more »
LeBron would have 6,000 total playoff points if he scores 40 in Game 5. He really likes road playoff games, especially in the Garden. He also really likes doing cool stuff. Just sayin’
In a playoff series, there are only so many adjustments and counter-moves that can be made, and there are only so many surprises that can happen. Especially with modern film study, all personnel and schemes are known by the other team after a few games. Sometimes individual talent is needed when defenses are so well-prepared that they start to snuff out the regular offense and the adjusted offense. Kyrie isn’t a perfect basketball player, but he IS offense. It’s good to see Kyrie get some props.
You are 100% right. Come playoff time it’s all about the big names, the superstars that when the game slows down you give them the ball and they’ll get you a score or will assist for one.
KLove is an elite rebounder, and that’s always been his primary contribution to defense. A big part of his excellent rebounding is his sticky hands. If he can get a finger on the ball, he can usually possess it. He’s like the anti-Mozgov. He’s good at anticipating and fighting for position, but his hands are great at plucking the ball outta the air and hanging onto it. He shows some quick reflexes when snatching boards too.
2 things I was thinking today, will the Cavs play Channing again in the finals or did coach already has his 8-9 men rotation for the finals?
And I think the Cavs coaches have to let the players understand that they can’t get into any fights or similar situations in tomorrow’s game. The Cavs have to avoid any suspensions, specifically JR and TT.
I still think the pine time for Frye is more about acknowledging that he won’t be playing against GSW (The Double-Ewes), so Lue is using the minutes to get RJ, who WILL play in the Finals, in tune.
I’d buy that theory, but RJ hardly played against Toronto. It’s all matchups. Against Boston where the Cavs can beat them up inside and on the boards, the play is to sit channing. Against the Dubs it will be necessary to pull Dray and McGee away from the basket. So Frye will play.
Frye hit some shots against the Dubs on Christmas. I’d like to think he can make an impact in the Finals. Jefferson isn’t playing very well right now.
Did anyone notice the question to KLove about respecting the Celtics? I thought his answer was a long dodge. I don’t think the Cavs do really respect these Celtics, especially after they demolished them in game 2 and they lost their only star. I expect more focused team defense against the Dubs (we’ll frickin’ need it!).
great recap, EG. The Marcus Smart thing reminds me so much of the Orlando 2009 series. None of those guys every played that well again after that series. Rafer Alston’s banked in 3 took a year off my life. At least the Cavs are so much better than the Celtics that they can weather some randomness.
Yep.
Many of these Celtics would be right at home on the 2009 Magic team… Jerebko would have fit in well…
Great stuff eg
Thanks Nate!
Killin it EG. This site really does have some of the best sports content anywhere. I’d put the staff here up against any writing staff in the business..and ya’ll aren’t even paid that well! Forsburg, for instance, decided that the Celtics really aren’t better off without Isaiah after all. How he came to that conclusion after the Celtics played two extremely competitive games without him and in general looked like a team finally free to play system bball is beyond me, but sure. If he can help convince Boston to keep and overpay Isaiah, I’m all for it. While their… Read more »
Ha! Thanks Scotch! I think that’s what makes it special… we don’t get paid in money, but in the feedback we get from our great readers and commentariat… plus, on my deathbed… I’ll receive total consciousness…
I believe Bill Murray improvised most of this scene. Just brilliant as was your recap,EG
Great recap, EG. Some remarkable numbers you mentioned, including most of the rest of the team only shooting 5-8 for the game, and the Cavs’ shooting percentage tying a playoff record (thanks KI).
I could breathe again when Kyrie laced up his shoes. Hopefully, it feels O.K. today.
Thanks! Yeah, it’s pretty incredible the numbers the Big Three is racking up… I didn’t even mention that LBJ is just 28 points short of passing MJ for all time playoff scoring… He might do it Thursday…
James was sick for game three. http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19452344/richard-jefferson-says-lebron-james-was-sick-cleveland-cavaliers-game-3-loss “I know he won’t talk about it, so I’ll give my big guy a shout,” Jefferson said. “Deron Williams missed shootaround this morning because he had like a little bug, really lethargic, had no energy. And I think that’s what ‘Bron had. And sometimes these little bugs can go around. And [James] was like, dude when Deron didn’t show up to shootaround, it kind of started clicking in his head. Because for him it was like, ‘I don’t know why I was so lethargic, why I had no energy, I had nothing.’ “And… Read more »
This is why you should never overreact after one game (unless it’s game 7!). Jefferson knows that LBJ was sick and that Smart and the rest of the Celtics shot a crazy unsustainable rate from three that game and they still barely won.
No their rate wasn’t overall unsustainable. I meant to ban you last night to prevent your nonstop blathering of ignorance but I was tired and must have somehow not clicked “ok” after making the changes to the spam filter. Consider yourself warned.
Smart shooting 7-10 was unsustainable. I cannot believe you are arguing this.
45% as a team certainly is for a series.
Cavs were 38.4% during the regular season.
Playoffs Cavs are 43.2%.
That’s certainly not crazy or flukey when you consider they are healthy for once and they play their good players a lot more in the playoffs.
Marcus Smart was a 26% three point shooter. Him going 7-10 was one of the crazier lines ever.
Guys get hot. It happens. You seem to have fixated on this excuse so whatever. Arguing with you is a waste of time.
The GIF (I think?) at the beginning of this is great. Did you do that EG?
No, found it on line… artist is pretty talented
ESPN with a crazy stat: Kyrie has scored 94 points on 69% shooting over the last three games. Wowza.
The Celtics whole defensive gameplan is to hack and flop and make the refs work, It sucks. and it’s why Stevens sucks as a coach.
Sure agree that the refs had a very bad game with dumb calls on both sides. As EG said, I can’t remember either a series of games where a team has had such a beneficial rubber rim like the Celtics. Talk about the ball bouncing your way ! My prediction was Cavs in 5, and sure hope that holds as we need the rest to heal the tweaks.
O.K GORDON GOING WITH THE ” LET’S LACE EM UP ” AND FINISH THEM OFF TOMORROW !!!
HAVE A SUSPICION WE WILL SEE MORE (HOPEFULLY SO ) OF CHANNING TOMORROW NIGHT AND YES COLS AGREE WITH YOU— WE ALWAYS SEEM TO INITIATE A ” LET’S TRADE KY ” FORUM WHEN HE HAS A FEW BAD REGULAR SEASON GAMES
Don’t lump me in with that “we”!!
Hahaha. What a fun year it’s been!!!!!
I’m really glad the Cavs didn’t trade Irving.
GOOD RECAP EVIL—ALSO I AM “ALL IN ” FOR THE WEARING OF THE ORANGE ON THURS ——-CONGRATS ALSO TO J.R. ON GETTING YOUR HEALTHY BABY HOME ……ALMOST AS IMPRESSIVE AS HE PLAYED ON THE FLOOR LAST NIGHT WAS KY’S POST GAME INTERVIEW—ARTICULATE / MATURE WELL THOUGHT OUT RESPONSES ( VERY SIMILAR TO OUR MAN COLS HERE ON CTB )—-CAN’T RECALL WHAT KY’S CONTRACT WAS/ IS —BUT WHATEVER IT IS— A HUGE BARGAIN FOR THE CAVS CONSIDERING THE CURRENT ” IMPLOSIVE CONTRACTS ‘ FOR MEDIOCRE PLAYERS ……….FINISH IT ON THURS —DEFEND THE LAND !!!
Kyrie Irving: $94M/5 years.
Al Horford: $113M/4 years.
Ouch.
They looked great… even on Liggins… I still like DeAndre…
http://media.cleveland.com/cavs_impact/photo/cleveland-cavaliers-vs-miami-heat-december-9-2016-7ab33aaf806220d9.jpg
I still like Liggins too. I miss watching him harass point guards full court. He always brought that D.
Lue has been coaching circles around Stevens this whole series.
Cavs are awesome. Boston sucks.
Would love to know what was wrong with lbj for 7 quarters. More interested in this than if there was a second shooter on the grassy knoll.
Great recap. I want to throw one comment out there quickly. I have not seen a more blatantly one sided officiating job in a long time. If not for the officials giving Boston every. single. call. throughout the game, including a large number of just bizarre blown calls, I think we win by a lot more. Also, they were so so so so lucky last night. Weird game again for LeBron. I’m glad he hit some shots and gained some confidence late. I just can’t believe he went from playing the best basketball of his career and arguably of any… Read more »
Agree on the officiating… the calls the Cavs got were usually of the make-up variety for the egregious ones they got hit with on the other end…
I like “The Lace Up.” It feels a little like “The Big Payback,” which ya better get ready for.
Tremendous recap EG. Lebron’s head still wan’t in the game inexplicably until the fourth quarter when the Cavs had already fought for and established the lead. It’s been really strange to see. But on the other hand this was one of the best four games of Kyrie’s career along with game 5, game 7, and 57 against the Spurs. These are the astronomical heights Kyrie is capable of and will need to be at for the finals again.
The 55 against Portland, Game 1 of 2015 before he broke his knee cap.. He has MVp talent, if he could just be more consistent, he would reach it.
I struggle to think how Kyrie didn’t get the last spot on the All NBA 3rd team by getting beat out by DeRozen. Sometimes, regular season awards are silly
Appreciate it believeLAND! It really was a signature Kyrie game… Fun to watch him when he goes off like that
Great recap, EG. I think Griffin summed it up best last year that this team is fueled by drama. I hate it but if it leads to another ring I can accept it.
Thanks Kevin… agree this team is fueled by adversity