Live Thread: Cavs @ Celtics, Game 3
2015-04-23LeBron James returns to Boston for playoff ball tonight. It’s his first time there for such an occasion in three years. His last performance at the TD Garden was one for the ages. With the Miami Heat down to Boston 3-2 in 2012, LeBron had to perform on the road to keep the Heat’s championship run alive. He put up 45 points, ripped down 15 rebounds, and handed out five assists with just four turnovers in 45 minutes of action. The Heat won that series and eventually the title.
Will he be able to repeat that performance? The circumstances are certainly different tonight. The Cavs lead the series 2-0 and should come out on top when the series is over. The Cavs have beat the Celtics by 13 points and eight points in the first two games respectively, but they have yet to be totally dominant for 48 straight minutes.Â
Some things to watch this game:
-Can the Cavs take care of the ball? They had 18 turnovers last game. The King had five of his own.
-Will the team crush the Celtics’ hope? In games one and two, the Cavs took leads, but let the Celtics back into the game. That’s not winning ball. The Wine & Gold need to get used to grabbing a lead and adding onto it until the other team no longer wants to play.
-David Blatt is going to be adamant about ball movement. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James scored all of Cleveland’s points in the fourth quarter last game and notched just two assists doing so. The Cavs need to save the hero ball for a series that requires heroics. Watch for the extra pass.
I’m picking the Cavs to win this one, 113-92. The Cavs are going to come out firing on all cylinders, so they can avoid hearing any news stories about their play needing to improve heading into the next round. LeBron will be shooting to have a deja vu moment to the last time he was in Boston. Tearing up the Celtics on their home court could become a tradition.
Make sure you watch Iman Shumpert’s rap about the playoffs above. He mentions every single Cav on the team. Iman also cements himself as the best basketball player to release a rap this month. Ron Artest attempted to take that title today with his track “Florida.” He failed miserably.
What are your thoughts?
Clean block by Love. BS foul.
That would be hard to catch in real time trailing down the court behind the play. I know the refs are bad tonight, but let’s be real.
Shocking. Foul called against the Cavs on a clean block.
TT in a little early this quarter? Maybe Mozgov will come back in when they’re in the bonus.
MFQ trying to prove he’s not just a one quarter kinda guy…
I don’t these refs. Because Kyrie irving is suddenly not a good finisher. Yeaaaah…
Celtics just cannot keep up.
JR SWISH!!!!
LeBron with anger on that windmill!
That windmill was sick!
Crowder should know better than to try to drive on Love in the paint…
K-Love takes the charge! That’s a good-luck charm for the Cavs.
And then he hits a 3!
Mozgov looks so clumsy tonight.
That’s 3 times in 2 games Love positioned himself perfectly to take the charge.
Cavs gonna foul out Crowder
You like bananas Jae?!
http://i.imgur.com/ttSAxWf.png
I guess it’s not html tags to embed a picture.
celtics blog is painful to see their comedy. they have really taken to bill simmons spirit animal. it think it is the sbnation network and not the true hoop affiliate.
their cartoons of 3 stooges refs is funny but missing the point. everyone complains about the refs.
also, i think cols might be on fear the sword tonight. they had an aggressive feed going but felt as if they are into stating the obvious and then hecking others.
Nice strut by LeBron. He does have fun when he plays the heel.
Celtics are swarming Kyrie… Cavs not getting back on D so far…
Coach Blatt needs to run some sets for Kyrie. He has played good defense tonight.
So who can they best afford to lose for game 4 if they want to send the Celtics a message in the second half? I’m thinking just send Haywood out to clobber someone.
Cavs are locked in. I like it.
EvilGenuis, you are one my favorite commenters on here. Hilarious comments tonight. Keep it up!
my boys asked to be read the comments section tonight and not dr. seuss. genius might cement a legacy with my boys with these. i think if i am in LA ever, i might be obliged to meetup.
Given that… I will do my best to watch my language going forward, Matt! ;)
no way man. i edit. the 6 can read most words typed and has heard cuss words but cant really recognize words that are not obvious. let them rip. i did get a good 15 read but now it is the phase… lets con daddy into reading more so we dont have to sleep.
most words as in the words we all type quickly. polysyllabic ones are a bit of a stretch. so cuss in larger words is an art.
Thanks Kevin! I do my best… ;)
LBJ has been fighting for rebounds. Whenever I see that, I know he’s engaged and playing full tilt. Its always a tip off. Love is playing well and learning what playoffs mean. He’s getting beat up, but you have to remember he’s never played in a hostile away game in his career. Kyrie is impressing me the most right now. Playing with what the D give him, not forcing anything. only taken two shots. Boston is about to crack. They played as best as they possibly could, and we absorbed the body blows and waited for them to punch themselves… Read more »
After the energy they showed in the second quarter, I don;t know how they can keep that intensity through two more quarters.
Also, LBJ has ZERO turnovers in the first half.
Shump +14…. IT -12… I like it!!!
Great observation, Murph!
Beating them in their house with one Kyrie Irving tied behind our backs. (2 shots)
I really want to see the Cavs come out and boat race these scabs in the second half…
well jsut tell kyrie to dribble drive and kick to open man. or lob city pick and roll. slashing to the basket. anything to force the refs to call more fouls
Nice job by the Cavs keeping their composure during that Celtics push
Boston was clearly irritated that they couldn’t pull away.
Absolutely agree on that. We fans can go nuts, but they stayed calm and weathered the storm.
I want to see the looks on Turner and Jerebko’s faces when they bring in Perkins. This is gonna turn into a hockey game if the refs don’t get the game under control.
perk might text ron artest and see if he has any ideas for him. just hope that metta “world peace” doesnt respond. we need the ron artest advice. stat
He’ll prob just email him a copy of his new single Florida…
I’d like to see Perkins get some run at some point. Maybe with Mozgov.
Quick switch to Bulls v Bucks on NBATV.
How’s that going?
Boston threw their best punch… Cavs counter punch with a 12-0 run… Suck it Boston…
Boston’s going to break in the second half. Can’t wait to see it.
Way to quite the crowd!!!!
12-0 run to close the half.
Shoot it Lebron.
Way to close out the quarter.
Crowd is suddenly quiet.
Sully : too slow. Too small.
Justice…
Boston fighting for their playoff lives. CAVS staying mentally poised. I love it.
I’m surprised at how poised we’ve been.
Is that not a flagrant 2!!! The league has to stop this non sense. He can get hurt!!!
Also thank God for sullinger. Dude has no place in this series.
I feel that the Jerebko foul on Irving was worse than that Turner foul.
Jerebko at least had his arms up and was sort of making a play on the ball… that was not the case with Turner…
Yeah, Turner’s problem was the follow-through to throw LeBron down.
Flagrant 1 on Turner? He made no play on the ball and grabbed LBJ’s neck…
A hurl to the floor is a flagrant.
i bet they wont call more flagrants though. a warning to the teams will follow at the half i bet
Turner is thuggin tonight.
“Shumpert has pretty much shut Isaiah Thomas’ water off so far this series.” Fred
JR off the rubber rim!
Boston getting frustrated cause Cleveland just keeps coming.
Agreed. Despite the close score and the raucous crowd I think the Cavs have remained composed and are clearly outplaying the Celts. Cavs just keep coming.
Good move to switch to TT…
Oh, another missed layup lol.
LeBron is going to hit the Kia at halftime for some peace and quiet.
The Cavs need to pick up the pace on offense. They are not moving on offense.
It amazes me that somehow all of these reach-in grabs by the Celtics are jump balls, but when Kyrie tries it on Thomas, it’s a foul… smh
my 4 asked “what is the most powerful weapon for a ninja?” (he thinks that kyrie is a ninja. it was related to the hacks going on. a well placed elbow might be my answer for this game.
Blatt needs to tee off on these refs.
Is AC going nuts right now. I’m so mad I don’t have FSO here./
yeah but it felt a bit subdued and controlled. almost measured in his response
I know that was a foul on Kyrie but the Celtics are getting the benefit of the doubt on every call.
Nate Thurmond, game 6, 1976. But I’m not bitter.
Gotta nut up! It’s the playoffs.
Like the fight! Blatt needs to get on the refs. Boston running an illegal defense almost every time.
What’s the illegal defense? Do they even call that anymore?
Defensive 3 second.
Celtics are fouling a ton and getting away with it. Refs are calling hacky-tacky crap on the CAVS.
@JasonLloydABJ: Kyrie has been flattened twice in last couple minutes driving to basket. I mean, crushed.
These refs are complete garbage!
This officiating is a joke…
Kyrie fouled, but I like seeing Kyrie get hyper focused after having the ball ripped away.
COME THE %&$! ON!!!
dude i agree. my 6 said “what is going on there???” bring on perk. use 6 quick fouls is he is obliged.
Cavs are definitely not going to get any help from refs in the Garden…
This is getting stupid. Moz needs to elbow one of these guys in the dome.
Refs wanna give this to Boston.
They’ve been instructed by the league to extend it… ;)
How about Jerebko standing over Irving?
Wow. That was some crap officiating.
WTF? Give me a break garbage refs. Giving JR a tech.
The Cavs better get pissed and close this half the way they should.
AC is right. Refs are letting this game get out of control.
Feels like a game where someone will get punched…
LeBro is clearly getting frustrated with how he’s being handled.
Jerebko is a punk! Need to have Perk deck that mofo…
I agree let Perkins handle it lol.
Jerebko that scrub hit Kyrie in the face.