BOSTON – Everyone knows when you have a 1-2 scoring punch like LeBron James and Kevin Love, your defense has to step up if you’re to have any shot at success.
They got their points, but for the most part Boston’s defense did its job.
The offense?
Not so much.
The Celtics’ inability to make shots, contested and unfortunately the wide open variety as well, proved to be their downfall as the Cavs used a strong second half push to surge to beat the Celtics 89-77.
Boston’s 77 points scored were a season low. In addition, it was the first time Boston allowed 89 points or less and the game end in defeat.
“Their defense was great,” said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. “But we have to challenge them better, and we didn’t challenge them offensively enough. I thought we were really connected and really locked in defensively as a group; I did not think that was the case on offense.”
Boston Celtics
Boston’s Isaiah Thomas is quick to credit the Cavs for playing a good game defensively, but he knows the Celtics also had a hand in their offensive undoing by missing lots of open to lightly contested shots especially in the second half.
“You can tip your hat to their defense,” said Thomas who had 12 points on 3-for-15 shooting. “But, for the most part, I feel like we got the shots we usually make. I mean, individually, myself, I got most of the shots I usually knock down. But you gotta tip your hat to them. They’re a great team. They played harder than us, especially in the second half.”
Here are the Stars, Studs and Duds from Tuesday’s game.
STARS
LeBron James
It was not an out-of-this-world night for LeBron James, but there was no mistaking his imprint on the game. He led all scorers with 24 points on 10-for-20 shooting, to go with seven rebounds and three assists.
Kevin Love
Love showed no signs of being overly emotional on Tuesday, producing a matter-of-fact kind of game that left little doubt as to who was the best player on the floor whose name is not LeBron Raymone James. Love had 20 points along with grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out five assists.
STUDS
Avery Bradley
Bradley had his moments on Tuesday, but he like the rest of his teammates was not up to the challenge against a very good Cleveland defense. Bradley had a team-high 17 points on 5-for-12 shooting, along with three rebounds and two assists.
Jae Crowder
Crowder did about as good a job as you can on James, but this was a matchup he had little to no chance of winning. He still managed to score 14 points along with grabbing three rebounds.
Timothy Mozgov
One of the more underrated centers in the NBA, his play early in the third quarter was instrumental to Cleveland pulling away for the win. He finished with a near double-double of nine points and 10 rebounds.
DUDS
Jared Sullinger
He’s undersized most nights, so that wasn’t that big a deal. Sullinger simply didn’t deliver in a manner in which Celtics fans have come to expect from him. He played 22 minutes, but we’ve seen him do more with less time. For the game, he had five points on 2-for-9 shooting along with just five rebounds – about half of what he normally grabs per game this season.
Isaiah Thomas
Just as they did in the playoffs last season, the Cavaliers made Boston’s best scorer a non-factor for most of the game. Thomas finished with 12 points on 3-for-15 shooting from the field.