Cavaliers will try to eliminate the Celtics
Boston has put up a fight lately
BOSTON — It took 10 games and halfway through the third round of the NBA playoffs before the Cleveland Cavaliers finally encountered their first true dose of resistance this postseason.
After cruising to a 2-0 Eastern Conference finals lead over Boston, the Cavs were humbled at home in a Game 3 loss, and needed a 42-point night from Kyrie Irving to battle back from a 16-point hole and win Game 4.
The chatter about an NBA Finals’ matchup of two teams with unblemished playoff records is gone, but the challenge from the Celtics has sharpened the focus of the defending champs. Cleveland is expecting another unflinching effort in Game 5 from a Celtics team that isn’t backing down despite facing a 3-1 deficit in the series.
“The closeout game is always the hardest. And Boston is going to make it even harder,” said LeBron James, who rebounded from a playoff-low 11 points in Game 3 to score 34 in Game 4.
James had been saying that he felt like the Cavs needed to go through some adversity after a blistering 10-0 start to the postseason.
The way they responded Tuesday night — particularly on the defensive end — is a good sign for their prospects of wrapping up their third straight Eastern Conference crown tonight.
Boston shot 47 percent from the field and 35 percent from the 3-point line in the first half of Game 4 on their way to building as much as a 16-point lead.
While Irving’s scoring ignited the Cavs’ comeback, it was made possible thanks to Cleveland’s defensive effort over the final 24 minutes. Cleveland limited the Celtics to 41 percent from the field and 29 percent from beyond the arc.
“We have to go in with a bunker mentality that we had in Game 1 and Game 2, to go out and do what we do, but we have to defend,” James said. “We have to execute offensively. We have to have low turnovers, and we have to try to make them miss because some of those guys play a lot better at home. That’s just how the game (will) be played.”
CHARLOTTE: The AllStar game is headed back to Charlotte in 2019, a couple of years later than anticipated.
The NBA announced that the All-Star weekend will be held Feb. 15-17 in Charlotte and the game will be played at the Spectrum Center, home of the Charlotte Hornets.
The league had selected Charlotte to host the 2017 All-Star game, but later moved the game to New Orleans because of the state law restricting the rights of LGBT people. However, a compromise was struck in March to partially erase the impact of the House Bill 2 law limiting anti-discrimination protections for lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender people.
LAKERS: Gunnar Peterson is the team’s new director of strength and endurance training. Peterson has been a favorite trainer among entertainers and athletes for many years while running a wellregarded private gym in Beverly Hills. His client list has included Sylvester Stallone, Halle Berry, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Sofia Vergara and Pete Sampras, along with most of the Kardashian family.
HAWKS: Travis Schlenk, assistant general manager of the Golden State Warriors, is on the verge of becoming the Hawks’ GM, the Journal-Constitution reports. Schlenk, 41, has spent the past 12 seasons with the Warriors, including the past five as the assistant to general manager Bob Myers.
OBITUARY: Hal Childs, a former assistant general manager for the New York Knicks and public relations director for the Golden State Warriors and Seattle Mariners, has died of complications from heart disease. He was 84.