2. Mixon’s moves:
James accepted responsibility, saying simply “I didn’t have it” during a postgame news conference that was preceded by a run-in with a heckling fan in the hallway.
Cavs guard J.R. Smith said his celebrated teammate lacked confidence.
What’s that? A three-time champion, four-time MVP, two-time Olympic gold medal- ist, global icon, billion-dollarbusiness-in-sneakers, wasn’t confident?
“He’s got to be aggres- sive, get downhill, play like he’s been playing, play con- fident,” Smith said.
“That’s what I always think, when people of his stature or people like him, you’ve got to play confident the whole night and play aggressive. It’s the Eastern Conference finals. It’s not enough for him. For what he does, what he brings, it’s not enough.
“He knows that. We know that. Just expect him to be better in Game 4.”
The series resumes tonight in Cleveland before returning to Boston on Thursday for a Game 5 that didn’t appear necessary until the Celtics stormed back from 21 down and won when Avery Brad- ley’s 3-pointer danced on the rim before falling with .01 of a second left.
It was Boston’s first outing since star guard Isaiah Thomas was shut down with a hip injury, and the Celt- ics showed they’re capable counterpunchers.
“You obviously hear peo- ple saying that it’s all about how you respond, a nd we don’t feel like people believed in us,” Bradley said.
“But that just put another chip on our shoulder, which I think is good. I hope we can continue to play with that chip on our shoulder and come out the same way next game.”
Thomas didn’t travel with the club to Cleveland, but he was part of the postgame fun.
“We called him on FaceTime, so he got to celebrate with us a little bit,” Bradley said. “We wish he was here with us, and we just want him to get better.”
Boston’s comeback was fueled by Thomas’ replace- ment, Marcus Smart, who made 7 of 10 3-pointers and scored 27 points. The Cavs chose to go under screens, giving Smart room to shoot, and he burned them badly.
“Marcus Smart made 15 out of 77 off-the-dribble threes this year,” Lue said, defend- ing the defensive plan on Smart. “He made some last night.”
As Lue spoke to a large group of reporters and some Cavs players got in extra shots following practice, James was absent from the floor. Usually he hangs around to work on his game.
Lue said James was “in good spirits” and that no one was pinning the loss on him.
“No blame. We’re all to blame,” Lue said. “We lost; it happens. For a guy who played great for five straight months, he’s got to have a bad game sooner or later. He’s human. He didn’t shoot the ball well. It wasn’t his ordinary game.
“But Kevin (Love) and Kyrie (Irving) had it going early and they played well, so it kind of got him out of rhythm a little bit in that first half.
“That’s no excuse. They played well, but we’ve just got to play better, be more physical.”
Irving finished with 29 points and Love had 28 in pacing the Cavaliers to the big lead. unlikely he will be cleared to practice this soon.
The likely absence of Bernard should afford second-round rookie Joe Mixon more reps this offseason. And the absence of first-rounder John Ross, who is not eligible to participate until his University of Wash- ington class graduates June 10, will only put Mixon in a brighter spotlight during OTAs.
No matter how fast Mixon moves, he’ll never outrun his past. But his goal of turning all conversations to football will be helped by a strong showing over the next month.
The OTAs will provide some insight into one of the most interesting position battles as the Bengals look for a starting defen- sive tackle to replace Domata Peko, who left for Denver via free agency, alongside Pro Bowler Geno Atkins.
Three leading candidates didn’t play a snap in 2016, and two of them have yet to play a snap in the league.
Brandon Thompson, who tore his ACL in the 2015 finale, appears to be the favorite with 39 games and seven starts under his belt. But Billings and 2015 fourth-round pick Marcus Hardison will be in the mix as well, along with DeShawn Williams, 2016 undrafted free agent David Dean and 2017 fourth-round pick Ryan Glasgow.
3. Peko’s place: 4. Kicking competition:
It’s never too early to start evaluating a position battle as wide open as what the Bengals have at kicker, with veteran Randy Bullock, rookie Jake Elliott and project Jonathan Brown in the mix.
Bullock missed only one field goal after replacing Mike Nugent last season, but it came on the final play of a 14-12 loss to Houston in Week 16. Elliott, a fifth-rounder who broke all of Stephen Gostkowski’s records at Memphis, is the first kicker the Bengals have drafted in the Marvin Lewis era. And Brown might have the biggest leg, but the converted soccer player from Louisville has never attempted a field goal in any game at any level.
The plan the Bengals put in motion two years ago when they drafted tackles with their first two picks in 2015 goes into full effect this spring with Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher starting.
Ogbuehi started 2016 at right tackle but eventually was benched. He made his starting debut at left tackle in Week 16 but suffered a season-ending toe injury. Fisher started the final three games of 2016 at right tackle and demonstrated at times why the Bengals used a second-round pick on him.
It will be hard to fully evaluate their progress without contact, but these OTA practices will be valuable learning tools for the duo.
5. Tackle tandem: