King rules at his castle
LeBron’s 44 points help Cavs even it up
CLEVELAND — No amount of studying extra video, or vowing to communicate better, or moving the ball more, has been able to help the Celtics on foreign hardwood this postseason.
That’s especially true when LeBron James is protecting said hardwood. The Cavaliers star shot 17-for28 for 44 points in Cleveland’s 111-102 win last night over the Celtics, tying the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals at 2-2.
The pressure is now on the C’s to win Game 5 at the Garden tomorrow night.
With Marcus Morris in deep foul trouble, Marcus Smart guarded James down the stretch, and though the Celtics guard made the King’s time uncomfortable, James still put away the C’s with a 3-pointer with 1:43 left for a 109-95 lead.
The Celtics were once again beat on the glass thanks to Tristan Thompson’s expanded role, with the Cavs forward grabbing 12 of Cleveland’s 47 rebounds. The C’s finished with 37 boards.
A late 9-2 Cavs run helped them to a 89-76 lead heading into the fourth, after the Celtics twice pulled as close as eight points on scores by Jayson Tatum.
But five straight points from Jaylen Brown, including a three-point play, cut the Cavs’ lead to 96-86. Al Horford then spun off the baseline for a dunk, cutting the margin to eight with 8:29 left, triggering a Cavs timeout.
Both sides went cold, though when Smart saved a loose ball and Aron Baynes was fouled off a rebound, the Celtics cut the margin to 96-89 on the center’s 1-for-2 trip to the line.
But Kevin Love put back a J.R. Smith miss, and when Brown missed in transition, James came right back off the break for a 100-89 lead with 6:10 left.
The Celtics responded with a broken possession that went deep into the shot clock, culminating in a Horford air ball as the buzzer sounded.
Brown (two free throws) and a Smart drive cut the Cavs’ lead to seven points, but Thompson dunked off a Love feed, and James then stepped in to steal an attempted Smart save under the basket. He dunked with 3:37 left for a 104-93 lead.
Misses by Morris and Terry Rozier led to a George Hill floater, and when James missed, the ball went out of bounds off Smart. The play was mortal. James hit from downtown for a 109-98 lead with 1:43 left.
The halftime shooting percentages considered — Cleveland at 61.5, the C’s at 37.0 — the C’s could probably consider themselves fortunate to not be trailing by more than the 68-53 score.
James, who didn’t attempt a 3-pointer in the first half, still had 22 points, and Kyle Korver (14 points) and Smith (nine) combined for five bombs.
It didn’t help when Morris, in the process of making a discounted 3, kicked a defender for his fourth foul early in the third quarter. Fortunately for the Celtics, Cleveland was off to a flat start in the quarter.