The Celtics have been here before. They traded home wins with the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round in order to advance to the conference semifinals. Doing the same with Cleveland would get them to the NBA Finals.
Cleveland’s had their share of road embarrassments—they were beaten 121-87 by the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the first round—but the Cavs have proven that they can win in enemy territory. Trailing the Pacers 2-1, Cleveland gutted out a four-point road victory to even up the series in Game 4. The Cavs won the first two games of the conference semifinals on the road against the Toronto Raptors on their way to a sweep.
With a core of young players and no true superstar because of the injury to Kyrie Irving, the Celtics are just 1-6 on the road this postseason. The Cavs have relied almost exclusively on veterans with playoff experience, and they’ve got the best superstar in the entire league.
LeBron James has been able to do just about anything he’s wanted on offense in the last two games. He totaled 71 points on just 40 field-goal attempts at Quicken Loans Arena, shooting 62.5 percent from the field. James made four of seven three-pointers and 17 of 23 free-throw attempts.
Even with his inexplicably poor Game 1 performance, James is averaging 32.0 points on 54.1 percent shooting from the field and 39.1 percent shooting from three for the series.
It seems like forever since Marcus Morris was being lauded for his defense on James. The NBA’s best player is finding his way to the rim, taking advantage of switches—especially when being guarded by Terry Rozier—and making contested jump shots. James continues to sprinkle in those fadeaways that broke Toronto's spirit and are virtually unguardable.
Cleveland’s had their share of road embarrassments—they were beaten 121-87 by the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the first round—but the Cavs have proven that they can win in enemy territory. Trailing the Pacers 2-1, Cleveland gutted out a four-point road victory to even up the series in Game 4. The Cavs won the first two games of the conference semifinals on the road against the Toronto Raptors on their way to a sweep.
With a core of young players and no true superstar because of the injury to Kyrie Irving, the Celtics are just 1-6 on the road this postseason. The Cavs have relied almost exclusively on veterans with playoff experience, and they’ve got the best superstar in the entire league.
LeBron James has been able to do just about anything he’s wanted on offense in the last two games. He totaled 71 points on just 40 field-goal attempts at Quicken Loans Arena, shooting 62.5 percent from the field. James made four of seven three-pointers and 17 of 23 free-throw attempts.
Even with his inexplicably poor Game 1 performance, James is averaging 32.0 points on 54.1 percent shooting from the field and 39.1 percent shooting from three for the series.
It seems like forever since Marcus Morris was being lauded for his defense on James. The NBA’s best player is finding his way to the rim, taking advantage of switches—especially when being guarded by Terry Rozier—and making contested jump shots. James continues to sprinkle in those fadeaways that broke Toronto's spirit and are virtually unguardable.
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