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Cavaliers blowout Celtics and advance to Finals: 3 takeaways

By Akash Anavarathan

May 25, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dahntay Jones (30) defends Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second quarter of game five of the Eastern conference finals of the NBA Playoffs at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
May 25, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dahntay Jones (30) defends Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second quarter of game five of the Eastern conference finals of the NBA Playoffs at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Cleveland Cavaliers finished off the Boston Celtics in Game 5, punching their ticket to the NBA Finals to face the Golden State Warriors.

LeBron James and the Cavaliers had no plans of playing another game in this series and it was evident from the opening tip that they were mentally locked in. The Cavaliers had an offensive outburst in the first quarter, dropping 43 points on the Celtics, and holding them to only 27. They didn’t look back from that point and maintained a stronghold on the game.

In that first quarter, LeBron had 11 points and Kyrie Irving had 9 points as the two leaders for Cleveland wanted to come out and set the tone from the get go. Boston didn’t even know what hit them and were playing from behind the rest of the way. LeBron’s Cavaliers’ teams are 9-0 in potential series-clinching games and nothing changed tonight.

James’ performance in the last two games has been criticized, despite the fact that he had 34 points in Game 4 and 15 points in the fourth quarter to ice that game for the Cavaliers. Everyone was wondering if the King was regressing to the mean, but it looks like he’s back at the peak of his powers. Through three quarters, the best player in the world had 35 points on 18 shots, eight rebounds and eight assists. He also shot a lot better from 3-point range, connecting on four of his seven attempts. In the process, James passed Michael Jordan as the All-Time Playoffs’ leading scorer.

Irving had another efficient game, adding 24 points on 15 shots, to go along with seven assists. Kevin Love had a double-double and Deron Williams chipped in 14 points off the bench. The Cavaliers shot the lights out of the ball on their way to this thunderous victory.

The Celtics didn’t get much from their stars outside of Avery Bradley. The Celtics’ guard finished with 23 points on 50 percent shooting from the field. They shot poorly from the field and even worse from 3-point line. Here’s the box score from Game 5 and my three takeaways.

Takeaways

Folks, LeBron James is okay. The hot takes were flying after LeBron played poorly in Game 3. He disappeared and the Cavaliers are in trouble. Game 4 wasn’t any different, as it took a Kyrie Irving onslaught to pull it out at home. But in Game 5, LeBron James said it was his turn to finish off Boston again. James was back attacking the rim, scoring at such an efficient clip. His 3-pointer was falling and that makes his game even more deadly. He seemed active on the defensive end, leading to three steals and a block. James seemed sluggish in the two games at home (it was later revealed that he had been sick), but he was anything but in Game 5 tonight at Boston. He’s going to get a week off before heading into Game 1 of the NBA Finals, but that might not be able to cool James. The King continues to drop 30-point games like it’s no big deal. He’s heading to his seventh-straight NBA Finals, but holy cow is he hot heading into this showdown against the Warriors.

Deron Williams is a valuable bench asset for this team. D-Will continues to have one of these vintage games once in a while, where Williams from the Utah Jazz days seems to reappear in Cleveland. He’s been huge for the Cavaliers, filling in the void that was left by Matthew Dellavedova’s departure. Williams doesn’t bring Delly’s defensive intensity, but brings veteran leadership and playoff experience to a bench unit that could definitely use it. Tonight was no different, with the ex-Maverick dropping 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, including 2-for-3 from 3-point range. If the Cavaliers are able to get performances from like this from Williams and the rest of the bench mob, they could be a tough out against the Golden State Warriors.

The Celtics aren’t a better team without Isaiah Thomas. All the talk since the injury of Thomas, the Game 3 victory and their Game 4 first half performance, was that the Celtics were better off without Thomas. Maybe defensively the Celtics are able to roll out bigger guys and a more versatile lineup, but offensively, they aren’t the same team. For about six quarters, the Celtics had the Cavaliers on their heels because their offense changed so dramatically. As Kenny Smith mentioned before the game, it seemed to be a read-and-react offense where nobody was pre-determined to take the shot. But in playoff elimination games such as this, the Celtics miss an isolation scorer that can give them a basket when necessary. In Game 7 against Washington, Thomas came up clutch, helping the Celtics get into the Conference Finals. Tonight, Avery Bradley showed up, but none of his other teammates did and the void left by Thomas wasn’t filled.

Next: 5 teams that should be looking at Chris Bosh

The Cavaliers have advanced to their third straight NBA Finals and LeBron James — and James Jones — are heading to their seventh-straight Finals. Just as most expected, it will be a Golden State-Cleveland three-match. The NBA Playoffs have been a mini-preseason, leading up to this series. We can’t wait for Game 1 on next Thursday, June 1.

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