Cavaliers get their mojo back in Game 3 blowout of the Celtics: 3 takeaways
By Ian Levy
The Cavaliers are not bowing out of the Eastern Conference Finals just yet, blowing out the Celtics in a 116-86 Game 3 victory.
At some point the Cavaliers were going to punch back at the Celtics. They started early in the first quarter of Game 3 and never let Boston peel themselves up off the mat. It was far from a perfect game for Cleveland but the rest of the starters helped out by hitting shots early in the first quarter, and their 20-point halftime lead was never really threatened in the second.
LeBron orchestrated an ultra-controlled game, finishing with 27 points, 12 assists, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks, shooting 8-of-12 from the field and a perfect 3-of-3 on 3-pointers.. On the other end, many of the players who have carried the Celtics in these playoffs no-showed. Al Horford only attempted four shots and Marcus Morris, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier were a combined 8-of-28. Boston just couldn’t get a toehold and this one was pretty much over at the end of the first quarter.
Takeaways
The supporting cast showed up for Cleveland. George Hill made an impact early, scoring on the Cavaliers first possessions, finding Tristan Thompson for an assist on the second, then knocking down a 3-pointer on the third. His final stat line — 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting — wasn’t awe-inspiring but his aggressive mentality, and 11 first-quarter points, helped set the tone for Cleveland. Hill, Kyle Korver and J.R. Smith all knocked down multiple 3s and Korver, as well as all four non-LeBron starters, finished in double-figures. The supporting cast was from perfect but they showed up in a way that they didn’t at all in the first two games of this series.
Terry Rozier hasn’t been the same on the road. It may be correlation, not causation, but Rozier just hasn’t been the same outside of TD Garden in these playoffs. Coming into Game 3, he was averaging 12.8 points per road playoff game, shooting 33.9 percent from the field and 24.4 percent on 3-pointers. Those numbers won’t move much after his 13-point, 5-of-12 performance tonight. Obviously, he’s a player who feeds off energy and emotion, raw materials that are more readily available in front of frenzied home crowd. But there’s not rational reason for the splits to be so dramatically different. Boston doesn’t technically need to win a game in Cleveland to take this series but it would be way easier if they could. To pull that off, they’ll need Rozier to break out of this road funk.
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Cleveland controlled the pace and the middle of the floor. Boston’s offense was fantastic in the first two games of the series, in large part because they were able to get out in transition and get the ball into the paint. Across Games 1 and 2, they racked up 23 fastbreak points and 110 points in the paint. In Game 3, Cleveland was able to hold them to just four fastbreak points and 34 points in the paint. This was the execution and momentum control Boston hadn’t been able to muster on the road. If they can keep the Celtics off their game like this, there’s a chance for LeBron to do his thing and even this thing up in Game 4.