After taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics could have placed their opponent in a precarious situation by winning one of the two following games on the road. Instead, they were run out of Quicken Loans Arena 116-86 in Game 3 Saturday night and were never really a threat in a 111-102 loss Monday evening.
As the Celtics returned home to Boston last night for Game 5, the pressure to win and keep their aspirations high increased. The fifth game of best-of-seven series that are tied is a swing game. Teams that win Game 5 of a series tied at 2-2 have gone on to win 164 of 198 games, a percentage of 82.8 percent.
The young Celtics had the appearance of a slightly worn group in Game 4 as LeBron James put up 44 points on the board and as usual dictated the terms of how the game was played, creating favorable matchups for himself and his teammates on pick-and-rolls. He often found himself guarded by the Celtics’ 6-foot-2, 190-pound point guard Terry Rozier, an impossible task for a player nearly 7 inches shorter and 60 pounds lighter than one of the game’s all-time greats.
Brad Stevens, the Celtics’ talented and creative 41-year-old head coach, will be tested and measured by the strategic and schematic decisions he makes for the remainder of the series. “It’s the best two out of three to go to the NBA Finals,” Stevens said. “It doesn’t get better than that. Anybody who didn’t think that was going to be tough, I mean, everything is tough. In this deal, it’s a blast to have to grit your teeth, get up off the mat and go after it again.”
Grit and toughness have defined this Celtics team, fighting their way this far without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. Now they will see if grit can continue to carry them past the Cavaliers.