20150426-CLEBOS

Boston Celtics

RE: Players plateauing in the first half:

RE: What these games will mean in the future:

RE: If this run makes Boston more of a free agent destination:

RE: How he feels about this Celtics team:

RE: How the team responded to Jae Crowder's two incidents:

RE: If he got everything he could have out of his players:

RE: If he was frustrated with Isaiah Thomas' misses:

RE: If his first playoff experience has changed what he thinks it takes to win in the NBA:

RE: If he thought the Cavaliers were more physical after Kevin Love left:

RE: Finding a rhythm in the third quarter:

RE: If he feels like just making the playoffs wasn't enough:

RE: Keeping the margin of defeat slim despite getting swept:

RE: The environment in the Celtics organization:

RE: The value of this series down the road:

RE: If he can shed light on Kevin Love's status:

RE: If the play where Love got injured was dirty:

RE: The out of bounds play with Isaiah Thomas and LeBron James:

RE: Trapping Isaiah Thomas on the pick-and-roll:

RE: If Kevin Love thinks the Kelly Olynyk foul was on purpose:

RE: Responding to the physical play of Boston:

RE: Staying in the moment despite losing Love and J.R. Smith:

RE: The game plan after he and the Cavaliers come down from this game:

RE: If beating Boston adds to his legacy:

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That's What He Said - Cavaliers at Celtics

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The Celtics went out with a fight.  You can’t take that away from them.

The C's gave it their all on the final night of its season.  They trailed by as many as 21 points during the second half but gave their fans hope late in the fourth quarter.

A spirited Boston run brought the Celtics back to within nine points at the end of the third quarter and within six points in the final minute.  However, when Cleveland needed big buckets, it got them, and it held on for a 101-93 victory.

The contest stood at 72-64 in favor of the Cavaliers after Jared Sullinger canned a 3-pointer with 10:14 left on the clock.  Kyrie Irving, who had already hit an uncountable number of big-time shots during this series, came up with another one a minute later.  He caught a pass in motion from LeBron James on the right wing and swished home a trey to pop Cleveland’s lead back up to 11 points.

James followed with a driving layup 44 seconds later to make it a 13-point game and put much, if not all, of the game’s momentum in the back pocket of the Cavs.  Cleveland eventually pulled ahead by 16 during the fourth, fueled by big bucket after big bucket by James and Irving.  Both players scored 10 points during the final frame.

The Celtics still had one run left in them.  Many considered the game to be over when James put the Cavs on top by 16 with 3:14 remaining, but Boston had one final push left.

Slowly but surely, the C’s whittled their deficit down to six points in the final minute by making shots and capitalizing on Cleveland’s miscues.  Boston actually had a chance to slice the deficit down to three when Gigi Datome fired up a 3-pointer out of a timeout with 30.8 seconds remaining.  However, his shot was off the mark and Cleveland iced the game with two free throws from Irving.

Boston’s season has come to an end, but not without resistance.  The Celtics fought their tails off down to the final minute of this series and tip their hat to Cleveland for moving on to the next round.

Twenty-four days ago, Jared Sullinger was considered by the public to be out for the season with a stress fracture in his left foot.

Today, he was Boston’s best player in a win-or-go-home playoff game.

Sullinger was at his best as the Celtics stood with their backs against the wall.  He notched the 13th double-double of his season, and the first of his playoff career, by racking up team highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds, including four at the offensive end.  His 11 boards tied Kyrie Irving and Timofey Mozgov for the game’s top total.

For much of the game, Sullinger was the only player who kept Boston afloat.  He made nine of his 17 shot attempts, joining Tyler Zeller as the only Celtics players to have made more than half of their field goal attempts.  (Zeller shot 4-of-7 from the field).

Boston outscored Cleveland by seven points during Sullinger’s nearly 28 minutes of action.

Brad Stevens his upcoming pitch to free agents

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Ford Keys to the Game: Cavaliers 101, Celtics 93

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Photos: Cavaliers vs. Celtics - Apr. 26, 2015

With the weight of NBA playoff history pushing down on them, the Boston Celtics will try to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday at TD Garden.

Boston has shown plenty of grit in this first-round series but has only an 0-3 hole to show for it, and no team has ever come back from such a deficit to win a series. Sending it back to Cleveland for Game 5 is all the Celtics can focus on.

"You have a game Sunday, you prepare for the game, play to the best of your ability," coach Brad Stevens said when asked what he would tell his players given their situation.

The Cavaliers put the Celtics on the brink with a 103-95 victory Thursday. LeBron James had 31 points and 11 rebounds in his first playoff game in Boston since finishing with 45 and 15 rebounds for Miami in Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals.

Kevin Love added 23 points, including two clutch 3-pointers after Boston pulled within three late in the fourth, and J.R. Smith had his best game of the series with 15. Love shot 8 for 16 with six 3-pointers after going 8 of 22 with three 3s over Games 1 and 2.

"Kevin has been great," coach David Blatt said. "Maybe he didn't score as much in the second game as he did tonight, or in the first game, but he's been engaged at both ends."

The Celtics have forced 42 turnovers in the series and have capitalized when contact is made, hitting 55 of 65 free throws, and in Game 3 were able to contain Kyrie Irving. The All-Star guard didn't make his first field goal until 6:27 remained in the third quarter and finished with 13 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

"This is the playoffs," Blatt told the Cavaliers' official website. "We're playing a fine opponent, they are making it very difficult for us, challenging us, competing with us and we're doing what we have to win, but it's not coming easy and we're working very hard to be successful in this series."

While Boston has made Cleveland work for each win, its poor 3-point shooting in the last two games (11 for 41) and 40 turnovers in the series have been hard to overcome.

"We've got to play better basketball," Stevens said. "I don't mean to sound that general and I'm sorry I do, but we've got to play better basketball ... on both ends."

After leading Boston with 44 points over the first two games, reserve guard Isaiah Thomas was limited to five on 2-of-9 shooting Thursday, but Jae Crowder and Evan Turner each had fine overall performances to pick him up.

Turner finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, while Crowder had 16 points, seven boards and four assists. Avery Bradley scored 18 after totaling 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting in the first two games.

With the Celtics' overall team effort affording the Cavaliers little breathing room, James has had to log nearly 42 minutes in every game but has risen to the occasion, shooting 50 percent from the field in the last two with at least 30 points in each. He had just two turnovers Thursday after committing 11 in the first two games.

The four-time MVP has done a bit of everything with totals of 26 rebounds, 18 assists, six steals and five blocks while also playing his typical hard-nosed defense.

"Obviously, No. 23 (James) is one," Stevens said when asked what separates the Celtics and Cavaliers. "They've got other very talented guys ... You've got all these guys that are good players around the super superstars, and they just become better when they're around him. That's what the great ones do, they make everyone rise up."

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Game 4 Preview: Cavaliers at Celtics

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WALTHAM, Mass. – “We’re in some quicksand right now.”

Rookie Marcus Smart made that comparison after Saturday’s practice in Waltham, Mass. and the Celtics are very much looking for a lifeline to pull themselves out of a 3-0 series deficit. They’re trying to remain focused on the immediate task at hand, which is winning Game 4 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and not worrying about the bigger picture, which is winning their next four games to advance to the next round.

“We have to be ultra-desperate and ultra-urgent because of where we are, but we pretty much play that way anyway,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of being down in a 3-0 hole.

The bottom line is this: you can’t win four games in a row without winning one game in a row.

Brandon Bass, who doesn’t talk much, was clear and concise when describing where the collective head of his teammates was at heading into Sunday’s Game 4.

“Fight to play another day,” Bass said of the team’s mentality. “I think Coach is preparing us to go out there to give maximum effort to compete and go out there and win.”

Along those lines, Stevens didn’t mention it to the media, and no one asked him about it, but he may be making some changes to the starting lineup for Game 4. Avery Bradley indicated as much when he talked to reporters, and when Jae Crowder was asked if he was starting, he confirmed that assertion. It’s unclear if those changes are official or final.

“I think our lineup is different tomorrow and we’re just going to go out there and play as hard as we can,” Bradley said. “I think a few people are starting different. I think, I’m not sure, but I think they might change the lineup tomorrow.”

One player who did not see the floor at all on Saturday is Jared Sullinger, who is nursing a bruised tailbone and is considered “probable” for Game 4. Isaiah Thomas, who played just 21 minutes and scored just five points during Game 3, said he’s ready for Game 4 and that it’s on him to “play well enough so that coach can’t take me out.”

Regardless of who starts, who comes off the bench, and who finishes the game, everybody is aware that they have to be better on the glass to have any shot at winning Game 4. Cleveland’s knack for coming up with offensive rebounds has been leading to second-chance points and back-breaking 3-pointers.

“The thing with rebounding, it’s just a mindset of putting a body on the guy you’re guarding,” Bass said.

The other thing that’s killed the Celtics has been the transition game, specifically when the Cavs have put together multiple buckets in a row.

“I think we have to be opportunistic in transition regardless of scenario,” Stevens said. “What we can’t do is have turnovers late in the half, like we’ve had, multiple times now, and let them go on those 12-0 runs.

“Those runs right now, they have really hurt us. It’s happened in each game at one point or another.”

If it continues to happen in Game 4, that will likely spell the end of the Celtics’ season. The slow climb out of the quicksand starts at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

20150426‑CLEBOS

That's What He Said - Cavaliers at Celtics

Ford Keys to the Game: Cavaliers 101, Celtics 93

Photos: Cavaliers vs. Celtics - Apr. 26, 2015

Game 4 Preview: Cavaliers at Celtics

Facing Elimination, C's May Shake Lineup