LeBron’s Arm and Cavs Seem Alright

After a Game 2 loss at home, the Cavs were thought by some to be in trouble. LeBron James was nursing a hurt elbow, and now was not the time to have your best player dealing with an injury. On top of that, the rest of the Cavaliers team disappeared in Game 2, as the Celtics beat them 104-86. For some teams that kind of loss and a potential injury to your best player could be cause for panic, instead the Cavs looked for payback.

Last night as the series shifted to Boston, the Celtics had a chance to take control if they could win Game 3. They never got the chance as the Cavs came out playing their best basketball, taking a 19 point lead after the first quarter, and a 22 point lead at half time. Boston was never able to chip away at that lead and ended up losing 124-95. Which will go down in history as their worst home loss in the playoffs ever. Not only did the Celtics lose the game, but they lost the momentum. Any chance of them upsetting the Cavs, pretty much went out the window with last night’s game.

While the Cavs shot 67% from the field in the first quarter, the Celtics missed 10 of their first 13 shots. The Cavs ended up shooting over 59% from the field for the game, to the Celtics 42%. Cleveland also out shot Boston from both the 3-point line and charity stripe (41% to 23%, and 91% to 72% respectively). And to make matters worse the Cavs out rebounded them by 15 for the game.

As for LeBron James, the elbow didn’t seem to bother him too much. James scored 38 points to go with 8 rebounds and 7 assists. James shot 63% from the field for the night and missed just one free throw. If his elbow was bothering him, he didn’t seem to show it. Boston had no answer for James all night, and let him set the tone in their own arena.

After last night’s shellacking, I have a tough time believing that the Celtics can win another game in this series. They were out played in every aspect of the game, and at no point came close to looking like the team that beat Cleveland by 18 earlier this week. All signs point to this being Cleveland’s year, and while Boston looked on paper like a potential road block, on the court they haven’t shown it. The Cavs showed once again why they are considered the team to beat in this year’s playoffs. I think Cleveland will wrap this up in 5 games, before their conference finals rematch against the Orlando Magic.