With their backs up against the wall, the Boston Celtics put together one valiant, aggressive effort in trying to avoid a 0-3 first-round deficit.
However, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers were too much down the stretch, picking up a gritty 103-95 road win on Thursday night at the TD Garden to come within one win of advancing to the Eastern Conference semi-final round.
James carried his team to the tune of 31 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals in 42 minutes. Kevin Love registered 23 points (with six 3-pointers) and nine rebounds. Two of his threes were in the closing moments to give Cleveland some separation from the pesky Celtics.
James’ preparation for such a performance began in the morning when he put himself through an hour-long intense personal workout an hour before the team arrived at the arena for shootaround.
That’s how focused he was coming into the game.
The Boston faithful brought it. They were energetic, rowdy and often vile in their taunts. It was the most chaotic atmosphere Cleveland has experienced all season.
James knew what awaited his team. He was booed every time he touched the ball, but that only fueled him. With James often unstoppable, Boston elected to get physical with his teammates.
Midway in the second quarter things got a little testy when Jonas Jerebko hammered Kyrie Irving in the face on a break, sending him crashing to the ground. Jerebko strutted around Irving as James and Love quickly rushed to their point guard. J.R. Smith shoved Jae Crowder in the scrum, eventually drawing a technical foul. All Jerebko received was a common personal foul.
For his feistiness, Jerebko (four points, seven rebounds) was awarded with the start in the second half in place of Brandon Bass.
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