The Cavs, down 2-0 to the Celtics in their second round playoff series, face a must-win game in Cleveland tonight.
Well, mostly must-win.
Historically, it’s pretty must-win. But historically, few players like LeBron James have ever existed.
Boston has looked to us like the clearly superior basketball team in the first two games. However, they’ve regularly been better at home.
The Cavs in these playoffs have of course been led by LeBron (33.4 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 9.2 apg, 54% FG this postseason). But second-in-command Kevin Love (15.5 ppg, 10.3 rpg) is shooting just 40.2% in these playoffs. Kyle Korver at 10.2 ppg has been their third leading scorer, but next up is JR Smith who has hit at just a 37% FG clip.
And defensively, the entire team needs to step up.
But can they? The Cavs looked excellent in the final month of the regular season, but playoff intensity is other-level, and to be taken seriously as a team, they can’t just rely on LeBron.
Tonight’s Celtics at Cavs Game 3 is at 8:30pm ET on ESPN TV.
