Throughout the playoffs, the Boston Celtics have shown that they can win at home. Better yet, they haven’t lost there once this entire postseason.
After going up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, it looked like they were in the driver’s seat. But LeBron James didn’t allow them to sneak a win in The Land and tied the series up at two games each.
In another homecoming? They were back to firing from all cylinders.
Led by rookie Jayson Tatum, the Celtics played with rejuvenated energy and took care of the Cavs on the defensive side of the ball. They forced turnovers, converted in transition and frustrated King James and company all night long.
They also got major contribution from Marcus squared, with Morris and Smart both scoring 13 points off the bench. Jaylen Brown also dropped 17 points, while Al Horford tallied another double double, scoring 15 and notching 12 rebounds.
Boston was up by as much as 17 points in the first half, with Cleveland creeping back, but only closed the gap to eight points during that stretch.
In the second half, the Celtics kept their foot on the gas on both ends of the floor, not allowing the Cavs to get within striking distance.
For moments, it looked like LBJ was out of gas, not showing as much effort offensively as Cleveland kept missing shots when he would set them up nicely.
James ended with 26 points and 10 rebounds, but the supporting cast wasn’t all in sync. The only other player in double digits in scoring was Kevin Love, with 14 points. Besides that, other starters like JR Smith and Tristan Thompson only had 2 points and 1 points, respectively.
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The series now shifts to Cleveland for Game 6, in a must-win game for the Cavaliers.