The Boston Celtics, who were without the services of Isaiah Thomas due to a hip injury, came into Quicken Loans Arena last night and handed the defending champion Cavaliers their first loss of the 2016-17 NBA Playoffs, 111-108.
At one point in last night’s game, the Cavs were leading by as many as 21 points. However, in the end, poor second half shooting and a buzzer-beating three from Avery Bradley spelled Cleveland’s demise.
Cavaliers forward Kevin Love really had his shot going in Game 3. “K-Love,” as he is known, scored 28 points (8-of-16 from the field, 7-of-13 from beyond the arc), adding 10 rebounds, and three blocks in his 36 minutes of playing time. During his post-game media availability, the 6’10” rebounding machine credited Boston’s hard work.
“We knew they were going to come in and be professionals,” Love said of the Celtics. “You know, they always play hard. They had a lot of fight in them. That’s something else — we have to be able to close out the game. We let one get away from us tonight.”
Love was then asked about his team’s poor shooting in the second half. Fox Sports Ohio’s Allie Clifton wanted to know if Boston’s defense was to blame, or if it was just something the Cavs went away from.
“We just went cold,” Love quickly replied. “Sometimes it happens. They got extremely hot. They started hitting a lot of contested looks, open looks, got out in transition and got to the hole, just a little bit of everything. So, I know a lot of stuff is going to be evident on film tomorrow. It was a mixture of both things — both ends not going well for us.”
Game 4 is set for 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday night. We’ll just have to wait and see if the Cavs, who are currently leading the series 2-1, can regain their composure.