The Cleveland Cavaliers have taken a 2-0 series lead into Boston for Thursday night’s Game 3. The Cavs won 113-100 in Game 1 and 99-91 in Game 2, and although they haven’t been blowout wins, it hasn’t seemed like the Celtics ever gained control of the games. The bigger and stronger Cavs have been bullying the Celtics from all over the floor going into Boston.
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Boston forward Jae Crowder, however, isn’t backing down from the challenge that is the Cavs, saying he respects LeBron James and the Cavaliers, but also mentioning that they’re not intimidating:
Is Mozgov intimidating? Crowder laughs. "No. Nobody on their team is intimidating."
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) April 22, 2015
Crowder: "Feel like we have a great chance of winning Game 3."
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) April 22, 2015
Tony Dejak | AP Photo
Saying that nobody on the Cavs is intimidating could be a case of waking up a sleeping giant, as the Cavs haven’t needed to play intimidating basketball to win. If Cleveland does decide to fire on all cylinders, Boston stands no chance against the Cavs. He also talked about some of the loopholes in Cleveland’s defense that Boston can exploit. It hasn’t worked out completely thus far, but Crowder is confident going into Boston for Games 3 and 4.
Crowder however, is embracing the fact that he’s tasked with guarding the best player in the world in LeBron James.
Crowder on guarding Playoff LeBron: "It's great. It's the biggest challenge I think I ever took on."
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) April 22, 2015
He and the Celtics haven’t done that great of a job of locking him down, however, as James is averaging 25 points, 7.5 rebounds, seven assists, and one block while shooting 47.5%. It’s not only James making Crowder work, but Cavs backup point guard Matthew Dellavedova had a nice play around Crowder in Game 1:
While Crowder and the Celtics look to win Game 3 and inch closer to possibly tying the series up Sunday, Cleveland looks to take a 3-0 lead over Boston and put themselves in great position to eliminate the Celtics in Game 4. James talked about the importance of coming out and staying strong during Game 3 on Thursday:
“We have to be better to start the game. The mistakes you make at home, you cannot make on the road. We have to understand they are going to try and hit us first. We have to be ready for their speed, and ready for the crowd and the execution. Not wait around. Ready to go from the beginning. If we defend and we rebound, we’ll give ourselves a chance to win Game 3. “