The Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference coughed up a 21-point lead against the Boston Celtics that would have secured them a commanding 3-0 series lead.
However, the Celtics were able to squeeze out a win on a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Avery Bradley in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter. With a day to further assess the loss, J.R. Smith didn’t hold back his thoughts concerning Bradley’s game-winning bucket.
The shot from Bradley came on an open look from beyond the arc due to a screen from Al Horford to create space away from Tristan Thompson. The ball then rattled around the rim only to receive a friendly bounce off the back iron to fall through the net.
If there was any valid complaint from the Cavaliers it would center on the screen that Horford set that could have drawn an offensive foul call as he was moving his feet along with pushing away Thompson from Bradley.
One hell of a (moving) screen by Al Horford to allow Avery Bradley to be wide open for the game-winner. pic.twitter.com/XFrXmtNf7Z
— Josh Poloha (@JorshP) May 22, 2017
Lucky shot or not, the Celtics are back in the series with a chance to even it up at 2-2 on Tuesday night while also regain home-court advantage for the final three contests.
This could be quite a difficult task due to a highly motivated LeBron James looking to bounce back from one of the worst playoff performances of his career, recording just 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field including o-for-4 from 3-point range along with six turnovers in 45 minutes played. James also didn’t score in the final 16 minutes of the game.
