Cavs v Celtics ECF Game 3 Breakdown
Two words: Ewing Theory.
The Celtics came out without their All NBA Second Team PG Isaiah Thomas and simply showed up the cocky Cleveland Cavaliers, crucially in the 2nd half.
The Cavaliers showed no respect, and fans were treated to a surreal sight of the hometown hero Lebron James playing some of his worst basketball since the 2011 NBA Finals.
The game started relatively similar to the first two outings in Boston with the Cavs looking strong, especially from deep with outstanding showings from Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, with them hitting 5/7 and 3/3, respectively in the period leading the team to 9 of 13 for the quarter. There were immediately negative signs from the get-go though, giving up 5 turnovers in the first quarter with the Cavaliers seeming completely nonplussed by these unforced errors. In the first half, all the signs were there of another blowout. The Cavaliers drained 14 of 22 three ball attempts in the first half, whereas the Celtics were not performing in the same means, letting the wine and gold take a 16 point lead into the third quarter.
Within the 2nd quarter though, the Celtics played very improved basketball, taking advantage of scoring in the paint and the open shots they were taking and missing in the first quarter, finally started to drop, instead of their 3/10 shooting from deep in the first 12 minutes.
Once again, the Cavaliers were blessed with a dominant performance from Tristan Thompson in the paint, being utterly unstoppable when it came to rebounding, grabbing 13, with 7 of them being offensive, many of which resulting in put backs or fouls on the attempt. This proved fruitful for TT as he shot 12 of 15 from the charity stripe in an unfamiliar sight for the 49% career free throw shooter. Thompson's 15 attempts added to the Cavaliers' overwhelming 36 free throw attempts, in comparison to the Celtics mere 12.
The two big storylines of this game were the Celtics rallying even without the presence of Isaiah Thomas and the horribly underwhelming performance from the franchise face of number 23 for Cleveland. Without Thomas it was assumed the Celtics would be a mess, and possibly in an even worse position than the first two games in Boston; yet Marcus Smart decided to prove this theory wrong. Smart came out firing, connecting on 7 of his 10 attempts from deep and donating 7 assists with only just 2 turnovers as well. This timely performance was as unexpected as it was welcome for Celtics fans, utterly torching the Cavaliers in the 2nd half of the game. In the third quarter his sharpshooting led the Celtics on a 14 - 2 rally, helping to cut the lead to 5 entering the 4th quarter.
The Cavaliers three point based offense stopped dead in it's tracks in the 2nd half, after a superb 14/22 showing in the first half, the Cavaliers were only able to connect on 2 of their next 17 attempts to close out the game. The Celtics hit more threes than the Cavaliers during this game, on a whole thanks to Marcus Smarts phenomenal performance and Avery Bradley's clutch shots, including his game-winner just before the buzzer.
It has to be said.
Lebron James played woefully. In his first game in front of the home crowd in two and a half weeks, he put up his worst stat line of the past few seasons: 11 points (4/13 fg, 0/4 3pt, 3/6 ft), 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 6 turnovers. After the incredible averages he has been putting in these playoffs, this game came right out of left field and seems unjustified and wholly unprecedented. He simply seemed disconnected from the game. Being unwilling to drive to the basket for easy layups as he had the first two games, as well as hesitant to take jumpers from both mid-range and deep with a clear apprehension to score, instead looking to constantly pass to his team mates.
This made sense in the first quarter when Kyrie and Kevin were lights out from deep, but in the second half, when the team was struggling mightily from deep, it made no sense to continue forcing them to shoot, rather than putting the ball on the floor himself and scoring.
The Cavaliers played ugly, sloppy basketball for the majority of this game, very unlike their playoff performance this year. People have been quick to assume that Lebron's timid offensive showing today was the result of testing the ability's of his teammates, and seeing how they could perform without him. It's difficult to be certain, but there was without a doubt something off about James' performance tonight and you do have to question his intentions.
As JR Smith predicted entering Game 2, the Celtics played scrappy today with brief moments of hostility between Avery Bradley and Kyrie Irving, as well as Jonas Jerebko tossing Kevin Love to the floor and through the entire second half getting up in the face of numerous Cleveland players and yapping away.
Much like what the New York Knicks in the 1999 NBA Playoffs, we may have witnessed a prime example of the 'Ewing Theory' today; a concept coined by a close friend of iconic Boston homer; Bill Simmons. The Ewing Theory can be explained as whenever a star athlete or performer on a team which is struggling misses future games due to injury or other circumstances, and then the same team proceeds to win or play inordinately superior to how they did with the star players presence.
This theory was clearly titled after Patrick Ewing of the 90's Knicks, who founded this with the prime example beginning in the Eastern conference finals. With the series tied up 1-1, star center Patrick Ewing tore his achilles and was set to miss the remainder of the playoffs. After this, the underhanded Knicks went on to win the series 4-2 and enter the NBA Finals fo the first time since 1973. Without Ewing, the team performed remarkably superior, this was also a trend in the regular season for the team, where without his dominance, they somehow were able to maintain a better record.
Without Isaiah Thomas today, the Celtics played a far stronger defensive game, as well as utilising a much better offensive flow, resulting in more passes and more assists on their baskets than previously, saving the team from stagnant possessions resulting in fruitless attempts.
This game was a real shock; a combination of Lebron's weak performance, Marcus Smart's phenomenal play as well and the Celtic's pure desire to prevent a sweep, the Celtics were able to give Cleveland their first true test of this post-season. It'll be interesting to see how Cleveland combats this first taste of adversity and come into Game 4 looking for revenge with a hopefully returned King James.
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Go Cavs!
