The Cavaliers seemingly relentless push towards a third straight NBA Finals appearance hit a speedbump on Sunday night as they dropped their first contest of the 2017 postseason – a 111-108 thriller in Game 3 at The Q.
After spanking the Celtics by 13 points in Game 1 and destroying them by 44 two nights later, the confident Cavaliers were looking to keep pace with the Golden State Warriors out West.
And when it was announced on Saturday that Boston’s All-Star guard – and the East’s leading scorer – Isaiah Thomas would miss the remainder of the Playoffs with a hip injury – the path to the Conference title seemed to become even clearer.
Through two quarters, the game stayed on script – with Cleveland scoring 66 points in the first half and taking a 16-point lead into the locker room. But the Cavaliers cooled off in the second stanza, scoring just 21 points in each of the final two periods – allowing the scrappy Celts to mount their furious, improbable comeback.
That comeback began in the third quarter, after the Wine and Gold had extended their lead to 21 – 77-56 – midway through the period.
Boston began chipping away at Cleveland’s edge as the Cavaliers went cold in the quarter – going just 5-of-18 from the floor, including 0-of-6 from beyond the arc.
The Celtics cut the Cavaliers’ edge to just five heading to the fourth quarter and rode that momentum until Marcus Smart hit his seventh triple of the night with 5:44 to play, tying the game at 95-apiece.
Cleveland reclaimed the lead, but back-to-back buckets by Kelly Olynyk gave the Celtics their first lead of the night with just under four minutes to play.
The East’s two top squads went back and forth over the closing minutes, with Al Horford giving the Celtics their biggest lead of the night – drilling a three-pointer to make it 106-103 with 36 second remaining. But J.R. Smith tied the game right back up with a trifecta on Cleveland’s next possession.
On the Celtics’ next possession, little-used Jonas Jerebko hit a jumper from just beyond the three-point arc to give Boston back the lead. But Kyrie Irving scored on a twisting, driving layup with 10.7 to play to tie the affair at 108-apiece.
But Boston drew up an excellent play out of the timeout and a mix-up between J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert gave Avery Bradley an almost uncontested three-point attempt. Bradley – who beat the Cavs on a buzzer-beater at The Q two seasons ago – calmly stepped into the shot, which rattled around the rim just long enough to essentially kill the clock and fell in with .1 to play, giving Boston the postseason upset.
”(Bradley) was wide open,” said Kyrie Irving. “(The ball) bounced on the rim for a little bit and (they) got a game-winner and we got a slice of some humble pie. So we’ve got a lot to learn going forward. But they hit us in the mouth and now it’s our job to hit back.”
The Cavaliers were led by Irving – who finished with 29 points on 10-for-15 shooting, including 4-of-6 from long-range, to go with a team-high seven assists and a steal.
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