Give the Celtics this much: They’re making the first-round series hard for the heavily-favored Cavaliers.
After Thursday’s 103-95 win over the Celtics in Game 3, putting Cleveland up 3 games to none, Cavs coach Dave Blatt acknowledged the battle he’s getting from Brad Stevens, and the leadership he needs from LeBron James.
“I all fairness, we do have players that have been in this situation, that have played these kind of games,” Blatt said. “LeBron’s leadership obviously a huge factor, because he’s the guy that not only guys follow but they feel him, they sense him and his control in these games has been outstanding both in terms of seizing the moment, but also talking guys through situations.
“Coach [Stevens] is right. I think we have showed maturity and poise in how we are playing. This was not an easy game and honestly none of the three games have been easy. Coach Stevens is doing a terrific job with his team and they are competing and playing us tough as it should be in the playoffs.
“Obviously, the job’s not done. We have to win another game. One of the reasons we’ve won these games is that we have respected our opponent, not look past even the game in front of us. Understanding that if we do, we could put ourselves in trouble. We’re going to respect our opponent and come out and compete and play the best game we can possibly play on Sunday.”
What’s been the difference so far for Blatt’s Cavaliers?
“I think our maturity and the fact obviously that we have finishers on our team, guys that know how to finish games,” Blatt said. “Both teams are playing really hard. Both teams are competing. Both teams are very capable. I just think as team we have more maturity but that doesn’t guarantee anything. We’ve got to come out and win another game before I summarize the differences. We’re still in the fight. Boston’s not going away. They haven’t up to this point and they won’t. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
It was James who accompanied JR Smith to the Garden at 9 a.m. Thursday to get a jump start on the shootaround, trying to find the winning edge.
Now, it’s Brad Stevens who must try to find that same winning edge in his players. Stevens was asked Thursday what he sees as the keys that have put Cleveland up, 3-0.
“We’ll see at the end of the series, right? And I’ll be better-able to say it, and I want to get ready to go and want to make sure that we play as well as possible for however many games we have left,” Stevens said. “But obviously No. 23 is one. And I thought they made some ‘ and obviously they’ve got other very talented guys, right? ‘ I thought Love made huge shots, I thought Irving made huge shots, and then JR Smith.
“He went to a different level than he’s been in the first two games. So I think all of those guys, and then you add in the [Tristan] Thompsons and the rebounders and all those guys, so you’ve got all these guys that are good players around the super super-stars and they just become better when they’re around them. And that’s what the great ones do; they make everybody else rise up.”
The fun part about watching this Celtics team is the number of leaders that have emerged from unexpected places, like 24-year-old Jae Crowder. It was Crowder who said Wednesday he was in no way intimidated by LeBron James and the Cavaliers as the series shifted back to Boston.
“I know a lot was made out of what he said [Wednesday], but the bottom line is, Jae’s not scared,” Stevens said. “He’s not scared. He’s not going to play ‘ he’s not going to play in a way that he’s going to back down from anybody, which I really appreciate about him. He plays really hard, he is a very good defender, he’s a very versatile defender, and he made huge shots and made huge plays at the rim for us. He’s been a great addition. Just a great addition. It’s been fun to coach him.”
