Tag Archives: Larry Nance Jr.

Cavs, Celtics Set for Showdown in Game 7

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Well, here we are folks.

The two greatest words in sports: Game Seven. The Celtics versus the Cavaliers. LeBron James will get his shot at an eighth straight trip to the NBA Finals as the two teams square off in Boston on Sunday, May 27th. The Celtics will do all they can to prevent a fifth straight loss at the hands of LeBron and reach the Finals for the first time since 2010.

Cleveland Takes Game 6

LeBron James put on a clinic in Game 6, dropping 46 points to go along with 11 rebounds and nine assists. The Cavaliers displayed a team effort in the victory, getting major contributions from the bench, which outscored Boston’s bench 36-23. For the first time in the series Cleveland looked like a deep team, with four players scoring in double figures. George hill scored 20, Jeff Green contributed 14, and Larry Nance added ten and seven rebounds.

The three major factors in the game was the rebounding discrepancy, missed free throws, and Al Horford being a no-show. Boston was out-rebounded in the game by 13, 44-31 and gave up a whopping 15 offensive boards. In Boston’s three wins in the series they have out-rebounded Cleveland, and in the three losses it was the other way around. This will be a major factor going into Game 7. The Celtics also missed nine free throws, going 11-20 from the charity stripe.

Al Horford will need to play significantly better in Game 7 if his team will have any hopes of a victory. He produced six points on eight shots, and often looked out of sorts on the floor. He focused more on the ball than his man, giving up several offensive rebounds that resulted in second chance opportunities for the Cavs.

Kevin Love

The major storyline as Game 7 approaches is the announcement that Kevin Love will not play. After a collision with Jayson Tatum in the first quarter of Friday’s game, Love was sidelined with a concussion. Love is averaging 12.5 points and 9.8 rebounds in the series. He has been most impactful in Boston, averaging 17.6 points and 14.3 rebounds in the three match-ups.

Love has been the second leading scorer for Cleveland in these playoffs. His high IQ passing ability and double-double threat will surely be missed for the Cavs. He is also one of the most battle tested veterans on the roster as an NBA champion back in 2016.

Cavalier Role Players

With the All-Star big man out, Cleveland will need their role players to step up now more than ever. George Hill understands the circumstances and the need to fill a bigger role in Game 7.

“It’s gonna be tough,” Cavs point guard George Hill said. “No team has won there in these playoffs so far. We’ve got to try to be the first.”

LeBron James is taking a very level-headed mindset into the game. He said he doesn’t put “too much added pressure” on himself in Game 7’s.

“I just go out and play my game,” he said. “It’s just basketball for me. I know what I’m capable of doing.”

Boston’s Mentality

The Celtics have tied an NBA record as they have won ten straight games to start the postseason. The team has outscored their opponents by an average of 11.5 points per game thus far.

In spite of their recent success the team knows they are in for a battle.

“It’s about just winning the game now,” Marcus Smart said after Game 6. “It’s not going to be pretty. You got to be able to get down and get dirty… You have to be ready for a dogfight.”

Terry Rozier is confident going into Game 7, but understands LeBron James is going to give the Celtics all they can handle.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun, first and foremost. Obviously, we came up short tonight. But we need the whole city of Boston to be behind us. We know LeBron is different than a lot of other guys, but we’ve got to get the job done. That’s no excuse, so we’re looking forward to it.”

Boston has fed off of the energy their fans bring to the Garden each game, and they expect more of the same in Game 7.

“It’s going to be electric,” Horford said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to Sunday.

Did the Cavs Pull the Trigger Too Early on Isaiah Thomas?

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Despite Saturday night’s 116-86 loss to the Cavaliers, the Boston Celtics are still in good shape. They’re still up 2-1 on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Boston is two wins away from an improbable NBA Finals birth, despite the injuries to All-Star guards Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. The team dismantled the Cavaliers in the first two match-ups of the series. They blew Cleveland out in Game 1 by 25, 108-83. They then followed that up with a 107-94 game two victory. The biggest problem Cleveland has faced in this series is lack of depth outside of LeBron James and Kevin Love.

Which leads to the question- would the storyline of this series be different if the team hadn’t traded Isaiah Thomas?

Isaiah Thomas in Cleveland

Sure, the Cavs were struggling when the deal was struck. The team lacked any sort of chemistry or cohesiveness. Often they looked like a bunch of individuals all trying to “get theirs”.  Isaiah Thomas was still not fully recovered from the hip injury he sustained the previous season, which noticeably hindered his play during his short tenure with the Cavs.

In 15 games played for Cleveland, Thomas averaged 14.7 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.1 rebounds in 27 minutes per game. These numbers are vastly lower than his incredible 2016-17 campaign with the Celtics, where he averaged over 28 points per game and an All-NBA nod.

https://twitter.com/OurSportHistory/status/995305335408791554

Despite Isaiah’s slow start to the season, it is possible Cleveland pulled the trigger on the experiment too early. Isaiah finished the 2017 season as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, where he started in only one of his 17 games played. In 26 minutes per game as the team’s sixth man, Thomas averaged 15.6 points and 5.6 assists per game. He also started to showed flashes of his old self as the season wound down.

Now a year removed from his hip injury, Isaiah says he is feeling like his old self again.

A Few of Cleveland’s Role Players Still Haven’t Shown Up

Cleveland received Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson in the deal for Isaiah Thomas. The pair of bright young talents came to the Cavs on the expectation that they would bring newfound energy and scoring ability. Through three games against the Celtics, Larry Nance Jr. is averaging 2.6 points. Jordan Clarkson hasn’t fared much better. He has only appeared in games one and three of the series, where he has produced 6.3 points per game. 

Given the poor production of the duo, one must wonder if a now fully healthy Isaiah Thomas would have made a big enough impact to change the dynamic of the series. Sure, Isaiah does come with obvious issues on the defensive side of the ball. That being said, the guy is only a year removed from an All-Star season. A season that saw Thomas carry his Celtics all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Cleveland has struggled to score consistently at times during this series, making LeBron do everything for the team. Given Isaiah’s history as an energy guy who despite his 5’9” frame has always managed to score at will, Cleveland could have had a lethal scorer to look to.

There’s no way of knowing what could have been for the Cavaliers had they not been so quick to pull the plug on Isaiah. But based on the performance of the team through three games, one has to wonder if the team’s front office is thinking the same thing right now

 

The Celtics and Cavaliers play Game 4 of the series Monday evening at 8:30 PM on ESPN. Boston leads the best of seven series 2-1.

On “Lonzo Wednesday” Secondary Storylines Carry More Weight

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LONZO WEDNESDAY

Every year, the Celtics-Lakers match up has at least one game nationally televised. Why? Because it is quite possibly the greatest rivalry in all of sports. Together, the Celtics and Lakers have won 33 out of 71 NBA championships. That’s almost half of the history of this league, chalked up to the dominance of these two franchises. Thanks to Lavar Ball and his marketing schemes, all of that history now falls on the shoulders of Lonzo Ball.

ESPN has dubbed tonight “Lonzo Wednesday”. It didn’t matter to them that the Celtics are going for 10 wins in a row and hold the NBA’s best record. It didn’t matter that this might be the moment this rivalry gets renewed, because of BOTH teams having exciting, youthful talent. But most surprisingly, it didn’t matter to the sports giant that Lonzo is not the most captivating rookie playing in this mid-week rivalry game, and perhaps not even on his own team.

TATUM VS KUZMA

For real hoops fans, this is the most exciting storyline of this game. These two rookies have stood out as some of the brightest from what is looking like a strong 2017 class in the early going. Tatum was taken 3rd overall, and brought some hype and expectations, being such a high lottery pick. He has exceeded what anyone thought he would do in his first year. In all of the shuffling of the starting lineup, Tatum has been a constant. Amazingly, he has shown as much trust in the rookie as anyone, giving him 31.6 minutes per game thus far.

Tatum has been a huge surprise defensively, in the top 15 in the NBA in both defensive win shares & defensive rating. Offensively, he has yet to be fully unleashed, but is finding open looks and knocking down shots efficiently. He is shooting 50% from the field and 52.9% from 3, but is only taking 9.3 shots per game. He has had a couple 20 point games, including the last game in Atlanta. Even though Tatum has had some great games already, I would say he has yet to truly have a breakout game. After passing up a few too many open shots against Atlanta, he should be much more aggressive tonight.

STEAL OF THE DRAFT?

Kyle Kuzma was selected 27th overall, and is already considered the steal of the draft by some. It’s a little early, but through ten games he has established himself as a player that is here to stay. The kid nobody knew before the draft, Kuzma is displaying a wide array of offensive moves. Much like Tatum, he is able to dive deep into his arsenal to score from anywhere on the court. Kuzma has been given the starting nod ahead of Julius Randle in the absence of Larry Nance. He is playing well enough to make the Lakers think twice about sending him back to the bench.

Since this is a smaller lineup for the Lakers, it is possible Tatum starts at the 4. This would put him head-to-head with the rookie that most closely resembles his game. Both of these guys have gone above and beyond expectations set for them already this season. It will be fun to watch the two go at it with such similar styles of play. While Lonzo will be the main storyline ahead of the game, I expect to see the narrative shift to these two rookies by post-game.

WIN STREAK ON THE LINE

Perhaps the headline of this game should be the Celtics putting their win streak on the line. No other team in the NBA has reached 9 wins. The Celtics have put up 9 W’s in a row. On the surface, this looks like an easy one for them. They should be hyped for the game, as they make their return to TD Garden coming off a 3-game road trip. The fans should be equally hyped just to be a part of the win streak and watch the C’s go to work at home for the first time in a week. Translation: the Garden is going to be ROCKING.

We can’t discredit the fact that the Lakers are capable of pulling out a win on any given night. They have talented players that can get hot, paired with veterans to lead them to some extra wins. They have had some exciting moments in their season already and definitely have the building blocks for the future. However, on this night I expect the Celtics to feel a little slighted by the headline. While not typically the way a Brad Stevens team operates, it would be fun to see Kyrie and the other guards feed Tatum heavily to show the world that this night should be dubbed “Tatum Wednesday” if they insist on giving the spotlight to a rookie.

My prediction: Celtics win by 5-10 in a high-scoring game. Tatum steals the show on “Lonzo Wednesday” with his first career 30 point performance.

PREVIEW OF THINGS TO COME?

The Celtics are on the come up, and the Lakers are being sure not to fall too far behind their cross-conference rival. Both teams are plentiful in young players, each with an average age of just over 24. Further, they are talented, high draft picks expected to take their teams places in the future. I can’t stress enough that this is a long way down the road. Likely not until the end of the Warriors dominance, but these two teams are destined to meet each other again in the Finals one day.

Will it be with the cores each have put together now? For a Finals showdown, both teams need to keep their young talent and let them grow together. And then, they actually have to turn in to what they were drafted to be. It is going to be a long road until that day comes, but my guess is next time it happens, there will be a few key players left from the current Celtics and Lakers rosters. Hopefully when that time comes, ESPN again gives the Celtics a little extra motivation by leaving them out of the storyline entirely.