The Boston Celtics appeared as though they were going to pull off another stunner in Tuesday night’s Game 4, but Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers had a different idea.
Irving scored a game-high 42 points in Cleveland’s 112-99 win over the C’s, as the Cavs took a commanding 3-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals. The Celtics led by as many as 16 points, but Irving’s monster third quarter put the Cavs back up for good at Quicken Loans Arena.
LeBron James scored 34 points, although he did record four first-half fouls and one terrible missed dunk. Kevin Love had a double-double with 17 points and 17 rebounds. Avery Bradley (19 points), Jae Crowder (18 points, eight rebounds), Al Horford (16 points, seven assists) and Kelly Olynyk (15 points) all finished in double figures for the C’s.
Here’s how it all went down.
STARTING FIVE
Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Kelly Olynyk, Al Horford
LUCK OF THE IRISH
The Cavs jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but the Celtics took control of the rest of the first quarter. The C’s immediately responded with an 11-0 run to take an 11-5 advantage, and that lead grew to as high as 11 before Boston finished the frame with a 10-point lead. Boston shot 45.8 percent from the floor, and held the advantage in rebounds (13-10) and assists (8-4). Cleveland, meanwhile, only shot 33.3 percent.
Crowder led all scorers with 11 points, while Olynyk and Bradley both finished the quarter with six points. James and Irving both had six points, too.
THE KING’S IN TROUBLE
The Celtics’ lead continued to grow in the second quarter, and it swelled to as high as 16 points after a Bradley 3-pointer made it 49-33 more than midway through the second quarter. And that huge shot came over a minute after James was called for his fourth foul of the game.
Boston ended the first half with a 57-47 lead, and that was after Cleveland got as close as six points thanks in large part to Irving, who scored 12 points in the second quarter to up his total to 18 in the half. The C’s shot 45.5 percent from the floor with 17 assists, 17 rebounds and only three turnovers in the first half. The Cavs’ shooting improved to 48.6 percent overall with 19 rebounds, 12 assists and nine turnovers.
Bradley and Crowder both led the C’s with 13 points, while James and Love both had 10 points at the break.
HERE COMES THE CAVS
The Irving show continued in the third quarter. The Cavs point guard scored 21 more points in the frame, giving him 39 points overall and all those points were huge as Cleveland turned a 10-point deficit into an 87-80 lead heading into the final 12 minutes.
The Cavaliers started to make things interesting in the quarter when they closed the gap to three at 61-58 with 7:39 remaining, but the Celtics created some more separation to make it an eight-point game at 66-58. The Cavaliers took the lead for good when James knocked down two free throws to give Cleveland a 73-72 lead, and they never looked back, finishing the quarter on a 14-8 run.
Cleveland won the fourth quarter 40-23, and James (19 points) and Love (14 points) both continued to contribute on offense. Bradley led the Celtics with 17 points.
The C’s kept things relatively close the rest of the way, but they never could mount a serious comeback.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Iman. Shumpert.
UP NEXT
The series now shifts to Boston, where the two teams will face off at TD Garden in a pivotal Game 5 on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Ken Blaze/USA TODAY Sports Images
