Kevin Love Looms Large in Game 3
(All stats from NBA.com)
Each member of the Cleveland Cavaliers “big three” has had a signature game in their first round series against the Boston Celtics. Kyrie Irving proved he was ready for primetime in game one, LeBron James showed the leadership that only a king could in game two and game three was marked by none other than Kevin Wesley Love.
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Love may have had his best game in a wine and gold (and blue) jersey. Not only did he rattle home six threes (23 points in total), he pulled in nine boards and dished out three assists. He was also engaged on defense, something his coach David Blatt acknowledged after the 103-95 win in Boston.
“I’m really, really proud of the fact that he is so engaged and involved at both ends of the court, as we need him to be.” Blatt said to reporters (per sportingnews.com).
The most prevalent of his six bombs came with 26 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter. The Cavs were up five as LeBron drove left on Evan Turner to the baseline and shoveled a lefty pass to Love in the right corner where he drained the three to put the final dagger in the gang green coffin.
When the shot found bottom Love glided down the court Robert Horry style, with a swagger that he had been in search for since arriving in Cleveland.
He was met with love (no pun intended) and joy from his teammates and after the game he exchanged a series of handshakes with LeBron. That’s a big deal to some because of the hoopla coming from the airwaves.
As far as the rest of the game the Cavs were challenged once again by the Celtics. By no means has this been a steamrolling effort by Cleveland, they have had to work for each win.
The Celtics scored the first eight points (hitting six of their first seven shots) of the third quarter to knot the game at 58.
Evan Turner led the way for Boston with 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. He also drained a huge three late in the fourth to close the deficit to three.
But from there the Cavs found their way and hit big shots down the stretch.
For Cleveland, Irving wasn’t as potent offensively as he was in the first two games. He didn’t score his first bucket until 6:27 remained in the third quarter. He finished with 13 points on 3 of 11 shooting.
For King James he can add this effort to his collection of playoff gems. He put up 31 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Inside those 31 points were tough jumpers and points in the paint that came at will. He sometimes fell in love with the jumper and bailed the Celtics out. But when you hit shots like this you can do as you please.
The Cavaliers will go for the sweep on Sunday in Boston and don’t worry Cavs faithful the series is pretty much over. No team has come back from a 3-0 series deficit. They leading team is 110-0 all-time.