Bradley’s Three gives Celtics Huge Victory Over Cavaliers

What a game.

The Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers entered the game as two of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference. They left the game that way as well, thanks to an Avery Bradley buzzer beating three-pointer. The Celtics defeated the Cavaliers 104-103 in one of the most exciting games of their season.

Seven players played at least 20 minutes for the Celtics tonight, five of them scoring in double-figures. Isaiah Thomas paved the way with 22 points, although Evan Turner stole the show for most of the game. Coming off the bench, Turner scored 19 points, grabbed a career high 12 rebounds and dished six assists. He shot phenomenal from the field (8-16) and had the best plus/minus for Boston (+11).

He would have easily been the player of the game for Boston, however, Avery Bradley stole that away in the last second of the game, literally the last second.

The Cavaliers were led by LeBron James‘ 30 points, although, his shooting was less than impressive. James shot a dreadful 9-23 from the field but was able to salvage his night by going 12-17 from the line. Kyrie Irving contributed 19 points and Kevin Love scored 10. It was clear that Boston’s depth was too much for Cleveland tonight, especially late in the game.

The star of the game for Cleveland, despite picking up two fouls in the first quarter, was J.R. Smith. He shot 5-10 from three on Friday night as the smaller Thomas was no match for him. Smith scored 20 points and was unstoppable for a lot of the game.

The Celtics started out slow as the Cavaliers took a 14-2 lead to start the game. Two early fouls by Amir Johnson and Avery Bradley were a cause of this as Jonas Jerebko had to come off the bench a couple of minutes into the game.

Foul trouble was a problem for Johnson tonight as he only logged 14 minutes and recorded six points and six rebounds.

Boston was in foul trouble for most of the game, as a result the Cavaliers shot 10 more free-throws than the Celtics (35 to 25). It started early as the Celtics recorded five fouls, putting Cleveland in the bonus, after only 3:35. The Cavaliers shot terrible from the line tonight, 60.0 percent, which is a big reason they weren’t able to hold off the Celtics.

The Cavaliers were able to get to the basket at will and then were fouled on nearly every possession in the first quarter. Boston was also unable to make open shots, especially near the basket. The Celtics went to Jared Sullinger early and often, although, he missed a couple of bunnies early. Boston trailed 32-20 at the end of the first quarter, and it didn’t seem like Boston’s night.

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Isaiah Thomas had a good scoring night, however, he didn’t shoot very well (5-19) and forced a lot of passes in the first half. Thomas finished with four turnovers in the game, not bad considering how many passes he was forcing.

Boston’s intensity picked up in the second quarter and as a result outscored Cleveland 23-17 in the second quarter, trailing 49-43 at the half. The same problems loomed as in the first quarter though; letting Cleveland get inside too often. Cleveland was unable to convert as many shots inside and it showed as they only shot 42.5 percent in the game.

Boston took their first lead of the game after an Avery Bradley three a couple of minutes into the half, giving Boston a 50-49 lead. Once the Celtics got even it was more obvious that both teams weren’t playing their best basketball tonight. It was clear when Isaiah Thomas picked up a technical foul, for the second straight game, and then Kyrie Irving missed the free throw.

Cleveland was able to get the lead back to 10 near the end of the quarter, but a layup by Evan Turner with a second left cut the lead to single digits heading to the fourth quarter, 73-65.

Boston started the quarter out strong once again, on a 12-3 run. It was huge as Boston took a 77-76 lead early in the fourth quarter. The game stayed tight until Isaiah Thomas knocked down two free-throws with 3:18 left in the game to give the Celtics a 92-85 lead.

With a seven point lead, Boston should have put in their defensive unit, however, Brad Stevens chose to keep Jared Sullinger on the floor and Marcus Smart on the bench. LeBron James took over the game, scoring six straight points for Cleveland to give them a 97-94 lead with 1:30 left.

I love Prez Stevens but he blew that game. Up 7 late you gotta go with defense and he had Sullinger out there. And Smart on bench. Come on.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) February 6, 2016

Then the craziness ensued as Boston trailed 101-96 with 18 seconds remaining. A three by Jae Crowder cut the lead to two, but two free throws by Irving put the lead back to five and seemingly out of Boston’s reach. However, Evan Turner drove to the basket and got an and-one call with four seconds left.

Turner had a chance to cut the lead to one, down 103-101, but missed the free-throw. Marcus Smart was able to fight Timofey Mozgov for the rebound and it ended up going out on Mozgov, with four seconds on the clock still. Smart later said that he was told to immediately foul Mozgov but felt he had good enough position to make a play on the ball once he knew it wasn’t going in.

Isaiah Thomas ended up driving to the basket and made a beautiful kick out pass to Avery Bradley in the corner, who hit the game winning three! The Celtics looked like they just won a game in March Madness and started jumping up and down mobbing Bradley as they all walked off to the locker room. It was a great sight to see from the young team after defeating the top dog in the East.

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The Celtics are now 30-22 on the year and 15-12 on the road, winning eight of their past nine games. The win pulls Boston within 6.5 games of Cleveland and still tied for third in the East because the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Indiana Pacers tonight, as well.

The Celtics next game is tomorrow against the Sacramento Kings, back at TD Garden at noon.