The Boston Celtics know they can control their own fate in game four, but have to be better in every single way
The Boston Celtics know that they were a collective disaster against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and every single player on the court knows how much better they have to be. The Cavaliers looked comfortable on both ends, and some people may feel as though they turned a corner and brought their game up to a level that the Celtics cannot reach.
The Celtics looked overwhelmed and over matched, and if they are anything close to that in game four, it will be over really quick. The reason the Celtics looked like that, however, is not because of something different about the Cavaliers, it is because of something different about the Celtics.
When every single player on the roster regresses form the previous victory. When you are not getting offense or defense from your best players, when the defensive rotations are not crisp enough and when poor decisions are being made on every possession, you do not have to look any further than yourself.
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The Cavaliers do not do anything on defense that the Celtics should fear, and LeBron James is the only offensive threat that can blow things up, but that was even more true in their game two victory than game three loss.
The Celtics understand that they cannot worry about J.R Smith and George Hill going crazy like they did in the last game, because they have the defenders to handle them. The Celtics know that they need to reach an incredible standard to be at their best, but that alone is good enough to beat even the Cavaliers we saw in game four.
Brad Stevens has hinted at a potential lineup change, so you know the Celtics will no be complacent. They will do everything they can to figure out how they could have been so collectively miserable in game four, and do everything to fix the multitude of problems.
It will be a lot easier said than done getting back to how well they played in game three, where all seven players that had significant minutes played stellar on both ends. That kind of balance is hard to achieve, but the Cavaliers did nothing to suggest it will be impossible for them.
Next: Celtics dismantled by the Cavs
That being said, the Celtics know they need to focus on on what they need to do in order to get that kind of balance, and if they do that there is no way the Cavaliers play as well as they did in game four. They will not get nearly as many clean looks inside, wide open threes and James at least needs to look like he is under some pressure and bothered at points.