The Boston Celtics need every part of their rotation in order to get a win in game seven
The Boston Celtics know that they are capable of taking down LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the also know what kind of complete effort they need to win. When you go against the King, there is no individual that can match him.
When you have a roster as injured and young as the Celtics, even two or three individuals will not be enough to win game seven. The Celtics have been using a solid seven man rotation in this series, and they need each and every one of them to be playing well to get a victory.
The Celtics need to get an advantage from every single position other than James, and they know they are capable of getting that against the Cavaliers, especially with Kevin Love sidelined.
In game five, the Celtics did not have to worry about a dominant James, so they were able to lock down the Cavaliers with a complete effort. All seven players who saw real minutes scored at least six points, with five of them scoring in double digits.
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The Celtics actually shot quite poorly across the board, but every player on the court find a way to have a positive impact. When the Celtics get that complete effort they can overwhelm the Cavaliers.
If James had a great game in that contest there is a good chance their effort would not have been enough. When you look at how much better they can shoot the ball, you realize the Celtics are capable of coming together and overcoming a special James performance.
The key is going to be making sure the Cavaliers do not get another advantage outside of James, and the Celtics get an advantage at every other position. The best part is that the Cavaliers really do not have a defense that can slow them down, so the Celtics can be confident in their ability to control their own destiny in this series.
Game two is the game the Celtics can look to, and be confident in their ability no matter what James does. The king had a 42 point triple double, but the Celtics battled at every single position, and everyone came together to beat the best.
All five starters hit double digits, with the bench contributing another 28 points. The Celtics know that beating James at his best is one of the most difficult things in the NBA, but they have seen a complete and balanced effort take him down before, and that is enough to get all the confidence this group needs in their ability to win game seven.
Once again, the Celtics really did nothing out of this world in that performance. Jaylen Brown led the way with 23 points, and they shot just over 40 percent overall and just over 30 percentfrom three. The Celtics know that they can come together and beat James at his best, but they need each and every player to do it.
The Celtics are not going to win with individual, or pure shooting. They need to bring out something positive from every single player, and on both ends. The Celtics should be faster at every single position, and stronger at the majority of them.
The Celtics have the defenders to collectively shut down everyone except for James, and when they do that, they have the five or six offensive players that will do enough to beat anything that James can do by himself.
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The Celtics need to be moving the ball well, they need to be protecting the ball and they need to be getting all the easy buckets. The Celtics know they can control every aspect of this match up except for James. If they manage to get an advantage in every spot except for James, which we have seen twice before in this series, the Celtics can get the win that puts them in the Finals.