Cavaliers fight off elimination, force Game 7 against Celtics

Although all that wheeling and dealing helped the Cavs get to where they are now, how tough do you think it was to gel with a whole new roster?

The Cavs fought off elimination Saturday with a 109-99 win against a Celtics team that continues to struggle away from home.

The Cavs trail 3-2 in this series, but the home team has won every game to date. The team trailing in each series is hosting Game 6.

Perhaps a season of carrying a flawed Cavaliers team is finally exacting a toll. It would be something special for this group to be the ones that end the reign of king James, and it would be fitting if this franchise once again knocked James out of the playoffs and out of Cleveland.

Also on the line is James’ consecutive Finals streak.

The Cavs got off to a rocky start, with five first-quarter turnovers almost matching their seven field goals.

So, yes, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Tyronn Lue mentioned that “at the start of the fourth, he wasn’t ready to go” to explain him being out the first 1:46. “I know he’ll be great come tomorrow”. Boston fans chanted “Celts in six!” near the end of Wednesday’s game.

The Boston Celtics, reinvigorated by a return home, beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 96-83 on Wednesday (May 23) to move within one win of reaching the NBA Finals. First, they’ll have to win a road playoff game which they have done only once in seven tries thus far. Both Lue and James acknowledged that was the case. After losing a pivotal Game 5 earlier this week, the Cavs will now have to win at home to extend the series to a seventh and final game versus the Boston Celtics.

Stevens reinstated 6-foot-10 center Aron Baynes into Boston’s starting lineup and used forward Marcus Morris off the bench in an effort to match Cleveland’s size and strength on the interior, in addition to giving his perimeter shooters more life throughout the game.

In addition to the turnovers, missed three-pointers and free throw woes, the Cavaliers were outhustled on the glass and outrebounded, 45-39, by the Celtics. What will Jayson Tatum do after a 24-point outing in Game 5? He stayed down momentarily before leaving the game for good for further evaluation.

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“And I think hopefully we can take a lot of what we’ve done here the last couple games – we’ve had better movement, better body movement, better ball movement, screens, passing, our defense has been a lot more aggressive”.

During the Cavs series with the Toronto Raptors, James complained of the lack of off-days in what could infer the need for rest.