Lue: Cavs’ Irving feeling ‘good’ after Game 4 ankle injury

Perhaps you watched Kyrie Irving on Tuesday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. “In the case of occasional games where it’s my job to be aggressive in all facets and keep us within the game and constantly stay in attack mode, we’re quite a different team”.

“You have to just enjoy the ride”. It doesn’t matter to me. My job is to continue to play and continue to lead these guys as best as I know how. Such an absence is perfectly understandable for the vagaries of life, of which an unexpected death is but one manifestation, are bigger than any game.

The win means James is going to his seventh straight finals and will rematch with the team his Cavs beat to win the National Basketball Association championship previous year.

The deficit quickly grew to 16 before Irving caught fire. If this season felt as though the Cavs and Warriors were circling one another all year, it’s because they were. Entering Thursday’s contest, he stands at 5,960 points during his legendary career, just 28 points away from surpassing another legend in Michael Jordan.

Amir Johnson and Jae Crowder are probable while Jaylen Brown is questionable.

But let’s get back to Game 5. It’s tough to put into words. For all of the brilliance he’s displayed from the moment he arrived in Boston at the trade deadline in 2015 – one of the best of the many brilliant deals Ainge has executed in his 14 years in charge in Boston – Thomas remains a 5-foot-9 guard, and history doesn’t look kindly on diminutive guards as they age. But a glance at PopcornMachine.Net’s GameFlow is like watching a risky stock you gambled on tank in the second half.

Dishing It: The Cavs had 24 assists to 11 turnovers.

Boston returns home aiming to extend its playoffs campaign, while LeBron James and the Cavs are seeking to closeout the series and get some rest before the start of the NBA Finals on June 1.

Instead of the Cavaliers sweeping the Celtics, the Celtics shocked everyone by coming back in game three to beat the Cavaliers.

That was reality for the title holders Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, as Irving set a career play-off high with 42 points in their 112-99 win over the Boston Celtics.

That’s the bad news for the Cavs. Before the playoffs began, the Celtics were 22-5 at home since January 1. Even after watching the replay time and time again, it was still hard to be sure how he made some of those shots. “We can’t go back to Boston tied 2-2”. “We have to execute offensively”. If it doesn’t happen tonight, it will happen in Game 6. “We’re going to enjoy this for a couple days before we have to lock in on that juggernaut out West”.

“I’m saying to myself, ‘They can not tie up this series”.

That’s what making those teams year after year so special. Celtics fans can at least hang their hats on something going into this game, having seen that their team can toughen up and compete against the Cavs.