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So much is said about the Boston Celtics' poor record on the road in the Playoffs, well, the Cleveland Cavaliers haven't been any better. In the Eastern Conference Finals alone, they've been disastrous, losing the three road games so far by a combined margin of 51 points [17 PPG]. All through this series, it's been all about home cooking.
Both teams have blown out their opponents by double digits on their home floor in 4 of the 5 games (Cavs beat the Celtics by 9 in Game 4), with not one of these games being competitive. Either way, going by the trends, the Cavaliers should win Game 6 and force Game 7.
Then, when it comes down to one game, you got to pick LeBron James unless of course, if his supporting cast just decides not to show up like it has in the road games this series. Before we look ahead to the next game [possibly two], let's take a look back at Game 5 and see how badly the Cavaliers have fared:
LeBron James - 8/10
Stat line: 26 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 6 turnovers, 1-6 on 3s, 39 minutes
By LeBron's standards (had to make sure that was in bold), this was a horrible game. He had 8 turnovers in the entire series against the Toronto Raptors and he had 6 just on Wednesday night. For someone who records near triple-double numbers in almost every Playoff game, his 5 assists also are quite a low. Now, some of that has got to do with his teammates not making shots (mostly his starting backcourt) but some of it was his energy level.
Tyronn Lue mentioned it and even James admitted it that he was gassed late in the game. Even if he hadn't admitted it, it was quite visible with his play - bobbled passes, weird leftie turn hook shots and shoulders dropped.
In the last 3 games, he was making 3s at the clip of 50% (9-of-18) but eventually that had to regress to the mean and it did in Game 5. He only shot 1-of-6 in Game 5.
It's a testament to his greatness that on a bad night, he can still put up 26 points, 10 rebounds on 50% shooting. That would be a career-night for a majority of the players in this league.
Kevin Love - 7/10
Stat line: 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, 1 block, -23, 31 minutes
Ok, Kevin Love showed up only in this respect - he was the only non-LeBron player on the Cavaliers to score in double figures. Also, he only really made his presence in the first four minutes of the game, where he scored 8 of this 14 points.
He's got to be more active and be more efficient on the block when there are smaller defenders switched on to him but much of his first half was disturbed because of foul trouble. Having said that, it's not like he made his presence felt in the second half.
Despite putting something to show on the stat sheet, he has the worst +/- among the Cavaliers' starters. His game hasn't been impacted by home or road as much as it has for the other players but as an overall support for LeBron, he's been disappointing, to say the least.
George Hill - 5/10
Stat line: 7 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound, 1 block, 2 turnovers, -21, 1-5 FG's
Probably the worst player by value on this current Cavaliers team (he earns $20 million this year and $37 million over the next couple).
Surprisingly for a veteran like him, his play has been day and night on the road and at home in this series. At home, he's averaging 13.0 points in 2 games on 10 shots but on the road while averaging 5.0 points in 3 games on 6.5 shots. The difference is quite obvious.
In terms of pure impact on both ends of the floor, he's arguably the team's second-best player but he just hasn't shown up. At halftime, he had just three points and that just can't happen. For the team's success, he's got to be more active. They can't afford to have him so passive, attempting just 5 shots and then turning the ball over twice.
JR Smith - 3/10
Stat line: 2 points, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1-6 FG's (0-4 on 3s)
This series has been absolutely horrendous for JR.
Say whatever you want about him, he's a veteran that's made the Playoffs 11 of his 14 years. More importantly, he's part of the current Cavaliers' core that's gone to three straight Finals and yet, he's just failed to be consistent and be dependable.
Him along with George Hill, the team's starting backcourt, are a huge reason behind the Cavaliers' lackluster play on the road and inspired performance at home. Game 5 continued the trend for JR, a terrible performance by him and if this continues, making another Finals for him and the team seems very difficult.
Tristan Thompson - 4/10
Stat line: 1 point, 6 rebounds (1 offensive), 1 assist, 0-3 FG's, -15
Where's the energy?
Even in the team's earlier losses in Boston, Tristan Thompson was at least providing some energy and doing his bit in his limited minutes. Today, he just disappeared. It was like he wasn't present. Cleveland was trying to post him a little in the first quarter (Why would you do that?) and a true test of Thompson's performance is the number of offensive rebounds he gets.
In Game 5, he only had 1 out of the 7 boards that he registered.
For a rim-runner like him, he can't miss all his attempts from the field. He had only 1 point today, which meant the Cavs starters barring LeBron and Love only combined for 10 points. Yes, you read that right. This just won't cut it.
The younger and hungrier Celtics might just play this gassed, winded and mentally fatigued team off the court.
Jeff Green - 5/10
Stat line: 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 3-4 FG's
Jeff Green played 26 minutes but his impact was quite limited. Just 8 points on 4 shots (Kyle Korver and Jordan Clarkson attempted more in far lesser minutes) with 5 rebounds and nothing else positive to show on his box score.
The argument can be made that he is a +4 in 26 minutes when the team lost by 13 but how much of that was him?
It's not like he can be a decoy because his shooting isn't really a weapon. He can post up on the relatively smaller guards of Boston but it's not like the Cavaliers are going to go to it time-and-again. His production has more or less been consistently bad this series, averaging 5.6 points on 4.2 shots in 22.6 minutes.
Kyle Korver - 7/10
Stat line: 7 points, 1 rebound, 2-6 FG's, 19 minutes
It's absolutely hilarious that Tyronn Lue didn't play Korver his usual minutes, especially in the first half, because Brad Stevens did not put Semi Ojeleye in the rotation and that he was Korver's matchup.
The 37-year old has done enough to prove that his sharpshooting skills are on-point against pretty much anybody. Yes, younger legs and lengthy wingspans could hamper his scoring but whatever he provides is more or less efficient and something the team desperately needs from their bench.
On a night, when the team's defense was better than their offense, Korver should have without a doubt played more minutes. Not much he can do about his coach's decision. In the minutes he did play, he provided what he has been pretty much all through this series.
The former Laker Boys - Jordan Clarkson & Larry Nance Jr. - 6/10
Stat line [Clarkson]: 8 points, 2 rebounds, 3-10 FG's
Stat line [Larry Nance Jr.]: 2 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 blocks, 2 turnovers, 16 minutes
After being down by 13 at the end of the first quarter, the Cavaliers were making a run largely due to their reserves in the second quarter - Clarkson and Nance Jr. - they were providing energy and hustle to a slumping Cavaliers offense. Especially Nance Jr., who had a chance to cut the lead to under 8 by making a couple of free throws but he made neither.
They were sort of making the same impact in the fourth quarter (slightly lesser) but Lue playing them a lot of minutes than normal probably got to them. Their extended minutes eventually started to hurt the team as their efficiency dropped. Twice, the Cavaliers had a chance to get the lead under 8 in the fourth and both times they opted for a Clarkson 3 which didn't yield the desired result.
Bench Warmers [Rodney Hood, Ante Zizic, Cedi Osman, Jose Calderon] - Not Rated
Rodney Hood had a quickfire 5 points on 2-of-3 shooting in 3 minutes but none of the other three players had anything significant in their 3 minutes of garbage time.
Guess the Lakers players!
