East Conf. Finals Game 5 - Cleveland Cavaliers 83-96 Boston Celtics: 5 Talking Points

Most fans following the Eastern Conference playoffs decided to write off the Boston Celtics after they were unable to pull off a victory in either of their 2 games at the Quicken Loans Arena. Many believed that this young squad would wilt under another legendary onslaught by LeBron James and wouldn't be able to deal with the pressure of what was thought as basically a must-win Game 5.

Must-win or not, the young Celtics came out with all guns blazing in the first quarter. After initially giving up a lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first 6-7 minutes of gameplay, they cantered to a 13-point lead by the end of the quarter.

This lead they were able to preserve for the rest of the game. The closest Cleveland came to taking the lead back was in the second quarter, when Larry Nance Jr. got fouled and had the chance to shoot 2 free throws and cut the lead to 6. He missed both, however, and the Celtics held an 11-point lead at the break.

By the end of the third quarter, LeBron looked visibly shook and tired, and was unable to post up with the kind of consistency that he had in the first two quarters. The rest of the Cavaliers' squad was misfiring, and the Celtics sealed the game with 3:50 left in the game via an open 3-point look converted by Al Horford.

The following are 5 talking points from the game:

#5 Both teams shot poorly as units

The Celtics only shot 36.5% from the field but won the game by 13.

The Celtics started off red hot in the first quarter, knocking down 6 out of their 13 attempts during this period. This number is actually inflated by 1 since Jaylen Brown heaved up a heavily contested three to end the first quarter - so they were basically shooting 50% from downtown.

They cooled down, however, after this period, and finished with figures of 13-of-39 for the game - which is below the league average of 35.2% conversion from downtown for this season.

The Cavs themselves started off well from downtown, scoring on 5 of their first 11 looks from beyond the arc. They finished with figures of 9-of-34 - which means they missed 19 of their last 23 shots from distance.

Overall, the Celtics shot really bad from the field, going for 31-of-85 on all field goal attempts for a measly 36.5% clip - one that the Cavs actually beat to go 31-of-74 for a below-average 41.9% themselves.

#4 Boston dominated the other 3 Four Factors

Baynes alters a layup by Jordan Clarkson

Basketball Reference defines the Four Factors as Shooting, Turnovers, Rebounding and Free Throws. Now, we've taken a look at how neither team was particularly effective on Factor 1 in the first slide, but a closer look at the rest of the box score stats shows that the Celtics dominated the other three factors.

They had 3 steals in the first quarter itself and finished with 10. They forced the Cavaliers into committing an unhealthy 15 turnovers through the game, while only coughing up the ball 8 times themselves. Al Horford had 2 of these in the 4th quarter in successive possessions, but so cold were the Cavs that they could not reduce the deficit after either of those two turnovers as Jordan Clarkson missed two 3-pointers.

Boston also outrebounded Cleveland 45 to 39. They gave up a total of just 3 offensive boards to Cleveland, while they grabbed 7 offensive boards of their own. They also outrebounded Cleveland on the defensive glass 38-36, leading to fewer second-chance points conceded.

In addition, the Celtics shot 23 free throws, out of which they converted 21 for a spectacular 91.3% conversion rate as a team. The Jays led the team in attempts with 8 each, with both converting 7 of them. They only gave up 19 free throws to the Cavs although both teams committed the same number of fouls (19). Cleveland was able to make only 12 of those, and this was definitely a huge factor in their 13-point loss.

#3 Jayson Tatum puts an indelible mark on the game

Jayson Tatum finger-rolls it good in Game 5

The legend of rookie Jayson Tatum just grows bigger with every game. Following a below-par Game 3 at Cleveland, Tatum recovered somewhat to tally an average outing in Game 4 with 17 points. But it is in Game 5 that he truly came to play, and he was the lone Celtic who was consistently able to get buckets through the 4 quarters.

With his 12th point in the second quarter with 5:06 left in the period (he achieved this with a 3-pointer), Tatum became only the 4th rookie to ever record 300 points in a single playoff run. He is the first in 40 years after Bucks legend Jack Sikma did it in 1978.

Tatum finished with 24 points, which included 3-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc and 7-of-8 free throws made. Boston would hope that he comes good in Game 6 as well, or else they face a nerve-racking Game 7 against the best player on the planet hounding them.

#2 The insertion of Aron Baynes into the starting lineup

Baynes dunks it in during the first quarter after a nice feed from Tatum

Since Brad Stevens had earmarked Marcus Morris as the primary defender for LeBron James this series, he stuck to his guns and started Mook in the 4 games up to this point. This resulted in mismatches in the frontcourt for Al Horford to contend with, as at various points he had to switch between boxing out Tristan Thompson and contesting Kevin Love at the 3-point line in Games 2,3 and 4 - when Thompson was started in place of Kyle Korver.

Thompson started a 4th successive game for the Cavs, but Brad Stevens outmaneuvered Ty Lue by playing Aron Baynes at center and Al Horford at the power forward slot. This gave Boston a size advantage over Thompson, who had been a factor with his rebounding in both of their losses while dominating Al Horford in their low-post matchups.

Baynes had 5 offensive rebounds in Game 4, and he followed that up with valuable minutes at the 5 spot from the starting lineup in this game as well. While LeBron had an easier job while being guarded by Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in the earlier periods, Marcus Morris did a better job when he was fielded alongside Horford and Baynes who took care of Love and Thompson soundly.

Now, Tyronne Lue is again faced with the dilemma of whether to start Kyle Korver or Tristan Thompson, as this adjustment led to the Celtics dominating the four factors in Game 5.

#1 LeBron James got winded and could not take over late

LeBron looked tired in the second half

With the rest of the Cavaliers' lineup bricking shots left, right and center all game long, it was up to the best player on the planet to supercharge their offense and reduce the deficit that they faced at halftime. By that time, LeBron James was looking largely like his usual self, though he did have trouble with his jump shot and was unable to get it going by that time.

He had 16 points entering the third quarter, but he seemed tired by the end of the first half. Instead of taking over the game completely, as we've seen him do on countless occasions through his career, LeBron kept passing on the scoring responsibility to the rest of his teammates, who were unable to get it done.

His fatigue showed in an uncharacteristic manner that he missed a couple of layups that he normally would make with his eyes closed. James finished the game with 26 points - meaning that he scored only 10 points in the second half, and got outscored by Jayson Tatum who had 12 points in the same timeframe.

Several times this postseason, we've seen how his teammates wilt under the pressure of road games. LeBron will need to put them on his back again if he wishes to make his 8th successive NBA Finals series.