Event of the Day: Cleveland Cavaliers versus Boston Celtics
Our event of the day is game 4 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. In the first two games of the series the Boston Celtics convincingly beat the Cavaliers at home, winning by scores of 108-83 and 107-94. However when the series changed arenas to Cleveland, the Cavaliers gained new life and completely changed the complection of the series winning 116-86. The main key for the Cavs was the emergence of their role players who in the previous games were almost nonexistent. Kyle Korver had one of his better games in his Cavs career shooting four for four in 3 pointers, and not missing a shot from the field en route to 14 points. Larry Nance Jr. also had a great day off the bench going four for four from the field and playing solid defence.
If the Celtics want to stop the giant momentum swing the Cavaliers would achieve from evening up the series, they need to return to their defensive minded team basketball approach. In the first two home games they not only had great defensive rotations but they also played excellent individual defence on Lebron James and the rest of the Cavs, holding them to under 95 points in both clashes. In Saturday night’s game the effort was not there and their rotations were slow, allowing for open threes, and the on ball defence was weak and unforceful, leading to a 116-point outing for the Cavaliers. Their offense wasn’t much better, where the well balanced attack of games one and two was shelved for an overly aggressive out of control offense, leading to 15 turnovers and 39% shooting. The Celtics need to regain their composure for game 4 or the Cavaliers will even up the series and then it is anyone’s series to take.
Honourable mentions around the globe go to the NHL Eastern Conference Final game 6 matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. The Lightning lead the series 3-2, so a home victory is essential for the Capitals at the Capital One Arena in Washigton, D.C. to stay alive in the series. Also on the schedule for today is a division rivalry game between MLB teams the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves as well as a MLS matchup between the Montreal Impact and the LA Galaxy at the Saputo Stadium in Montreal. Elsewhere around the sporting world, the Royal London One-Day Cup continues with a South Group clash between Hampshire and Surrey at The Rose Bowl in Southampton and multiple tennis tournaments continue today in the final week before the French Open including, the ATP Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open, ATP Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon, WTA Nurnberger Versicherungscup, and WTA Internationaux de Strasbourg.
Whatever you’re watching, enjoy!
Fixture
Photos by NBA