Cleveland Cavaliers: Things To Get Real in Game 3

The Cleveland Cavaliers have done a solid job so far against the Boston Celtics. They’re up 2-0 in the series and have shown flashes of brilliance, while not having come together to connect on all cylinders yet.

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Kyrie Irving was fantastic in his Game 1 debut. He is now the only player in NBA history to score 30 points and drain five threes in his first ever playoff game.

LeBron James took over the show late in Game 2, striking at just the right time to make sure that his Cavs collected the victory. He’s been like a babysitter so far, keeping an eye on his rambunctious teammates.

The reality is, however, that the Cavs haven’t proven anything yet. They took care of business at home, playing comfortably in front of their roaring crowd, but now they have to travel to Beantown and steal at least one game in the Garden.

That’s no easy feat.

Celtics fans are some of the best in the league and they always expect a win because of their luxurious history. They’ll be ready to eat the Cavaliers alive if Cleveland isn’t prepared to respond.

This is where the comfort ends.

Boston hasn’t played a bad series so far, either. In fact, they almost stole Game 2 until LeBron wagged his finger like Dikembe Mutombo and brushed them off. They’ve fought hard and Brad Stevens has done a solid job game planning and adjusting in-game against his superiorly talented opponent.

A series doesn’t truly begin until someone loses at home. That could happen Thursday night. Or it might not, and this series could remain enigmatic. We have yet to see Kyrie or Kevin Love under the pressure of playing in an opponent’s building.

Not only those two, but other guys, such as Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith, aren’t used to taking things so seriously. They’ve never had a deep run into the playoffs. There have been times where both have made some easily corrected mental mistakes. Those are the sorts of intangibles that can kill you in a road game.

The Celtics understand that this is win or go home. They won’t, of course, actually be done if they lose this game, but there is zero chance of them coming back to defeat Cleveland if they go down 3-0. They’re going to come out like a bull seeing red; they’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Cleveland, on the other hand, is playing to not appear vulnerable. They shouldn’t lose a game to this team. They have been nowhere near perfect yet and they’ve still handled their business twice. Losing one would show the rest of the league that they are open to attack, that they can fall even to one of the lowliest squads in the playoffs.

Boston is sure to have a bunch of energy coming into the game. The Cavs will need to match that to keep winning. There are very few examples of teams playing poorly in opposing teams’ arenas and still beating them during the postseason. Even the most inferior club can rally around each other and their fans.

A big green roadblock still sits between the Cavs and their series-securing win. Surrounding them are thousands of people wearing white and green. The decibel level is ear-shattering.

Hold your ground and silence the crowd. Take care of things like you should.

The real challenge begins now.

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