ECF: P4 | (2) Boston Celtics vs (4) Cleveland Cavaliers | CLEVELAND WINS 4-3

[SmartWentCrazy]

So Cleveland is really trying to pretend Love wasnt concussed and hasnt placed him in the protocol? That seems reckless.

Why are you assuming Love is concussed? It looks almost certain right now that Love won't play in Game 7, and furthermore the Cavs have always been very cautious with Love and held him out plenty of times before. Just in the 2016 Finals against the Warriors, Love was held out for 2 games after getting elbowed to the head, and how many other long stretches has he been held out due to injury in his Cavs career.

He was floored by the hit, immediately signaled for help and couldnt walk off the court on his own. I can accept that some gamesmanship may be occurring and the Cavs are just being secretive, but Love was clearly concussed.

[FlatearthZorro]

I still can’t get over how pathetic al horford was. He’s not even average at this point. Tristian is really in his head.

It's nice that he's in his head from the bench cause Tristan barely played. Strong mind games.

[Celts17Pride]

Had Celtics in 7 before the series started and still have Celtics in 7

[Curmudgeon]

That was a great performance by LeBron. If he does it again in Boston, my hat is off to him. But it will be much more difficult in front of a hostile crowd.

We'll know which team the league favors when we see the officiating assignments.

[nbafan38]

Really tough call on game 7, Celtics are the better team and at home where they haven't lost all playoffs but it's so hard to pick against Lebron in a game 7.

[bb22]

On one hand, the cavs will miss Love’s vet experience In game 7. But on the other hand, he’s been very mentally weak in crucial moments and big games. And his absence is a huge plus for the cavs on D. There’s isn’t an easy matchup for Brad to go after when the Cavs play Lebron, Green, Nance/TT, Hill, and JR, unless they can get one of the guards to switch onto Horford. Then you gotta hope Horford actually plays aggressive for a full game. Same thing on the other end when the Cs go with Rozier, Tatum, Brown, Morris, Horford. They’ve been picking on Rozier and (at times) Tatum because Lebron is just so dominant and Rozier and Tatum are still young, but they are exceptional defenders nonetheless. Two teams are very different, yet very eavenly matched with all things considered. You balance out Boston’s struggles on offense and Cleveland’s struggles on defense, and we get a well deserved game 7. It’s gonna be ugly, but hopefully good TV.

[BigTrade92]

Read on Twitter

Safe bet that he’s not playing. Would guess he isn’t even allowed to travel.

[illmatic24]

Hard to pick against Lebron after he has dominated the east for so long. He'll be dropping another huge stat line on the Celtics. I'd say the Cavs have a 70% chance of winning. The Celtics team is young and it's probably going to show in a game of this magnitude. Yeah, they won a game 7 already but not against a team like this and not for a trip to the NBA Finals. The refs could slow things down in a game 7 and that favors the Cavs too. I think the only thing in the Celtics favor is how good they've been at home. The flip side is that they're due for a loss at home. lol. It wouldn't surprise me if they came out tight and put up their first stinker at home. But if they can manage to build a decent lead, that place will be ballistic. I think it all comes down to how well the Celtics can execute offensively. If they have one of their games where they're struggling, they're done. If they're making things happen, converting fast breaks and giving the crowd a reason to stay into it, they have a great chance.

[DowJones]

Tatum running into Cleveland's 2 best players has had a dramatic impact on this series. I imagine he will run into someone again in game 7. Maybe LeBron again?

[Stillwater]

Any time an all star is out it's harder for your coach. But I aint gonna sweat it we have a solid next man up replacement value and honestly with Love being targeted for lesser defense than James or Nance or Thompson adding Green just gives Boston one less angle to try to exploit.

[illmatic24]

Tatum running into Cleveland's 2 best players has had a dramatic impact on this series. I imagine he will run into someone again in game 7. Maybe LeBron again?

Maybe JR will shove him in the back before he gets a chance.

[Benedict_Boozer]

Tatum running into Cleveland's 2 best players has had a dramatic impact on this series. I imagine he will run into someone again in game 7. Maybe LeBron again?

True. Crazy he has done it twice.



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[DowJones]

Tatum running into Cleveland's 2 best players has had a dramatic impact on this series. I imagine he will run into someone again in game 7. Maybe LeBron again?

Maybe JR will shove him in the back before he gets a chance.

That didn't have any impact on the game though. The 2 Tatum blows had a massive impact. It shook LeBron up in game 2 and knocked Love out for games 6 and 7. Ignoring the impact of those 2 collisions is silly.

[Homerclease]

Tatum running into Cleveland's 2 best players has had a dramatic impact on this series. I imagine he will run into someone again in game 7. Maybe LeBron again?

Maybe JR will shove him in the back before he gets a chance.

That didn't have any impact on the game though. The 2 Tatum blows had a massive impact. It shook LeBron up in game 2 and knocked Love out for games 6 and 7. Ignoring the impact of those 2 collisions is silly.

Love has nobody to blame but himself for stepping in front of Tatum

[La Flame]

Any time an all star is out it's harder for your coach. But I aint gonna sweat it we have a solid next man up replacement value and honestly with Love being targeted for lesser defense than James or Nance or Thompson adding Green just gives Boston one less angle to try to exploit.

easier for boston to guard lebron tho. just pack the paint

[DowJones]

Cleveland won't do it, but I would probably start Osman instead of Green. You can play Green earlier and for more minutes but I thought Cleveland played well earlier in the year when Cedi started.

[titlebound1]

Any time an all star is out it's harder for your coach. But I aint gonna sweat it we have a solid next man up replacement value and honestly with Love being targeted for lesser defense than James or Nance or Thompson adding Green just gives Boston one less angle to try to exploit.

Green is horrible. One good game doesn't change that.

He'll probably start. But we're most likely going to see a lot of Nance and TT. That means more minutes for Baynes. I hope to God Green plays close to 40 minutes.

[titlebound1]

Any time an all star is out it's harder for your coach. But I aint gonna sweat it we have a solid next man up replacement value and honestly with Love being targeted for lesser defense than James or Nance or Thompson adding Green just gives Boston one less angle to try to exploit.

easier for boston to guard lebron tho. just pack the paint

Yup. Taking a shooter off the floor. This is in no way a good thing for the Cavs. Love has easily been their second best player on the road in this series

[DowJones]

Any time an all star is out it's harder for your coach. But I aint gonna sweat it we have a solid next man up replacement value and honestly with Love being targeted for lesser defense than James or Nance or Thompson adding Green just gives Boston one less angle to try to exploit.

easier for boston to guard lebron tho. just pack the paint

LeBron will get his. I don't think you want to give Cleveland open looks from 3 by packing the paint. Green can knock a few down. Even a 3-7 effort from 3 would be huge.

[London2Boston]

Cavs will be better defensively and will generally be more athleticnow for sure. Will be harder for Lebron to drive and dish though.