Celtics Season Over with Game 4 Loss

Blood, sweat, and tears. All were left on the court Sunday afternoon for the Boston Celtics. In the end, the results were the same.

In a foul-plagued and physical game, the Boston Celtics were defeated 101-93 by the Cleveland Cavs on Sunday, completing the sweep for the Cavs and sending the Celtics home for the summer.

On a day in which the Cavs did not operate at peak performance, the never-give-up attitude of the Celtics could not overcome their own shortcomings to extend this series to a fifth game.

The Celtics shot only 39% (33-85) from the field, including only 13% (3-23) from beyond the arc. Their free throws were just as bad. They shot 24-37 (65%) and take away Isaiah Thomas hitting 12-12 from the line and those numbers were even worse.

The Cavs weren’t much better in shooting 40% (31-78) from the field. They knocked down seven 3’s but that was on 33 attempts. They did shoot 32-43 (74%) from the free throw line to hold a slight edge in that category.

The teams were whistled for a combined 63 fouls on the day.

Thomas had 21 points for the Celtics, but he had another off night shooting the ball. He was 4-17 from the field and knocked down only one from three-point range on seven attempts. He did have nine assists and five rebounds.

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The Celtics started the game by knocking down down their first three shots and actually led 8-7 early. A 10-0 run by the Cavs gave them a nine-point lead and they never trailed again.

Tyler Zeller scored 8 points and had 3 rebounds in the first quarter but the Celtics weren’t able to take advantage of the Cavs losing Kevin Love to injury and trailed 29-19 after the first.

Love hurt his shoulder when he became tangled up with Kelly Olynyk and did not return to the game. It was later learned that Love suffered a left shoulder dislocation.

After the Celtics closed to within six they went nearly five minutes without a point. The Cavs went up by 18 with 6:36 remaining in the quarter.

Tension reached a boiling point with 1:44 remaining in the half. Former Boston player Kendrick Perkins set a hard screen in the throat area of Jae Crowder. Crowder hit the deck and immediately bounced to his feet. After some initial shoving, Perkins hit Crowder on the side of the face in what appeared to be a punch.

A scrum ensued and the end result was a technical foul for both Crowder and Perkins. The Celtics were unable to capitalize on energy from the scrum and the crowd and found themselves down at halftime 57-36.

The physicality of the game carried over into the third quarter. It took just under two minutes into the second-half before Cavs player J.R. Smith was ejected from the game with a flagrant 2 foul.

Smith was battling Crowder for a rebound when he used his elbow to clear space. The elbow found Crowder’s face causing Crowder to fall to the ground, his left leg buckling under him. Crowder left the game with a knee sprain and did not return.

The Celtics took advantage of the Cavs being down two starters. Thomas scored ten points and the Celtics headed to the fourth down only nine, 70-61.

The Celtics were able to close it to six at 99-93 with just under a minute left in the game but that’s as close as they would get.

Jared Sullinger, who took a hard fall late in the first-half on his already bruised tailbone, scored 21 points and had 11 rebounds for the Celtics.

LeBron James led the Cavs with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 9 assists. Kyrie Irving added 24 points and 11 rebounds.

While the Celtics were swept from the first round of the playoffs, they certainly have a season they can build on for the future. And with the amount of draft picks and salary cap room, the future looks bright indeed.

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