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“They’re being tougher than we are. They’re being physical. They’re goonin’ the game up.” Those were Cavs coach Tyronn Lue’s words after the Celtics’ 107-94 victory to put his squad in a 0-2 hole. And he’s right. The Celtics are playing energized, selfless basketball (especially at home where they’re 9-0 in the playoffs) and the Cavs’ cardboard cutout supporting cast appears to be timidly waiting for LeBron to drag them to the finish line. I mean, look at this backcourt comparison.
The Celtics starting backcourt of Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown outscored the Cavaliers backcourt of George Hill and J.R. Smith 41-3 pic.twitter.com/MsDVv3CPFp
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 16, 2018
Frustrations boiled over during the fourth quarter last night as the game was slipping away from the Cavaliers. J.R. Smith, who had 0 points on 0-7 shooting after a 4 point game 1, shoved a defenseless Al Horford in the back on a layup attempt. Marcus Smart got all up in Smith’s face and the Celtics crowd piled on with some collective swear words for J.R. after the incident.
Bostonians: not fans of J.R. Smith right now pic.twitter.com/PIR4oN2cpy
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) May 16, 2018
After the game, Marcus Smart discussed the dirty play.
Celtics' Marcus Smart points finger at Cavaliers' J.R. Smith after hard foul on Al Horford: "That's a dirty shot. You can't allow that to keep happening. That's not the first time J.R. has done some dirty stuff. He's known for it." pic.twitter.com/Sio1f7Ew31
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) May 16, 2018
“That’s a dirty shot,” Smart said of Smith’s play after the game. “You just can’t allow that to keep happening. It’s not the first time J.R. has done some dirty stuff, especially playing against us. He’s known for it, especially playing against us. We know that. It’s like a bully; you keep letting a bully pick on you, he’s going to keep picking on you until you stand up.”
Game 3 is this Saturday at 8:30 pm EST. God, I love playoff basketball.