Thomas Sits as Celtics Reserves Take Care of Fatigued Cavaliers
SteemSports Presenter:@hogan22
SteemSports Editor:@scottybuckets
On Wednesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers took their act on the road to Boston, once again, after one game at home to welcome back their prize off season acquisition, Isaiah Thomas. Thomas was scheduled to sit out of the contest against his former team via a coach’s decision to rest in the second game of back-to-back games. One the other side of the summer’s blockbuster trade was Celtic guard Kyrie Irvin who looked for vengeance against the team that traded him.
Reserves, Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier sprung a rested Celtics team to an eleven point first quarter lead scoring seven and eight points, respectively. The Cavs cut their lead to as little as five finishing the second quarter cutting the deficit to eight, 55-47 behind their undisputed leader, Lebron James, who lead the team in scoring with 16 points at halftime. Boston continued to take advantage of Cleveland in the third quarter. Perhaps fatigued by the three-game West coast road trip as well as this game being the second in consecutive nights, the Celtics built a 20 point lead at one point. In, conceivably their last gasp, the Cavs cut the lead down to thirteen points before the end of the quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Celtics reached as high as a 23-point lead against the Cavs in route to a 102-88 victory.
On a night that was anticipated to be dominated by both teams’ starting point guards, it was the reserves that took the spotlight with Smart and Rozier leading Boston in scoring, finishing with 20 and 15 points, respectively. James struggled to get any rhythm, only scoring three points in the second half, to finish with a stat line of 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. James did not get much help from his supporting cast either, most notably Kevin Love and former Celtic, who was also included in the off season trade, which combined to finished with an abysmal eight points on 3-23 shooting from the field.
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I hate to see good games ruined by back to backs for one team. It's pretty obvious which team is coming off a back to back and the same thing is happening tonight with OKC/Houston.