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Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers: Game 6 Live Updates, Score and Highlights for 2018 NBA Playoffs
Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland, OH
LeBron James totaled 46 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers edged out the Boston Celtics 109-99 to force Game 7 in their Eastern Conference Finals series. Cavaliers All-Star Kevin Love left the game in the first quarter after a head-to-head collision with the Celtics' Jayson Tatum, but LeBron answered the bell by dominating the rest of the contest. George Hill (20 points) and Jeff Green (14 points) also played key roles for Cleveland. Boston had a slim lead until early in the second quarter but couldn't stop James in a fantastic game for the all-time great. Boston got 28 points from Terry Rozier and 27 points from Jaylen Brown. Game 7 is Sunday night at TD Garden in Boston.
Stephen A. Smith says that he doesn't want to see LeBron James and this Cavs team in the NBA Finals because it won't be a competitive matchup. (2:24)
CLEVELAND -- The Celtics, thwarted in their first attempt to close out the Cavaliers in Friday's Game 6, head back to Boston confident in their chances in a winner-take-all Game 7 but are expecting a battle at TD Garden.
"It's about just winning the game now," Marcus Smart said after the Cavaliers emerged with a 109-99 triumph at Quicken Loans Arena. "It's not going to be pretty. You got to be able to get down and get dirty. You can't go out and try to look pretty. You have to be ready for a dogfight.
"We got to be ready to come up with our nose bloodied. We got to be ready to come out with our mouth bloodied. We have to come out ready to fight."
Editor's Picks LeBron on banged-up leg: 'I wasn't coming out' LeBron James said he felt some pain after teammate Larry Nance Jr. crashed into his right leg in Game 6 but added he was fine and "we'll see what happens."
Is it greatness or is it magic? It's Year 15 of LeBron LeBron James has made a habit of dominating playoff games at home, and Game 6 was no exception with the Cavaliers facing elimination.
Sources: Love needs rest before evaluating head The Cavaliers lost Kevin Love after the All-Star forward collided with Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum in Game 6, with sources telling ESPN that Love must get a night's rest before being evaluated. 2 Related
The Celtics ate a haymaker from LeBron James (46 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists) in Game 6, but it might have been the efforts of his supporting cast -- particularly after the Cavaliers lost Kevin Love early -- that ensured Cleveland kept Boston at arm's length for much of the night. A late-game barrage of jumpers by James most certainly ended any thoughts of a Boston rally.
Celtics players were disappointed in a sloppy second-quarter effort that left them playing catch-up after a solid start. But they remained optimistic about Sunday's game.
"It's going to be a lot of fun, first and foremost," said Terry Rozier, who scored a team-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting. "Obviously, we came up short tonight. But we need the whole city of Boston to be behind us. We know LeBron is different than a lot of other guys, but we've got to get the job done. That's no excuse, so we're looking forward to it."
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The Celtics have tied an NBA record by winning 10 straight home playoff games and are undefeated at TD Garden this postseason. Still, Rozier cautioned against being overconfident.
"We can't just rely on us being at home for an excuse that it's going to be easy. It's not," Rozier said. "But like I said, we're looking forward to it. We've got to come out aggressive, and we've got to make things happen."
The Celtics struggled to make things happen at times in Game 6. Al Horford endured a scoreless first half, missing all four shots he took as the Cavaliers routinely sent double-teams his way.
The typically reserved Horford bristled a bit when asked about the quiet start.
"If you were watching the game, I was getting doubled as soon as I caught the ball," Horford said. "Every time. I didn't really have one-on-one position. So they did a good job of really doubling me and making it hard."
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said his team was in for a challenge Sunday but expected his young roster to respond.
"This group is resilient," Stevens said. "We'll be ready to go on Sunday."
The Celtics have been a much better team at home than on the road this postseason, and players have said the atmosphere at TD Garden has contributed to their success.
"It's going to be electric," Horford said. "It's going to be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to Sunday."
Added Jaylen Brown: "I expect it to be as loud as I've [heard] it. And that's saying a lot because the Garden can get pretty loud."
CLEVELAND – The Boston Celtics solved their first-quarter problem in Cleveland, and it didn't matter.
In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics trailed 32-17 after the first quarter. Game 4: 34-18. And in neither game did they cut the deficit to less than seven points thereafter. So, heading into Game 6, with an extra level of desperation in the Cleveland Cavaliers facing elimination, there was an obvious "survive the first quarter" thought from pundits as priority No. 1 for the Celtics.
And they did it. The Celtics scored 11 points on the last five possessions of the period to close it with a 25-20 lead.
They survived the first quarter, but they did not survive the second. And after a 109-99 Cavs victory on Friday, the series is heading back to Boston for a deciding Game 7 on Sunday (8:30 ET, ESPN).
A 25-point quarter isn't huge, but in what was a very slow-paced game (89 possessions for each team), it was efficient. The Celtics went to Al Horford in the post eight times in the opening 12 minutes and the Cavs mostly sent an extra defender at Horford, which seemed to play into the Celtics' hands. Horford surveyed the floor, his teammates moved without the ball, and the results were generally good.
Behind LeBron James' historic night, Cleveland forced a Game 7 after beating Boston 109-99.
The first Horford post-up was on the Celtics' second possession. LeBron James joined Tristan Thompson for the double-team and the ball swung to Terry Rozier, who got into the paint and found Jaylen Brown for a corner three. A few minutes later, there was no double-team, but Horford found Brown cutting to the basket for an and-one.
Midway through the first, a double-team on Horford resulted in a short jumper for Marcus Morris. Later, Horford found Marcus Smart on a cut, and Smart made a brilliant pass out for another corner three from Brown. On the next possession, Brown snuck behind Kyle Korver on the baseline for a layup.
The Celtics didn't score on all those Horford post-ups, but the eight in the first quarter produced 12 points on good shots. Horford didn't score a single point in the first, but having the offense run through him generated a strong quarter on the road against a desperate opponent.
"I thought our spacing was excellent," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of the early execution. "The way we moved it out of the double."
The Celtics had a lead after the first quarter and Kevin Love was done for the night after a collision with Jayson Tatum. The door was open for the Celtics to put their postseason road woes behind them and close the series out.
Horford was off the floor to start the second quarter, and the Celtics took their foot off the gas. They scored five points on their first three possessions of the period, but the shots weren't good and the ball didn't get into the paint until possession No. 7. Smart took an ill-advised 3-pointer and then looked confused when Morris did the same on the very next possession.
"We missed some opportunities," Stevens said about the second quarter. "But I thought we also just got lax a little bit offensively. When we get lax offensively, we open up transition opportunities for them, and that's a problem."
The Celtics couldn't recapture their first-quarter rhythm, they didn't get Horford in the post once in the second quarter, and a 20-4 Cleveland run was ultimately the difference in the game.
"We stopped getting the ball inside," Rozier said. "The second quarter definitely killed us today."
James had himself one of those nights, shooting 10-for-17 from outside the paint (where Boston wants him shooting from) on his way to 46 points. He finished the Celtics off with two ridiculous, step-back threes from the left wing.
"Hats off," Stevens said of the daggers. "The first one, that was ridiculous."
How confident should the Celtics be going back home for Game 7?
The Cavs scored 89 points on just 67 possessions (1.33 points per possession) after the first quarter and the Celtics couldn't keep up. They didn't try to get Horford in the post nearly as much in the second half as they did in the first quarter.
"We weren't looking for them as much as we were earlier," Horford said of the post-up opportunities.
A few post-ups did result in free throws, but the Celtics left some points at the line, shooting 11-for-20.
"The question about did we go to him enough, probably a good question," Stevens said. "And one that when we review it, we'll look at it and figure out if we need to do more."
If you asked the Celtics at the beginning of the postseason if they'd like to have one game on the floor for a trip to The Finals, they'd surely have accepted it.
"It's an absolute blast to prepare for as a coach," Stevens said of Game 7, "and to play in as a player."
But the Celtics may have let one get away on Friday, and though they're 10-0 at home in these playoffs, anything can happen in a Game 7, especially with the best player in the world on the other side. James has won the last five Game 7s that he's played in and scored 45 points in Game 7 against Indiana in the first round. Maybe he doesn't shoot so well from the outside on Sunday, but maybe he does.
Maybe the Celtics shouldn't even be here, given that they're missing two of their three best players. But they've made it this far, and they'd best keep their foot on the gas on Sunday.
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John Schuhmann is a staff writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.
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