NBA playoffs 2018: Cavaliers rain 3s on Celtics' playoff parade

Gabe Fernandez

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NBA playoffs 2018: Cavaliers rain 3s on Celtics' playoff parade image

My, my, we’ve got ourselves a series.

LeBron James finally received the help from his teammates he had been looking for all series to get a much needed 116-86 win in Game 3 over the Celtics.

As expected, James (27 points, 12 assists, five rebounds) and Kevin Love (13 points, four assists, 14 rebounds) did their parts, but even the secondary characters in Cleveland’s cast of misfits stepped up. Kyle Korver went perfect from the field, J.R. Smith remembered how to shoot 3s and even Larry Nance Jr. got a highlight dunk. It also helped that the Cavs made half of their three-point attempts. 

BENDER: Cavs enjoy comforts of home, 3s to get back into series

Boston, on the other hand, looked as though someone had stolen Brad Stevens’ basketball IQ like the Monstars did to the NBA superstars in "Space Jam." The offense early was centered on midrange attempts, and the Celtics could only muster 33 percent shooting in the first quarter. On the defensive end, the team looked porous, allowing open layups and dunks that just were not available to the Cavaliers in the first two games of the series. 

The Celtics will need to follow in the footsteps of crosstown coach Bill Belichick: take the loss in stride and move on to the next game.

Have the Cavaliers found the secret formula to taking this series back from the jaws of elimination, or was this just a blip on Boston’s impressive postseason run? That’ll likely be for Game 4 to decide.

Sporting News provided highlights and updates of Game 3. Here’s what you might have missed:

Cavs vs. Celtics: Score, highlights, updates

Game 3 box score

Final Cleveland 116, Boston 86

Cavaliers give the Celtics the 30-piece in a much-needed statement win at home to bring the series to 2-1.

10:53 p.m. ET —  Garbage time highlights!

10:48 p.m. ET —  It's difficult to explain these kind of blowouts that break team trends, especially in the postseason. Luckily, Zach Lowe is here to help the rest of us figure it out.

10:41 p.m. ET —  Larry Nance Jr. gets in on the action!

End Q3: CLE 87, BOS 63

The Cavs have continued to dominate even throughout the second half.

10:23 p.m. ET —  It's been an odd game.

10:14 p.m. ET —  We're trying not to clog the live blog with LeBron highlights, but when he does things like this it makes it difficult.

10:07 p.m. ET —  Terry Rozier hits back with a slam dunk of his own.

10:06 p.m. ET —  LeBron James can still do this in year 15!

9:59 p.m. ET —  We're back from halftime. Cavs bump the lead up to 23 after a Kevin Love and-one.

9:48 p.m. ET —  ESPN with approximately zero chill.

Halftime: CLE 61, BOS 41

Jayson Tatum : 13 points, 4/6 FG,  Al Horford : 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists

LeBron James:  19 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds,  George Hill:  13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists

9:41 p.m. ET —  Marcus Smart gets a much-needed charge called in his favor to help shift some momentum to the Celtics.

9:38 p.m. ET —  This is inadvertantly turning to a LeBron James live blog but we're obligated to show the highlights.

9:32 p.m. ET —  "LeBron is good" update:

9:29 p.m. ET —  LeBron hits the rolling three to put the Cavs up 20 over the Celtics. Timeout Boston.

9:21 p.m. ET —  The Celtics are shooting 2/7 from three and the Cavs are shooting 7/12 from the same distance. The latter seems a bit unsustainable.

9:17 p.m. ET —  And here's the visual proof of the previous statement.

9:15 p.m. ET —  In case you were wondering just how bad things are going for the Celtics, Sean Deveney has you covered with the math.

End Q1: CLE 32, BOS 17

Cleveland seeemingly doing whatever they want to do to Boston offensively. The Celtics are playing like someone kidnapped Brad Stevens and stole his basketball juju Monstars-style.

9:06 p.m. ET —  George Hill, who had 8 points combined in the first two games of the series, is up to 11 points with an easy three. Kevin Love follows up the bucket with a tough one of his own. Cleveland leads 32-13 with 1:05 left in the first quarter.

8:58 p.m. ET —  Not as clean as his block against Splitter a few years ago, but still memorable.

8:56 p.m. ET —  Cavs 17-4 lead is their largest of the series so far. It was since grown to 16.

8:49 p.m. ET —  TV timeout: Aron Baynes picks up his first foul less than a minute from checking in. Cavs lead 9-4.

8:46 p.m. ET —  Jayson Tatum has shown that he's already stronger than J.R. Smith. The two get physical down low and Tatum shrugs Smith off with ease. Still doesn't result in much. Cavs lead 9-4 with 7:18 1Q.

8:44 p.m. ET —  The Cavs are starting George Hill, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson

The Celtics are starting Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Marcus Morris and Al Horford.

8:42 p.m.  ET —  And here. we. go. Boston wins the tip and Game 3 is underway.

8:36 p.m. ET —  RECORD WATCH

8:14 p.m. ET —  After being basically invisible over the last two games, J.R. Smith looks ready to make a big splash in Game 3.

8 p.m. ET —  Bill Russell is ready for tonight's matchup. Are you?

Gabe Fernandez