Celtics brace for ‘dogfight’ vs Cavs in Game 7 at home

Agence France-Presse

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Celtics brace for ‘dogfight’ vs Cavs in Game 7 at home

AFP

Coach Brad Stevens expects to see a resilient Boston squad as the Celtics try to clinch an NBA Finals berth for the first time in 8 years.

 

 

LOS ANGELES, United States –  Although Boston remains unbeaten at home in the playoffs, the Celtics know they can’t afford to be complacent against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“We’ve still got to come out aggressive and play Celtics basketball,” said Celtics guard Terry Rozier. “We can’t just rely on being at home for an excuse that it’s going to be easy. It’s not.”

The NBA Eastern Conference finals series heads to Boston for a do-or-die Game 7 on Sunday, May 27 (Monday, May 28 in Manila) after the Celtics missed the first of their two attempts to clinch a championship berth for the first time in 8 years.

“It’s about just winning the game now. It’s not going to be pretty,” said Marcus Smart. “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,” the Celtics guard added. “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 be coming out ready to fight.”


Finding no answer for LeBron James, who unleashed 46 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists, the Celtics bowed to the Cavs, 109-99, in Game 6. 

Rozier dropped 28 points and Jaylen Brown fired  27 for the Celtics, who led by 5 at the end of a spirited first quarter before James totally took over.

“I was proud of the way we fought back,” said Boston coach Brad Stevens. “Had a chance there to cut it to 4 on a shot. Didn’t quite go down. But this group is resilient. We’ll be ready on Sunday.”

The winner of the series will take on either the reigning champion Golden State Warriors or Houston Rockets in the championship series. The Rockets lead the Western Conference finals 3-2.

 – Rappler.com

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