Sweep for Cavaliers, Celtics?

IT’S over. Oh-and-3. RIP, Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers.

Of the 129 teams in National Basketball Association playoff history to fall behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven series, none has ever come back to win.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, both toting a commanding 3-0 lead over the East top-seeded Raptors and third-seeded 76ers, respectively, will go for the sweep Tuesday (May 8, Manila time), in Game Four of their respective best-of-seven East semifinal duels.

While the Cavs will be playing again in the friendly confines of the Quicken Loans Arena, the Celtics will be on the road for a second time and silence for good another sellout crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.
Toronto is doomed to be eliminated from the playoffs for a third straight year by Cleveland, likely a 4-0 shutout in the post season’s second round (conference semifinals) for the second year in a row.

Philadelphia may yet live for another for another two days (Game Five in Boston) since it will be still hosting Game Four. Trust the young 76ers, the “Trust the Process” mantra has a solid chance of succeeding in the years ahead, but not now. The winning culture is back in Quaker City after five years of losing, if not, tanking.

Victories by Cleveland and Boston today will send them into a best-of-seven East final showdown for a second consecutive year. Last year, the Cavaliers defeated the Celtics in five games to reach the NBA Finals for a third consecutive year against the championship-bound Golden State Warriors, who took the title round, 4-1, en route to an all-time single-season NBA playoff record of 16-1, including an unprecedented 15 straight victories to open the postseason.

The King, LeBron James, chalked up his second game buzzer-beating basket in this year’s NBA playoffs during Cleveland’s 105-103 Game Three victory over the flaming-out Raptors last Sunday (MT).

Cleveland, which had stolen the homecourt advantage from the get-go with 113-112 (overtime) and 128-110 victories in the first two games at the Air Canada Centre, were up by 15 points, 55-40, at halftime of Game Three. The Wine City outfit was still ahead by 14 (79-65) heading into the fourth quarter when the Raptors, feeling the series was getting out of their reach, came roaring back to deadlock the count at 103-all on a 26-foot triple from the left wing by England-born rookie small forward OG Anunoby with eight seconds left.

Following a timeout, and a throw-win from the backcourt (instead of midcourt), LeBron James dribbled all the way to the left corner to uncork a one-legged 9-foot floater that banked in at the buzzer for his second game winner in the current playoffs. James, who following a deadlocked count also made a game buzzer-beating triple in Game 5 of the first-round series against Indiana, finished with 38 points (14-26 FGA, 1-4 3FGA, 9-11 FTA), seven assists, six rebounds and three steals in 41 minutes.

Much-maligned Kevin Love was efficient offensively for a second straight game in the series, netting 21 points (7-14 FGA, 6-7 FTA) aside from pulling down 16 boards (his third consecutive in double digits in thag department).

The son of a former Los Angeles Laker and the nephew of a member of the 1960s musical group Beach Boys, Mike Love, the 6-foot-10 natural power forward-turned-center had just come up of a prolonged playoff slump in Game Two, producing a postseason-high 31 points on 11-for-21 field shooting and grabbing 11 boards (after getting 13 in the series opener).

Prior to the last two games, the 29-year-old Love tallied no more than 19 markers and was held to single digits in four of his eight playoff appearances.

Other members of James’ supporting cast, virtually unproductive for the most part of the first-round 4-3 success against Indiana, have stepped as well. J.R. Smith, after scoring 20 (5-of-6 in 3FGA) and 15 (2-of-3 in 3FGA), was blanked in Game Three with just two field attempts but Kyle Korver bounced back from a five-point (2-3 FGA) Game Two with 18 scores (6-8 FGA, 4-6 3FGA, 2-2 FTA) and, for a third straight game, Jeff Green scored in twin digits off the pines with 11 points following games of 16 and 14.

Toronto, which posted the best record in the entire Eastern Conference during the regular wars at 59-23 for an all-time franchise best mark, got 27 points (9-13 FGA, 4-8 3FGA) and seven assists from Kyle Lowry but the other half of the Raptors’ All-Star backcourt duo, DeMar DeRozan, was probably thinking of where to have a grand vacation (El Nido?), making just eight points (3-12 FGA) in 28 minutes and being benched by Raptors mentor Dwane Casey in the entire fourth frame.

Boston protected “home serve” with 117-101 and 108-103 victories over Philadelphia in the first two games at the TD Garden to remain immaculate at home at 6-0.

The Celtics, who bucked a 22-point deficit (48-26) in the second quarter before registering a five-point victory in Game Two, grabbed a 3-0 series advantage with a thrilling 101-98 overtime decision over the fumbling Sixers before a hostile crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.

Rookie Jayson Tatum topscored for the Green for a second game in a row with 24 points and guard Terry Rozier, elevated into the starting lineup with star Kyrie Irving out of the playoffs with an injury, contributed 18.

Joel Embiid, the 76ers’ second-year center out of Cameroon, got 22 points and 19 rebounds for his third straight double-double in the series (after going 31-13 and 20-14) – and fifth consecutive overall in the playoffs – but he struggled offensively against the defense of 6-foot-10 frontliners Al Horford of the Dominican Republic and Aron Baynes of New Zealand in the past two games, going a paltry 10-for-26 (.385) from the field in Game Two and 8-for-22 (.364) in Game Three.

Embiid’s sidekick, rookie point guard Ben Simmons, bounced back from a miserable one-point performance in the second game with 16 points (8-14 FGA), eight rebounds and eight assists in 43 minutes but the 6-foot-10 Aussie out of Louisiana State University committed a passing error with 5.5 seconds left in the extra session and his team trailing 99-98 after the Celtics’ Horford made a layup.

Horford, who had secured Simmons’ errant pass, eventually sealed the win with a pair of free throws.
Should there be a Game Four in both the Cleveland-Toronto and Boston-Philadelphia series, they would be played on Thursday, May 10 (Manila time), on the home floors of Toronto and Boston.

Meanwhile, out in the West, the NBA playoffs’ top-seeded Houston Rockets host the out-of-tune Utah Jazz in Game 5 of their conference semifinal series at the Toyota Center while the reigning NBA titlist Golden State Warriors face the New Orleans Pelicans in the fifth game of their own second-round duel in a doubleheader on Wednesday, May 9 (MT).

Both the Warriors and Rockets own a commanding 3-1 advantage over their respective opponents with road victories in Game Four yesterday.

Golden State shellacked New Orleans, 118-92, at the Smoothie King Center behind 2017 Finals MVP Kevin Durant’s 38 points (15-27 FGA), nine rebounds and five assists and Stephen Curry’s 23 points. All-Star frontliner Anthony Davis, the Pelicans’ meal ticket, chalked up 26 points and 12 boards but went just 8-for-22 from the field.

Houston never trailed in posting a 100-87 decision over Utah in Game Four for its second straight win at the Vivint Smart Home Arena. Rockets playmaker de luxe Chris Paul marked his 33rd birthday with 27 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Top NBA MVP contender James Harden shot just 8-for-22 from the field but still finished with 24 points and Swiss-born center Clint Capela had 12 points, 15 boards and six blocks. For Utah, rookie guard Donovan Mitchell fouled out with a team-high 25 points and nine boards and continued to struggle with his shots in the series, going just 8-for-24 from the field.

In NBA playoff history, only 11 teams have rallied from a 3-1 deficit to capture a best-of-seven series. The last time it occurred, Cleveland became the first team in league annals to win the Finals after trailing 3-1, in the series.