LeBron James and the depleted Cleveland Cavaliers won’t get any sympathy from the Celtics when they return to Boston for Game 7 of the
Eastern Conference finals.
Already laboring to reach his eighth straight NBA Finals with a supporting crew made mostly of cast-offs and
throw-ins
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roster on Saturday when Kevin Love was declared out for the series finale with a
concussion.
Now, in what could be his final game in a Cleveland uniform – again – James will have to do it largely on his own.
In Boston, where the Celtics are perfect so far this postseason.
And in a series where the road team hasn’t really even come close.
”There’s something different about LeBron, period,” Cleveland forward Larry Nance Jr. said after James scored 46 with 11 rebounds and nine assists on Friday
night to send the series to a decisive seventh game. ”I think (coach Tyronn Lue)
said it best: `We’re going into a Game 7 with the baddest dude on the planet on
our team.’ I like our chances.”
James is having what could be the best postseason of his career, averaging 33.9 points and just under nine assists and rebounds, with seven 40-point games,
two buzzer beaters, and a sweep of top-seeded Toronto. But he’s played in every
game this season – Sunday will be his 100th – and it showed in the Game 5 loss
to the Celtics.
He admitted to fatigue afterward, and then played all but two minutes in Game 6 despite a sore knee from a collision with Nance.
Still, the four-time MVP carried his team even after Love banged heads with Boston’s Jayson Tatum in the first half and left the game.
”I can’t say enough good things about him,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. ”Every time we watch. Every time you’re standing out there. Every time you watch
him on film. Best player in the game.”
James will probably have to do it again in Game 7 to reach the NBA Finals for the eighth straight year, something accomplished only by Bill Russell and some
of his Celtics teammates in the 1960s.
Lue said he wasn’t concerned about James’ leg. Or about the team’s history in the TD Garden, where the Cavaliers lost the first three games by an average of
17 points.
”We throw it all out
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go to the NBA Finals.”
The Celtics have had their own injury problems, starting in the first quarter of the season opener – at Cleveland – when top free agent Gordon Hayward went
out for the year with a broken leg. Five-time All-Star Kyrie Irving, acquired
from the Cavaliers in an offseason roster overhaul, needed knee surgery and was
lost in March.
But they caught a break when Tatum was cleared to play on Saturday. Stevens said the team doctors checked on him ”and he’s great.”
”So nothing there as far as to be concerned about,” Stevens said.
Well, there’s one thing to be concerned about.
”We know LeBron is different than a lot of other guys, but we’ve got to get the job done,” Celtics guard Terry Rozier said. ”That’s no excuse, so we’re
looking forward to it.”
For James, it’s an opportunity to extend the season for his hometown team and put off another summer of questions about his future. Eight years ago, he came
to Boston for the conference semifinals and had a triple-double – 27 points, 19
rebounds and 10 assists – but shot 8 for 21 with nine turnovers and the Celtics
eliminated the Cavs from the playoffs.
As he left the court, James stripped off his Cleveland jersey; then came ”The Decision” and the move to Miami.
James is again able to become a free agent this season, with the Lakers
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destinations. Having led Cleveland to the city’s first major sports title in
half a century in 2016, there is less pulling at him to stay home this time.
But another title would ease the pain even more. And with the injury bug hitting the Western Conference finalists – Chris Paul was the latest ruled out
for a game – the East champion might not be as big an underdog as expected.
James will be ready.
”You’ve got to be poised. You’ve got to be able to handle a punch or two,” he said. ”We know it’s challenging. They’re 10-0 on their home floor, and they’ve
been very successful against us, obviously, at home. But if you love challenges,
then this is a great opportunity.”
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PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks were not expecting perfection from closer Brad Boxberger, even though members of their front office had seen exactly that
several years before.
Boxberger, back in the closer’s role, converted his 21st save opportunity in Arizona’s 3-1 victory over San Diego in the second game of a four-game series
Friday. He is fifth in the league in saves, and his 84 percent conversion rate
ranks near the top among his peers.
He came to Arizona after an eye-popping eyeball test. Boxberger is having the sort of success that general manager Mike Hazen and manager Torey Lovullo might
have envisioned when they acquired him in a deal with Tampa Bay over the
winter.
It is the sort of work they saw first-hand while in Boston during Boxberger’s 41-save season with the Rays in 2015. Boxberger faced the Red Sox 11 times that
season and was just about flawless. He did not allow a run while going 2-0 with
six saves. He gave up five hits, all singles, and three walks while striking out
17 in 10 1/3 innings. Opposing hitters’ slash line: .143/.143/.211.
The D-backs felt they acquired him at just the right time this offseason, after he spent the previous two seasons working through
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“We felt he was on the up elevator when it came to health,” said Lovullo, the bench coach in Boston from 2013-16. “We knew a healthy Brad Boxberger is going
to be a very, very good closer for us.”
Like Fernando Rodney last season, Boxberger has a fastball/changeup repertoire, a combination that has enabled him to log 41 strikeouts in 31 1/3
innings. Unlike Rodney, there is less drama.
“I’ve seen it very good,” Lovullo said, “and I’ve seen it in live action on major league fields and I’ve heard major league hitters come back to the dugout
talking about it. I know it creates a lot of discomfort for hitters.”
Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray is scheduled to oppose San Diego right-hander Tyson Ross in the third game of the series Saturday night.
“There is nothing like those last three outs in the game,” Boxberger said “There is a lot of stuff that can happen. It is just a matter of being able to
control that situation. Whatever happens, to be able to control it and shut the
game down.
“The more time you do something, the more comfortable you get at it. Pitching in any back-end situation is going to have its high leverage and stress
situations. It is just a matter of keeping a level head and manage your ability
to get the hitter out.”
San Diego won the first game of the series with Wil Myers getting two hits and driving in two runs, but Myers was given a start off Friday after playing 13
consecutive games following his return from the disabled list June 21. He missed
47 games with a strained muscle in his side.
Myers is hitting .261 with a homer and eight RBIs since his return, and he has four two-hit games in his last eight. He homered last
Saturday
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last four games.
“He’s getting more and more comfortable,” San Diego manager Andy Green said. “The 3-2 walks he had (in Oakland on Wednesday) were really good signs. They
were battle at-bats, and the confidence to take close borderline pitches, that
they are balls. I think when guys see the ball well, they eventually start
hitting the ball well. He’s had good swings periodically. He hasn’t been in his
groove or his rhythm. He’s been solid. We are waiting for him to be
spectacular.”
Ray, 3-1 with a 4.89 ERA, will make his third start since returning from an oblique injury. He gave up six runs and nine hits in five innings to St. Louis
in his only loss Monday. The Cardinals scored four runs in the first inning.
“They were swinging early,” said Ray, who hinted that he might have been tipping his pitches. “I don’t know if they had something that they saw. I just
have to do a better job.”
Ray is 4-4 with a 3.98 ERA in nine career starts against the Padres.
Ross (5-6, 3.78 ERA) took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of his start April 20 at Chase Field, a game the Padres won but in which he did not receive a
decision. He is 4-3 with a 2.52 ERA in 14 career appearances, including 13
starts, against Arizona.
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