Celtics-Cavaliers preview: Expect more tough, physical defense from C's in Game 3

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CLEVELAND – When he’s on the court, Marcus Morris is a serious dude. But if you want to get a smile or a wink from him, ask him about “gooning up” the game which is something Cleveland’s Tyronn Lue said the Celtics are doing

“That shows a sign of something,” Morris said of Lue’s comments. “I’m not going to use the word but it shows a sign of something.” 

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One thing’s for sure.

The Boston Celtics are in control of this series and with an opportunity to put a death grip on their chances of moving on to the NBA Finals with a win tonight, you better believe the Celtics are going to be ready for tonight’s game.

Boston came into the postseason with the top-ranked defensive team in the NBA. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that they’ve done a solid job of playing defense without fouling.

“This is something we wanted to be all year. We wanted to be a better defensive team,” Stevens said. “We needed to be a better defensive team. We have a lot of interchangeable parts. All that is well in good, but if you don’t play with the right physical … it’s tough”.  

One of the best ways to emphasize that point is to take a look at how each team fared when it came to contesting shots. 

According to NBA.com/stats, the Cavaliers have contested 65.9 percent of the shots taken by the Celtics in this series.

Meanwhile, Boston has been an active defender on all levels which is evident by them contesting 71.7 percent of the shots taken by the Cavs. 

In addition to making LeBron James work harder than he’s accustomed to when it comes to scoring, Boston has also managed to keep most of James’ teammates from getting into a rhythm or flow of their own. 

No matter how you want to look at it, the Celtics have played better basketball than the Cavs.

And one of the main reasons has been the Celtics defense which, when done effectively, brings a certain physicality to the game that is of a great benefit to Boston. 

“These guys have been awesome at guarding with the appropriate physicality without fouling, being tough and covering for one another and playing with great multiple efforts all year,” Stevens said.

Boston’s Al Horford said the approach defensively is pretty simple.

“We just play hard,” Horford said. “We go out there, we compete. It’s Celtics basketball. We’re really embracing Celtics basketball. We’re playing hard. We’ve got each other’s backs, and that’s it.”

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