Gloria James told Celtic Paul Pierce to leave her baby alone after his hard foul forced LeBron James into courtside seats, baby told mother to sit down, then went on to shut down Boston 88-77 Monday night and even the best-of-seven playoff series at 2-2.
"I told her to sit down, in some language I shouldn't have used," James said. "Thank God today wasn't Mother's Day. All I could think about is her. ... I know my mother. It's fine, we're good."
James was just 7-for-20 from the floor, but did everything else for Cleveland, dominating down the stretch while scoring 21 points and handing out 13 assists -- four in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers, too, showed that they can play stingy defense, holding the Celtics -- the NBA's best defensive team -- to just 12 points in the final period.
With the Cavs leading 82-75, James drove past Pierce on a screen near the foul line, head faked past James Posey and then posterized Kevin Garnett, the league's defensive player of the year. As Cavaliers fans erupted, a scowling James stormed back on defense.
"I just wanted to be aggressive," James said. "I hadn't had a play like that all series. There was a lot built up."
"He can dunk," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "Especially if you give him a running start at the basket. It's probably going to be a pretty good dunk and he's so darn powerful that once he gets up there, there's not a lot you can do. I hate the fact that he got to the basket."
Garnett scored 15 points, but only two in the second half, as Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao harassed Boston's All-Star all night. Allen had 15 points and Pierce 13, but the Celtics' Big Three were only a combined 16-of-40.
"We have to play better under stress," Rivers said. "I call them 'hero’shots and I thought we took a lot of those instead of just stressing what we do."
Source: Xinhua/Agencies
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