LeBron James led the Cavs to a Game 4 win over the Celtics on Monday night to even the Eastern Conference Finals at 2-2 going back to Boston. It was another 40-plus point performance from James, who finished with 44 on 17-of-28 shooting as the Cavs notched a second-straight comfortable home win.
To this point, both teams have looked good at home and shaky at best on the road, which comes as little surprise given how Cleveland’s first round series against Indiana went and Boston’s 1-4 record on the road in the first two rounds. Both teams are reliant on role players hitting shots and, typically, role players perform better at home.
Kevin Love isn’t a role player, as the All-Star is the Cavs’ secondary star, and he performed admirably on the road in the first two games of the series offensively. However, in Game 4, Love struggled mightily, scoring nine points on 3-of-12 shooting along with 11 boards as he struggled to stay on the court due to foul trouble that limited him to 29 minutes of play. Still, the Cavs got the win and didn’t need Love to be his normal, productive self thanks to the efforts of their role players and, of course, LeBron
In the locker room after the game, Cleveland.com’s Hayden Grove noticed a funny exchange that took place between Love and Zhuri James, LeBron’s young daughter who was on FaceTime with her dad after the win. Zhuri was talking with LeBron when she decided she wanted to say hi to Kevin Love, who was across the locker room, so LeBron had the phone passed over to Love, who deferred to her dad when complimented on the win.
“Hello princess,” Love said, smiling as he caught a glimpse of the little girl on the screen in front of him.
Zhuri didn’t immediately respond, imploring Love to continue the conversation.
“Don’t get shy on me now,” he said.
This time, Zhuri responded in a cute, shy voice.
“Good game!”
Love, who finished with just nine points on 3-12 shooting from the field– a bit of an uncharacteristic night for perhaps the most talented player on the team behind James– responded in kind.
“Not me,” he said. “That was your Dad.” (Love was right. James finished off another fantastic effort with a game-high 44 points.)
It’s at once an adorable moment and also a pretty factual statement from Love. LeBron is always the catalyst for the Cavs and they don’t go anywhere without him. This postseason, they’re learning that they also will need support around him to reach a fourth straight Finals and when it’s not Love, it has to be others from the supporting cast stepping up like they did in Game 4.
As the series moves back to Boston where the Celtics’ role players are much more comfortable, Cleveland will need to pick off one of the two possible remaining games on the road and to do so will need Love to return to form and a hot night from the Cavs shooters around LeBron to get the job done and have a chance to end things at home in Game 6.
