Undermanned Boston crawls back to beat Cleveland in Game 3

The Celtics also kept Cavaliers superstar LeBron James in check Sunday.

All is not lost – far from it.

His team is back in the series after being blown out in Games 1 and 2 at home, and Stevens probably didn’t want to rankle James. The career 29 percent three-point shooter managed to nail seven of them on Sunday, needing only 10 attempts to do so. About halfway through the period, the Celtics trailed by 21 points. They took their foot off the gas and it showed – Boston was dominating the glass and still was out-hustling Cleveland down the court.

“You obviously hear people saying that it’s all about how you respond, and we don’t feel like people believed in us and counted us out”, Bradley said. “It happens. You’re not going to win all of the games. That’s no excuse. Like I said, they played well, but we’ve just got to play better, be more physical”.

Letting fans get to him, calling out reporters – it’s safe to say that James was in unfamiliar territory after a disappointing Cleveland loss.

“We have guys who have chips on their shoulders”, Stevens said.

The Cavaliers might have been due for a letdown after a 44-point win in Game 2.

The Celtics were humiliated and bickering among themselves.

Bradley’s shot in the last second of Game 3 touched every part of the rim before bouncing in, giving the Celtics an improbable 111-108 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Once we were able to get together (May 20), we decided we’re just going to play hard – whatever happens, happens”, Bradley said. “He has so many different wrinkles, misdirection, thinking the ball is going this way, he has a misdirection going the other way”. It’s our job to go out there and make sure that we make the next right play.

And that means as good as they did in Game 3, they’ll have to be even better tonight.

“He’s the best player in the world”, Stevens added.

Las Vegas isn’t buying what Bradley is selling.

In the following game after he scores less than 20 points, James has averaged 27.8 points.

Is James, coming into Sunday having scored 30 points or more in eight straight playoff games to tie Michael Jordan for the modern playoff record for such a streak, suddenly suffering from a crisis in confidence? The more painful stat was his six turnovers and multiple crucial mistakes down the line in the fourth.

If James’ play wasn’t stunning enough, Cavs forward J.R. Smith said his celebrated teammate lacked confidence. Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s National Football League draft, and fellow rookie Jabrill Peppers took a few shots on the floor before teams came out for warmups. “But we definitely understand that this (Boston) team is not going to quit, they’re going to fight, they’re going to compete”.

“I don’t blame everything on Pop, but what he said had a lot of influence (and) you had a lot of people where, unfortunately, you can’t control what everybody’s intelligence is”, Pachulia told USA Today Sports on Sunday.

“We’ve got to put it behind us”, he added.

Game 4 is Tuesday night in Cleveland.