East Conf. Finals - Game 4: Boston Celtics 102-111 Cleveland Cavaliers - Celtics' Player Ratings
So, Game 4 between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers was the most competitive game of the Conference Finals - a 9-point win for the Cavs.
Cleveland led for the majority of the game by double digits but unlike Game 3, the Celtics never game up and kept hanging around. They kept the lead around 10 and put themselves in a position to make a comeback late with one good run. Unfortunately, in trying to keep it around 10 constantly, the Celtics, a team that has the second-most double-digit comebacks in the 2017-18 regular season, didn't have that run in them.
It was a slightly weird game for LeBron James. He didn't record more than 5 assists or 5 rebounds, but it doesn't matter as he still put up 44 points and led his team to a crucial Game 4 win. This evens up the series as it shifts back to Boston for Game 5.
Through these Conference Finals, in our Player Ratings, we have ripped into teams that have lost. The Celtics halt this trend today because their margin of defeat was just 9, while the average margin of loss through the first six games of Eastern and Western Conference Finals was 24.
So without further ado, here are the Player Ratings for the C's:
Terry Rozier - 8/10
Stat line: 16 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 6-15 FG's and +3
Individually, it was the Terry Rozier's best game of the Conference Finals. He did a little bit of everything and shot his best percentage from 3-point range. More importantly, he was one of only two Boston players to have a positive +/- despite playing over 38 minutes.
He was aggressive and was pushing the pace in transition, exactly like the C's need him to do. Offensively, he was arguably Boston's best player but it was on the other end of the floor where, to no fault of his, he got picked on with mismatches. A lot of those mismatches forced him to guard LeBron, against whom he is quite obviously diminutive.
To win this series, the Celtics will have to do it by committee and can't afford any of their key players having an off-night. He will have to step up and be consistent like he has been for must of these Playoffs (except these Conf. Finals). Scoring more than 16 points would help their cause immensely.