Tip-off: Thursday, 8:30 p.m. ET
Line: Cleveland -10, Total: 216

The Cavaliers look to close out the Celtics on the road in Game 5 on Thursday.

Would a Celtics win in Game 4 have been as stunning as their historic upset in Game 3? Would it have been more stunning? We’ll never know for sure, as the Celtics lost 112-99 on Tuesday night in Cleveland (BOS +15.5), but they did once again put up a good fight without star PG Isaiah Thomas. Boston led 57-47 at halftime on the strength of good ball movement on offense and a focused defensive effort, but nothing could have prepared them for the maelstrom of Cavaliers shooting that came their way in the second half. Cleveland shot a ridiculous 71% from the field after halftime, deliberately chipping away at the Boston lead and then deliberately building their own, nearly covering the enormous 15.5-point spread by the game’s end. As the teams prepare for Game 5 in Boston on Thursday night, Celtics fans can only hope that their team plays like they have in the last two games and not like they did in Games 1 and 2 at home, when the Cavaliers won by an average of 28.5 points. Since 1996, home underdogs of 10 or more points revenging a loss where their opponent scored at least 100 points, and also coming off a cover and a straight up loss as an underdog (BOS) are 46-17 ATS. Weirdly, though, underdogs off a cover and a straight up loss as an underdog are 17-56 ATS in games involving two teams with winning percentages between .600 and .750 in the same since-1996 timeframe. PG Kyrie Irving injured his ankle in Game 4 but stayed in the game, and he is probable for Game 5. Thomas remains out for Boston, and SF Jaylen Brown is questionable with a hip pointer. PF Amir Johnson and SF Jae Crowder are probable to play despite being banged up.

Without Thomas (23.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 6.7 APG; all player stats), the Celtics are quite shorthanded on offense. It has been noticeable, however, that they’re better on defense, which shouldn’t be surprising. The non-Thomas members of the Celtics backcourt are known to be tenacious defenders, a group that includes SG Avery Bradley (16.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.4 SPG), PG Marcus Smart (8.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 4.9 APG, 1.5 SPG) and PG Terry Rozier (5.4 PPG). Of course, none of them could do anything to remotely slow down Irving on Tuesday—he scored 42 points—and Thomas couldn’t have done much worse. Bradley has led the Celtics in FGA in both games since Thomas got injured, and has struggled a bit to find his rhythm while jump shooting. He had 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting in Game 4 and was 1-of-7 from three. Three other Celtics scored at least 15 points, with Crowder (13.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.1 SPG) scoring 18, C Al Horford (15.5 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 5.6 APG) scoring 16 and C Kelly Olynyk (9.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG) had 15. Horford, through whom the Celtics now run even more of their offense, added seven assists but only three rebounds. Smart came back to earth after shooting 7-of-10 from three in Game 3, as he was 1-of-9 from the field and 1-of-5 from deep en route to eight points. Brown (4.9 PPG) and PF Jonas Jerebko (3.6 PPG) each added nine points off the bench.

The Cavaliers’ second-half dominance in Game 4 would not have come about without the amazing performance of Irving (24.6 PPG, 5.5 APG, 1.3 SPG), who was breathtaking in the third quarter with 21 of his 42 total points coming in the period. He was devastatingly efficient from the field, shooting 15-of-22 from the field and making four of seven three-pointers. And while he stole the show, SF LeBron James (32.3 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 6.9 APG, 2.1 SPG, 1.4 BPG) had an excellent night despite picking up an unprecedented four fouls in the first half, scoring 34 points on 15-of-27 shooting to go with five rebounds and six assists. It was especially important that he play well, considering the 11-point dud he put up in Game 3. Always overlooked in this offense, PF Kevin Love (17.3 PPG, 10.3 RPG) once again had a great night, too. He had 17 points and was dominant on the boards with 17 rebounds. It was his first game in this series with fewer than 20 points, but clearly he made his presence felt in another way. Outside of the Big 3, no Cavalier scored more than seven points on Tuesday. Those seven belonged to Tristan Thompson (9.5 PPG, 9.7 RPG), who also had seven boards. SG J.R. Smith (6.7 PPG) rounded out the starting lineup with five points. PG Deron Williams (4.9 PPG) and SG Iman Shumpert (4.7 PPG) combined for seven points, while SG Kyle Korver (6.3 PPG) scored no points on no shots in 20 minutes. With Irving unlikely to give such a Herculean effort two games in a row, the role players will need to step up in Game 5.