Even after the Boston Celtics held serve at home to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals last week, LeBron James didn’t seem overly concerned with how things were shaping up for his Cleveland Cavaliers. When he got back to Northeast Ohio, he showed us why.

James followed up an efficient outing in Saturday’s 30-point drubbing of the visiting Celtics with his sixth 40-point game of the 2018 postseason on Monday, scoring a game-high 44 points in 42 minutes to lead the Cavaliers to a 111-102 win in Game 4 to knot the best-of-seven series up at two games apiece. The series will now shift back to Boston for the ever-pivotal Game 5 on Wednesday.

It wasn’t quite the brand of do-everything brilliance we’re accustomed to seeing from James; he grabbed just five rebounds and dished only three assists against a game-high seven turnovers. But he was absolutely dominant when it came to getting to his preferred spots on the floor and creating high-percentage looks. James shot 13-for-16 in the lane in Game 4, scoring 26 points in the paint — just 12 fewer than the Celtics managed as a team — to provide a steady dose of baskets that put Boston in trail position early and left the C’s chasing all night.

Center Tristan Thompson once again played a major role for coach Tyronn Lue, scoring 13 points with 12 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots in 38 minutes, while helping Cleveland once again dampen the effectiveness of Al Horford. Boston’s All-Star made his presence felt more firmly on Monday than he did in a quiet Game 3, scoring 15 points on 5-for-13 shooting with seven rebounds, and the Celtics did outscore the Cavs by two points in his 42 minutes of work (and were outscored by 11 in the six minutes he sat). But Thompson hounded him all over the court, fought for every offensive rebound and loose ball, and generally proved a persistent thorn in Brad Stevens’ side throughout the game, delivering the sort of rim-running energy and paint-patrolling menace that Cleveland so sorely lacked during the first two games of this series.

Kyle Korver added 14 points, four rebounds and even three blocked shots in 25 minutes off the bench, and Kevin Love battled through a cold shooting night (3-for-12 from the field) and foul trouble to contribute nine points, 11 rebounds and three assists. George Hill (13 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals) and J.R. Smith (nine points, 3-for-6 from 3-point range, three rebounds, three assists) helped space the floor and keep the ball moving for the Cavs, who would lead by as many as 19 points on their way to getting all square in the conference finals.

Jaylen Brown led five Celtics in double figures, scoring 17 of his team-high 25 points after halftime as Boston tried to claw back into the game after digging a big early hole with a slew of missed layups, dunks and other opportunities in the first quarter:

Celtics missed 15 dunks/layups during Game 4. Maybe more painful: The Cavaliers turned those misses into 15 points (4-of-8 shooting, 7 free throws), per @ESPNStatsInfo Jaylen Brown: "Just going too fast, too excited. Just need to slow down." — Chris Forsberg (@ESPNForsberg) May 22, 2018





With Cleveland’s non-LeBron offense slowing down, Boston got as close as seven on two separate occasions in the fourth quarter. They couldn’t get over the hump, though, as LeBron scored seven points in the final 4 1/2 minutes, including a dagger 3-pointer after a blown defensive assignment left him wide open with 1:43 to go, putting Cleveland up by 14 points and sending Stevens’ Celtics back to the drawing board.

LeBron James sets and fires from distance! Make that 42 for LBJ in the game!#WhateverItTakes 109 | #CUsRise 98 1:29 to play on @ESPNNBA pic.twitter.com/Yc4wBgzqZV — NBA (@NBA) May 22, 2018





The Celtics came out of the gates aggressively in Game 4, looking to get Horford moving toward the basket and in a rhythm early after he went without a field goal attempt in the first quarter of Game 3. There was just one problem: Boston couldn’t make a shot up close. The C’s went 3-for-9 at the rim in the opening quarter, missing several layups and even a pair of dunks — one on a drive by Jayson Tatum defended by Thompson, another on a closing-seconds take by Brown — as they failed to take advantage of the relatively few clean opportunities they were able to generate against a more keyed-up and locked-in Cleveland defense.

Story continues