The Eastern Conference Finals are tied at two apiece after the Cleveland Cavaliers responded at home with back-to-back wins over the Boston Celtics.

Here are takeaways from Game 4.

Boston can’t get over the hump

As bad as they played and as many opportunities as they missed, the Celtics closed the deficit to a few possessions multiple times. They just couldn’t get any closer and they’ll look back in frustration at the moments where they could have capitalised. Boston missed a total of 15 dunks and layups in the loss, with those misses turning into 15 points for Cleveland, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Just a rough night.

Korver comes through on defence

Kyle Korver is considered a one-way player, but he’s actually not as bad of a defender as his reputation would suggest. The sharpshooters showed off his defensive ability in Game 4 when he did well to limit Jaylen Brown and finished with three impressive blocks. Brown got it going in the second half, but by then, Cleveland had built up enough of a lead to where it didn’t end up mattering. Boston should keep attacking Korver, but it won’t always result in a bucket.

Cavs relentless picking on Rozier

It’s not a secret how the Cavaliers want to attack Boston’s defence. Terry Rozier may be a good perimeter defender, but he can’t hang in the post against LeBron James or Kevin Love, which is why Cleveland are going after him again and again after drawing a switch. Boston simply haven’t executed well in sending help from the weakside to get Rozier out of those situations and when he’s been stuck on an island, the Cavaliers have seemingly got whatever they’ve wanted.

 

Thompson makes life hard

He’s not scoring or filling up the stat sheet much, but Tristan Thompson has undoubtedly been one of the most important players in the series. His defence has really given the Celtics trouble and presented a mirage on mismatches, baiting players to attack him only to end up with a poor shot. When Thompson was the primary defender in Game 4, Boston players shot just 3-of-11 from the field.

Whistles throw off rhythm

The flow of Game 4 was just… off. A total of 49 fouls where whistled, which ended up hurting both sides and putting several players in foul trouble. There’s a difference between calling the game in a manner that prevents the play from getting overly-physical and calling touch fouls. Too often, the refs in Game 4 were doing the latter, which is particularly frustrating to watch and for players to play through in a hyper-competitive playoff setting.