PUSKAS: Low energy costs Cavs

You know that awkward feeling when your column is basically finished and then the unexpected happens?

Welcome to my world.

Nobody expected the Boston Celtics to come back from the dead and win Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals Sunday night, but that’s exactly what happened.

Unexpected, indeed.

The Cavaliers seemed to have snuffed out any life the Celtics had in a 130-86 romp in Game 2 in Boston on Friday night. Then came the news that point guard Isaiah Thomas — the Celtics’ best player — was done for the playoffs.

If the Boston Massacre hadn’t sealed the Celtics’ fate, surely not having Thomas was the clincher.

But then the Cavaliers didn’t answer the bell for the second half Sunday night. The Celtics used a 26-10 third-quarter run to get back into it, but the Cavaliers helped by playing with little or no energy as Boston kept chipping away.

Bad shots beget more bad shots. And then, when the Cavaliers actually did get open looks, they didn’t convert as they had in the first half, when Kevin Love shot 7 of 10 on 3-pointers and scored 22 points.

LeBron James was more facilitator than dominator in that first half, which ended with the Cavaliers lead 66-50. He made some highlight-reel passes, but didn’t attack the paint as he did in the first two games in Boston.

The sense was that James would take over in the second half, even as the Celtics started chipping away, but this was not the LeBron we’ve seen in the playoffs to this point. There was no sense of urgency for James or the Cavaliers, even as their lead steadily diminished.

The malaise — perhaps it was a lack of respect for the outmanned Celtics — seemed to affect James and the Cavaliers at both ends of the court.

LeBron was 1 for 8 in the second half and finished with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. He simply wasn’t a factor in the offense, which had far too many one-shot possessions in the second half, even with Tristan Thompson his usual dominant self inside.

Love also disappeared. He was 0 for 3 from 3-point range in the second half and finished with 28 points after setting a first-half playoff record with 22 before the break.

Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers 29 points in 10-of-15 shooting, including a driving layup to tie the game at 108 with 10.7 seconds to play.

But as they did late in the postseason, the Cavaliers did little on defense as the second half progressed. The Celtics got more and more easy shots as their comeback continued and it culminated in the game-winner, a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by a wide-open Avery Bradley.

But the game wasn’t really lost on that shot. It was lost midway through the fourth quarter, when the Cavaliers lost their intensity and became content to try to trade baskets.

The Cavaliers might have been due for a letdown after a 44-point win in Game 2. The Celtics were embarrassed Friday night and had something to prove.

But obviously all is not lost. Boston was motivated to atone for its awful Game 2, but the Celtics are still terribly shorthanded and faced with tough matchups all over the court.

The Cavaliers are still firmly in control. They lead 2-1 and Game 4 is Tuesday night in Cleveland, where James and the Cavs will want to show this was an unexpected anomaly.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.