"Mentally, we feel like we are a confident team," said Celtics forward Paul Pierce, who had 16 points. "We've been in a Game 7 before. We feel like this is a game we let slip away. I think we're going to go home and take care of business."
Countered James, "Everybody prepares themselves to play into June, and I know I prepared myself to play into June."
After winning an NBA-best 31 road games in the regular season, Boston is winless in six attempts and 0-5 in Cleveland overall, including the regular season. The last time the East's top seed won a road game was at New York April 14. No NBA team has won a title after losing six straight road games.
The Celtics, however, are 7-0 at home during the playoffs. The Cavaliers are 0-5 in Boston. The Celtics thus hope for a repeat of the first-round climax, when they routed Atlanta, 99-65 - at the Garden, of course.
"It's going to be a great game and I'm glad it's at our place," said coach Doc Rivers.
Said Cavaliers coach Mike Brown, "The group we have now is tough and resilient and they understand what it takes to win. We've faced a lot of difficult situations this year. Our guys have just found a way to win. We look forward to going to Boston and having the opportunity to play there again and win on the road."
James scored 32 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and dished 6 assists. But his teammates shot 15 of 50. The Celtics didn't shoot much better - 39.7 percent despite 25 points from Kevin Garnett.
"There are a lot of things that are frustrating, obviously," Garnett said. "[One is] when you hold a team to a pretty decent percentage as far as shooting [and lose]."
The Cavaliers had 16 offensive rebounds and scored 17 second-chance points. The Celtics had seven offensive rebounds and 2 second-chance points. Boston was outrebounded, 45-37, and was held to its lowest postseason point total ever.
"It's tough when you give up that many rebounds, that many second opportunities," Pierce said. "With the type of defense we've been playing, you know it's tough."
