Celtics Shock LeBron James, Cavaliers as Avery Bradley Sinks Game-Winner

There will not be a sweep in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Avery Bradley drilled the winning three-pointer in Sunday's Game 3 to give the Boston Celtics the 111-108 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Cleveland still leads the series, 2-1, but Boston bounced back from a 44-point loss in Game 2 with a stellar performance on the road minus an injured Isaiah Thomas and overcame a 21-point deficit in the second half.

The Celtics reacted to Bradley's winning shot:

Boston needed a balanced effort without Thomas on both ends of the floor, and that is exactly what it received. Bradley will draw the headlines with 20 points and the dagger, but Marcus Smart (27 points and seven assists), Jae Crowder (14 points and 11 rebounds), Al Horford (16 points) and Kelly Olynyk (15 points) all came through in impressive fashion.

Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford praised head coach Brad Stevens' effort to get them all to buy in even when they were down 21:

Rather than curl up into a ball after the team announced Thomas was out for the remainder of the playoffs with a hip injury, the Celtics responded with admirable effort. They contested jumpers throughout, generated open looks with crisp ball movement, swarmed LeBron James on defense and even had Matt Moore of CBS Sports pointing to a notable offensive difference:

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┻┳| •.•) The Celtics are getting better looks without IT dribbling the air out
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— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) May 22, 2017"

It is not hyperbole to say Boston played harder than Cleveland after the defending champions appeared to be in cruise control following their dominance in the last two games and their commanding lead Sunday.

The home fans weren't pleased:

In addition to the balanced offense, the defense on James was critical for Boston.

He didn't resemble one of the best players in basketball history with 11 points and six turnovers on 4-of-13 shooting from the field. The Celtics bothered him whenever he ventured into the lane, but he also seemed more than willing to let his teammates do some of the heavy lifting in the scoring department.

ESPN Stats & Info pointed to his late struggles:

Chris Mannix of The Vertical praised Boston's defense, but Andrew Lynch of Fox Sports had another idea:

It looked as if James' supporting cast would still carry Cleveland to victory despite his struggles before Boston's late charge.

Kevin Love set the tone with outlet passing that suggested he was the best quarterback the city of Cleveland has seen in years. He also demonstrated his shooting touch with seven three-pointers—five of which came in the first quarter—and had social media buzzing with his 28 points and 10 rebounds:

Love was far from alone, as Kyrie Irving tallied 29 points and seven assists and slashed into the lane to tie the game at 108 before Bradley's triple. Irving hit four of Cleveland's 16 threes.

However, the shooting disappeared down the stretch, and Cleveland relied on Tristan Thompson (18 points and 13 rebounds) down low against the league's 27th-best rebounding team this season. His performance prevented Boston from pulling away in crunch time and allowed J.R. Smith to tie the game in the final minute with a triple, but it was ultimately to no avail.

The Cavaliers can still maintain control in this series with a victory in Tuesday's Game 4 at home, but they will need a stronger showing from James and locked-in play throughout the contest.

Because Boston proved Sunday it won't go away.