Kyrie Irving's Dominance Leads Cavaliers to Game 4 Win vs. Celtics

The Cleveland Cavaliers are one win away from securing a third straight berth in the NBA Finals after they erased a 16-point deficit and downed the Boston Celtics 112-99 to capture a Game 4 victory in the Eastern Conference Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on Tuesday night. 

Beyond overcoming a steep double-digit deficit and a lethargic first-half performance, the Cavaliers also found a way to crank out a win after LeBron James picked up four first-half fouls and was forced to sit for the final 6:46 of the second quarter. 

The Cavaliers were able to stop the bleeding and ultimately romp past the Celtics behind a playoff career-high 42 points from Kyrie Irving—21 of which came during a tide-turning third quarter. 

Thanks to Irving's eruption, the Cavaliers outscored the Celtics 40-23 in the third quarter and dominated them thoroughly, as ESPN Stats & Info noted: 

With Irving assuming the form of a flamethrower, observers were left in awe of his scoring savvy: 

James found his footing in the second half as he stopped settling for jumpers and started to attack the rim en route to 34 points on 15-of-27 shooting, as Boston rookie forward Jaylen Brown can attest: 

The Cavs also received 17 points and a playoff career-high 17 rebounds from Kevin Love, who recorded his fourth straight double-double in the win. 

As a team, the Cavaliers shot 59.5 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from three as they secured a 3-1 series lead. 

The Celtics, meanwhile, experienced harsh regression after they surged ahead in the first half. 

Although they poked holes in Cleveland's defense with precise passing to apply pressure on the defending champs early, the Celtics sputtered after halftime. A game after drilling 18 treys, they shot 10-of-31 from beyond the arc—a mark that didn't cut it against a high-octane Cavaliers offense that was firing on all cylinders. 

Furthermore, the Celtics recorded just 10 assists in the second half after posting 17 on 21 made field goals over the game's first 24 minutes. 

After the Cavaliers avoided disaster Tuesday night, the Celtics will likely need a Game 3 redux in order to stave off elimination.  

The series will now shift back to TD Garden for Game 5, which is scheduled to get underway at 8:30 p.m. ET (TNT) on Thursday night.