The obvious place to start is on the defensive end, where the 5-foot-9 Thomas often has to be hidden on less threatening players. Every team the Celtics have played in the postseason has tried to target him in pick-and-rolls and in the post. Boston is a small team in the frontcourt, but when Thomas is on the bench, it can make up for that with the size, speed and versatility of perimeter defenders Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley.

　　托马斯不在，凯尔特人就不用过多地换防、补防，在三分线外封堵射手也做得更好。骑士的进攻几乎是不可能防得住，而波士顿的运动能力和对抗让不可能之事有了一丝希望。

　　Without Thomas, the Celtics have switched less, scrambled less and done a better job of running shooters off the 3-point line. The Cavaliers represent an almost impossible challenge for most defenses, and Boston's extra physicality and athleticism have made a difference.

　　托马斯防守十分卖力，但他不在场时，凯尔特人常规赛防守效率有99.7，比赛季联盟第一的防守还要好；他在场，这个数字就成了108.6分，即每百回合多丢8.9分，和纽约尼克斯差不多。

　　Thomas competes defensively, but with him on the bench, the Celtics had a 99.7 defensive rating in the regular season, which would have ranked first in the league if sustained for a full season. With him on the court, they had a 108.6 defensive rating, which was about the same as the New York Knicks' mark.

　　那么问题来了，波士顿需要托马斯才能打出最好的进攻。第三场，波士顿的转移球和跑位极其可怕，克服了托马斯缺阵的问题。给史蒂文斯个赞吧，还有布拉德利、斯玛特和约纳斯-杰里布科，他们的自主得分能力帮了大忙——布拉德利有那个绝杀的机会，也要拜杰里布科和斯玛特所赐，他们俩18投12中，三分12投9中。而不幸的是，第四场的斯玛特9投1中，三分5投1中。

　　The conundrum, of course, is that Boston needs Thomas in order to be the best offensive team it can be. The Celtics were significantly In Game 3, they had so much ball movement and player movement that they overcame his absence. Credit Stevens, and credit Bradley, Smart and Jonas Jerebko for their shot-making -- Bradley only had his chance to make the game-winner because Smart and Jerebko combined to shoot 12-for-18 and 9-for-12 from deep. Unfortunately for the Celtics, Smart shot 1-for-9 and missed four of his five 3-point attempts in Game 4.

　　骑士打东决是做了详尽准备的，也不怕告诉别人。泰伦-卢其实并不想托马斯有太好发挥，尤其在波士顿的主场，那的球迷都是跟着球队共存亡。骑士保留了第二轮的打法，对小托马斯采用延阻与快速换防，就像对付洛瑞和德玛尔-德罗赞那样，波士顿的整体性又不好，无法见招拆招。小托马斯缺席的六节比赛中，凯尔特人成功利用了骑士常常走神的毛病，但骑士第四场第二节也提升了强度，波士顿的进攻随之崩坏。

　　Cleveland entered the conference finals with a specific game plan, and it was not shy about sharing it. Coach Tyronn Lue did not want Thomas to go off, especially in Boston, where the crowd can feed off his energy. The Cavaliers blitzed him the same way they blitzed Lowry and DeMar DeRozan in the second round, and Boston was not connected enough offensively to counteract that. Through six quarters without Thomas, the Celtics exploited the Cavs' sometimes-poor focus away from the ball, but Cleveland dialed up the pressure in the second half of Game 4 and Boston's offense fell apart.

　　“这算是个不小的挑战吧，毕竟我们之前对这一轮的准备都是针对托马斯的，”詹姆斯说。“现在他们的打法大变，所以我们也要搞明白对手的策略，还有其中的本质，所以小托马斯不在反而对我们提升了难度。但现在两场过去了，我们也懂了不少，所以第五场打得应该会更好。”

　　"It's a difficult challenge because our preparation going into the series was going against a team with Isaiah," James said. "They're playing a lot differently now, so we're trying to figure out exactly what they're running and things of that nature, so it's been very difficult on us without I.T. on the floor. But now this is two games that we have. We've been able to see them, we're going to get a better understanding, so we should be a lot better in Game 5."

　　第四节10分55秒，杰伊-克劳德命中三分，凯尔特人追到86-90。他们追分已经做得很不错了，但还是需要一些进攻上的驱动力。一般来说，这会儿就该轮到托马斯接管比赛了，但现在波士顿只能继续挣扎前行。骑士最后112-99取得胜利，靠的是两位超级巨星的进攻火力。欧文全场42分，第三节单节就21分，然后詹姆斯第四节也得到15分全场34分。

　　When Jae Crowder made a 3-pointer with 10:55 left, the Celtics trailed 90-86. They were undoubtedly in striking distance, but they needed some kind of offensive spark. Normally, this is where Thomas might try to take over, but instead Boston struggled to get anything going. The Cavaliers ended up with a 112-99 victory, thanks largely to their two best players generating offense. Irving had 21 of his 42 points in the third quarter, then James had 15 of his 34 in the fourth.

　　“他们简直难以置信，”史蒂文斯说，“欧文第三节根本挡不住，勒布朗如你所见第四节各种进球。我觉得我们努力过了，上半场差不多是季后赛中的最佳表现。防守端也做的非常好，进攻上我认为大家传球、空切打得很有整体性。然后种种原因吧，做了这么多却还是不太够，取胜稍微难了些。”