BOSTON — Seconds after J. R. Smith ran down the long rebound of a missed jumper from the deep left corner and nailed one from the opposite side, Cedric Maxwell rose from his broadcasting seat and made eye contact with a familiar reporter from his days as a valued piece of two Boston Celtics championship teams in the Larry Bird era of the early to mid-1980s.
Smith’s 20-footer had fallen at the halftime buzzer, pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers’ lead over the Celtics from 39 to 41, a margin that would grow to 50 before the merciful conclusion of a 130-86 annihilation Friday night in Game 2 of an equally lopsided Eastern Conference finals.