CLEVELAND — If Cleveland fans are wondering what the secret to Monday night’s 88-77 victory over Boston was, they need look no further then the Cavaliers’ bench play.
Forwards Anderson Varejao and Joe Smith and guard Daniel Gibson sparked the Cavs during a fourth-quarter 20-12 run that gave Cleveland the Game 4 win and tied the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series at 2-all.
“We felt in the two games in Boston that their bench came out with more energy than our bench,” Smith said. “We knew when we got back to Cleveland that we were going to have to build upon what the starters did and step it up if the starters struggled at all.”
The trio was on the floor down the stretch, and all three played big parts in the Cavs shutting down the Celtics defensively and putting up back-breaking shots that ensured the Cavs would see their home court at least one more time.
“(The bench play) was big for our team,” Gibson said. “We have to give those guys (starters) a few minutes to rest and we have to go in there and keep up the intensity.”
All three players finished with six rebounds, Varejao picking up four in a row as the Cavs increased their lead from 70-67 to 79-73 in the fourth quarter. Smith had three of his rebounds, off misses from each of Boston’s Big 3 — Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce — and Gibson had two defensive rebounds in the decisive final quarter.
“Anderson definitely had his best game of the season,” LeBron James said. “He set it up with his defense first. He really shut down KG in the last quarter by keeping a body on him and not letting him get to the basket or take an open shot.
“His offense came easy. He’d screen and then get the layup.”
On the other side of the ball, each player had shining moments as the Cavs slowly pulled out the victory.
Gibson hit a 9-foot fadeaway in the lane early, pulled down an offensive rebound off a James miss and hit two big 3-pointers that must have felt like a punch in the gut to the Celtics.
Smith hit a reverse layup off a nice pass from James, and Varejao hit the Cavs’ final two baskets — both midrange jumpers — as the Quicken Loans Arena fans went nuts.
“Me and Andy have had good chemistry all season,” Gibson said. “I think Coach (Mike) Brown does a good job feeling what’s going on in the game. He also does a good job putting the guys on the floor at the end of the game who he feels are playing the best.”
Individually, Gibson was 5-of-9 for 14 points, Smith was 4-of-6 for eight points and Varejao was 6-of-8 for 12 points. As a group, the Cavs bench — with Sasha Pavlovic’s two points — outscored the Celtics bench 36-17 on 15-of-24 (.625) shooting. Boston’s bench finished shooting 4-of-14 (.286).
The bench play paid off big and has given the Cavs new life in the series.
“It was the perfect time for us to step up,” Gibson said. “It was a total team effort.”
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. 

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