The Cleveland Cavaliers found a way back into the Eastern Conference Finals series last night with a win against the Boston Celtics, and most people with give the credit for the win to LeBron James for his points contribution. However, Kevin Love believes another player deserves huge recognition too.

The Cavaliers defeated the Celtics 116-86 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Saturday, and James played a big contribution towards the result. The four-time MVP winner finished with 27 points, five rebounds, 12 assists, two steals, and two blocks while shooting 8-of-12 from the field.

While James certainly created plenty of footage for the highlight reel, Love believes another player deserves just as much recognition for his defensive work on Celtics' Al Horford, Tristan Thompson. 

He said to ESPN: "Tristan has always been great in stepping up and taking the challenge in any series. You've got to give a lot of credit to Tristan because Horford is really the one that makes them go.

"He can play a little bit of the point forward. He can do a lot of the intangibles that even for their team might not show up on the box score as well. But he did a great job on him tonight, and he's done a great job on him the last two games."

Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue backed Love's recognition of Thompson, praising him for putting the pressure on Horford when he was trying to play to make him uncomfortable.

Lue said: "He's defended him well. I think he's physical. Al Horford is a perennial All-Star, and they run a lot of sets through him. He's usually handling the ball at the top of the key, making the dribble handoffs or pick-and-pop, shooting the 3 and posting him.

"Tristan is the kind of guy who is agile enough to get back on his shot when he pops to put ball pressure on him at the top of the key. Just try to make him uncomfortable. Al is a good player, so he's going to be able to score, but we just want to make it tough. I think Tristan is the best matchup for him for us to do that."

Thompson will have another opportunity to limit Horford's productivity when the Cavaliers play Game 4 against the Celtics at the Quicken Loans Arena once more in Cleveland on Monday night.

Listen HERE to episode two of the new GiveMeSport NBA podcast, featuring New York Times senior writer Marc Stein.

Enjoy, and please subscribe for all future episodes.