The Cleveland Cavaliers hope a return to their home court could jump-start LeBron James’ offensive game as it did in last year’s NBA Playoffs.

AP / Michael Dwyer

CLEVELAND — One year ago, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers sat in the same uncomfortable position they find themselves in today.

After losing the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals on the road at Detroit, the Cavs came home with a clear mandate. Win and the season lives. Lose and the end of a playoff run is at hand.

When the series shifted to Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavs did indeed bounce back. In fact, James responded with the best stretch of play in his young playoff career as he not only sparked the Cavaliers to two home wins to knot the series at 2-2 but he also led his team in a Game Five win in the Motor City with a franchise-record 48 points. The Cavs then closed out the series with a victory back at home to secure the team’s first-ever berth in the NBA Finals.

Now James and his gang hope for a little déjà vu. The Cavaliers let a chance at an upset of the Boston Celtics slip away in Game One of their Eastern Conference semifinal series but were soundly beaten in Game Two, 89-73. The Cavaliers appeared hopelessly outclassed Thursday night as their offense was handcuffed by the NBA’s premier defense for the second straight game. The Cavs are averaging just 72.5 points on 33 percent shooting, including 19 percent (6-of-31) from behind the 3-point line.

Will a return to the shores of Lake Erie solve the home team’s woes? Can James find more cracks in the Celtics’ suffocating defense and improve his embarrassing 19 percent shooting rate? Are the Celtics too much for this team and ready to win their first playoff road game?

“We have to hold serve at home. That’s how we have to look at it,” said Cavalier guard Wally Szczerbiak. “They did what they were supposed to do and now the pressure is on us to do what we’re supposed to do.”

The Celtics held a light film session yesterday and then flew to Cleveland. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, also viewed plenty of game tape but then went through a light workout that concluded with heavy doses of shooting. James did not speak with reporters after the practice but his teammates and coaching staff did and it’s clear they’re not ready to fold their tents just yet.

They insist that while the Celtics’ defense is exceptional, they aren’t taking advantage of their offensive opportunities. James, who has missed drives to the basket, 3-pointers (0-of-10) and even free throws, is guilty party numero uno.

“We watched the tape twice and he had a handful of looks that weren’t open, they were wide open,” said coach Mike Brown. “He’s hit those time after time after time. He’s just going to have to keep shooting that thing. When that shot goes in, it’s going to boost everyone else up.”

Brown went into a description of what the Celtics are doing with James.

First, they’re using either Paul Pierce or James Posey as the primary defender and both are long, physical, athletic forwards. When a teammate comes to set a high-ball screen for James, another defender either runs at James or fakes a double team, almost like a blitzing safety in football.

If James is fortunate enough to crack through the screen with a comfortable amount of time on the shot clock, he drives to the rim and finds either Kevin Garnett or Kendrick Perkins sliding over to block his path.

But Brown says James is passing up open jump shots before the ball screen is set or mid-range jumpers before the help arrives. James has averaged 7.5 assists in the two games but it also would greatly help if teammates besides Zydrunas Ilgauskas (team-high 20.5 points in the series) and Szczerbiak (13 ppg.) could hit open shots when they get the chance.

“He’s had some open looks but he just has to without hesitation go ahead and knock them down,” said Brown. “One of the things they’re doing a good job of is going between blitzing him and kind of soft trapping him to not trapping him at all. Most teams are overly aggressive with him or not aggressive at all and that’s when you can kind of get in a rhythm and come off things without guessing at all. He’s not always sure what they’re doing. He just has to be more aggressive.”

The Celtics have focused their entire defense on James. As Ray Allen said after Game Two, “for the most part we forced LeBron away from the basket. A couple times he did make it to the basket, we had guys with hands on him. He’s a tough cover because he’s going to put pressure on those big (men) down low but we didn’t let their perimeter guys get an awful lot of threes.”

One of those Cavaliers is Daniel Gibson, a dangerous shooter in his second season out of the University of Texas. He’s one of the players the Cavs need to thrive at home and ease the pressure off James’ shoulders. “He’s still making the game easier for other guys but we have to make plays and make it easier for him. He’s a great player but we have to help, too.”Tonight

Boston at Cleveland

8 o’clock

Chs. 6, 5

WEEI-FM, WSAR

kmcnamar@projo.com