This may shock some of you, but Doc Rivers did a couple things tonight that I not only LOVED, but that I've been asking him to do.  Unfortunately, the Celtics were on the road so it didn't matter.

The first thing he did was give LeBron a little more room to maneuver.  Instead of throwing our 5 guys at LeBron, leaving the rest of the Cavs open for easy buckets, we backed off.  We didn't smother James until he got in the paint, and although he got a few easy buckets, the plan worked.  The Cavs were held to 74 points on their home court, shot 32% as a team, and everybody in white not named LeBron  shot 15-50.  If I was any good at math I'd tell you what percentage that was... but I know it's low.  Delonte was the only other Cav to score in double-digits with 10, and overall it was a great shift in philosophy.  However, two huge flaws derailed our hopes of winning.  First, we stood idle and let Cleveland swallow 16 offensive rebounds, destroying our morale and negating quite a few quality defensive stops.  Second, and more importantly, our offense was just as impotent.

We didn't crack 20 points in a single quarter, couldn't get to the free-throw line (more on that later), shot 4-16 from downtown and only converted 40% of our shots.  In a story that is becoming disgustingly stale, Kevin Garnett was the only Celtic who seemed able to score and had 25 of our 69 points.   Paul Pierce tried, converting 5 of his 15 shots, but that's it.  Rondo was disappointing after his huge game 5, basically doing nothing on the court - 2 points (that didn't come until the 4th), 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers.  Ray Allen, shooting 3-8 with no 3's is making me wonder if we wouldn't have been better off with Wally, Delonte and the #5 pick.  Perkins was a disaster, not boxing anybody out and racking up foul after foul (more on that in a moment). 

Back to my original sentence, the second thing that Doc did that we at BostonSportZ have been begging for was playing Eddie House (and keeping Cassell's ass on the bench).  After seeing only seconds of court time through the previous 5 games, Eddie was on the court for 18 minutes tonight, and played very well.  He closed out the 1st quarter with a long two, opened up the 2nd with a 3, and finished with 8 points (3-5 shooting) with 2 three's, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and no turnovers.  His defense was up to par (and far better than Cassell), and hopefully showed Doc that he deserves those backup minutes.  While Sam and Eddie are both out there looking for their shot, Sam is going to take it no matter what (usually immediately after bringing the ball up the court) while Eddie has the sense to know when he's better off passing.  It's a simple, subtle difference, but can mean the 2nd unit letting the game get out of hand, or playing good, quality basketball. 

LeBron had a good game... not a great game, a good game.  Despite what you're going to see on SportsCenter, LeBron wasn't AMAZING.   The difference between LeBron in Game 6 and LeBron in the other games is what I said at the top -- we let him get some shots tonight.  So, that alone inflated his numbers (which still weren't all that great).  Stuart Scott will tell you how "King James scored 32 with 12 rebound and 6 assists"... But what they won't say is that he had 8 turnovers and shot a paltry 9-23 from the field.  This wasn't even his best game of the series... His 21 point, 13 assist game was far superior.  Just trying to keep things in perspective here.

BOXSCORE 

I just want to take a moment now and rant about the officiating.  I'm not blaming the loss on the Ref's... I'm saving that for Ray Allen who once again brought nothing to the game.  However, I can't seem to understand how LeBron James single handedly shot more free-throws than our entire team 15-13, even though we started pounding the ball down-low instead of settling for jumpers.  It was clear (to me, at least) that our guys were getting knocked around with no repercussions, while we couldn't do anything without getting called for it.  In the last minute alone, Pierce got called on an absolute BS charging foul and he was dribbling past... you guessed it!  LeBron who was moving and not even in front of Pierce.  Ray Allen had a fast break layup in which he was fouled, put the ball up, it bounced off the backboard when Delonte came soaring in and swatted it away.  Should've been a goaltend (once the ball hits the backboard, it can't be touched).  The shot should've counted and Ray should've gone to the line for 1.  Never called.  Then, with 14 seconds left (and Boston down by 3), Cleveland inbounded the ball to Joe Smith who immediately traveled, which was never called.  I seriously think Doc needs to pull a Mark Cuban and make a "Cleveland's Most Egregious Non-Calls" highlight film and send it to the league office.  With LeBron traveling all over the court, never getting called for it, all the flopping Cleveland is doing and how much we're getting hacked with no whistles... there's something we have to be able to do.  It's absurd.

MVC: Kevin Garnett.  I said it before, and I'll say it again.... KG is the only Celtic out there who looks like he truly wants to win that ring.   25 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks -- it wasn't his strongest game, but he was the only Celtic who appeared to be competent on offense. 

Lastly, I just want to commend Doc on switching things up for Game 6 -- if Ray Allen and Rondo could've done ANYTHING the score would've been different and we could be talking about Detroit right now.   I just hope Doc sticks to the same gameplan ion Sunday -- let LeBron do what he needs to do and make the scrubs he plays with beat us on the road in Game 7.  I'm fairly confident in the outcome of that storyline.  And, oh yeah, keep House on the court.  Please.

Listen, I understand Lebron is fantastic! He is one of the top 5 players in the NBA, But after listening to his comments during last night's press conference, I don't know how you can cheer for a guy that only cares about himself. You may say it to your boys in private, but not publicly. I THOUGHT he was better than that.

As you've noticed Lebron exaggerates when he gets fouled just a TINY bit and acts like he's dying. So now here is a fan rapping, telling us to stop fouling Lebron. What is it with crazy fans thinking they can rap? Remember these two guys from Atlanta?

Thanks to our boys at Redsarmy for this.

Doc and Paul talk about how frustrated KG was headed into last night's big win where he stepped up.

"He's Nuts" -Doc Rivers

Brought to you by our good friends at REDSARMY

Fans always refer to their teams in inclusive terms.

“We can’t win on the road.” 

“We’ll get them in Game 5″

“Our offense can look so bad some times”

We’ve seen the Celtics suck on the road.  We’ve heard them say how much they’re affected by the crowd.  So I say forget all the going nuts over who sucked in game 3 or game 4.  Forget getting pissed about rotation this and rotation that.  The Celtics have home court advantage… which means it’s up to US to get the job done.

It’s up to us to make a ton of noise during the intros.  It’s up to us to chant “DE-FENSE” or “Let’s Go Cel-tics (clap, clap, clap clap clap) without being prompted by the jumbotron or Lucky.  If these guys need us to help them out… then dammit… lets help them out.  Don’t be discouraged by Cleveland’s made baskets.  Don’t clam up after a 6-0 run.  The team clearly feeds off us… so lets feed them like a fat guy at a buffet.

We can debate whether their dependence on the crowd is a shortfall later.  All I know is… they clearly need us… and if we win… we can all take heart in knowing we helped them win it all.  And then there’s this:  After seeing the Pats win on neutral sites and the Red Sox win it on the road twice… won’t it be great to celebrate a championship on the streets of Boston?

The only thing I wonder is… how the hell are they going to get ALL of us on a duck boat?

What the hell is going on right now?  I know Aaron will break down tonight's game but I need to vent.  Why are the Celtics so soft all of the sudden?  Why isn't anyone stepping up in crunch time? 

I'm sick of seeing Doc laugh off bad calls with the referee when he disagrees.  Doc needs to flip out and get thrown out of one of these road games.   Do something to light a fire under the team's collective ass! 

Perk played 19 minutes and only had 2 points (both from the line) and 3 rebounds!  Really Perk?  It's time to man up and play like the beast you're supposed to be!

Leon plays only 6 minutes tonight.  6 friggin minutes?  Why all of the sudden does Doc feel like he needs to get Big Baby involved?  Leon hasn't done anything to lose his minutes so stop messing around with the rotation.  This isn't the preseason!

Sam Cassell is absolutely useless if he isn't knocking down shots.  Tonight he was useless as he went 0-5 from the field.  FREE EDDIE HOUSE!! 

Pierce and Ray need to stop playing like rookies.  These two are driving me crazy!!  Lebron had three fouls on him at the half.  Lebron finished the game with three fouls!!  Pierce needs to attack Lebron and take the ball to the hoop.  Another foul early in the 3rd would have put Lebron on the bench for a good stretch.  When Lebron went to the bench at the end of the first half it was the only time the C's did anything productive all night long.  Ray needs to stop waiting until the second half to join the action.  Would someone please tell him the first half counts?

KG was solid but I'd love to see him go towards the basket a little more instead of always falling away.  On the road you need to force the referees to make calls and you're not going to do that by taking fade away jumpers.   

I still think the C's will win this series but this road thing is getting on my nerves.  It's strictly mental at this point and the fact that this team can't overcome that is really disappointing.  I'm sick of hearing them in the post-game interview talk about how they just need to come out with more focus and energy for the next game.  Stop talking about it and just get it done! 

There are many reasons why the Boston Celtics lost their 5th straight playoff road game.  They don't have a single player on their roster who is able to step up in the 4th quarter and make... a shot.  As a team they could only muster 12 points in the 4th quarter.  Sam Cassell (who went 0'fer, once again), absolutely kills our second unit.  Our offense, nay, our team, is unable to gain any sort of rhythm on any part of the court while he is in the game.  Rajon Rondo took more shots (14) than everybody not named Pierce (17)... but at least Rondo made half of his shots.  Perkins served no purpose on the court tonight, and James Posey showed that he is in fact human, with a disgusting -18 +/- rating, bringing nothing on offense and making key defensive errors.

There are only a few definitive conclusions I can draw from this game.  First, Kevin Garnett appears to be the only Celtic (with the possible exception of Pierce) who truly wants to win that title.  He killed himself on that court tonight, and unfortunately appeared to have nothing in the tank down the stretch.  You can only carry 11 guys for so long before you start to tire.  His numbers aren't eye-popping -- 15 points (6-13 shooting) 10 rebound and 4 assists -- but his effort was.  That was, until the 4th quarter when he was effectively shutdown by the defensive stylings of Anderson Varejao... yes, the same Anderson Varejao that looks like he should be mopping the floors at the mall food court.

Second, Ray Allen really needs to step it up.  He had his best game of the series so far --  15 points (4-10 shooting) 2 3's, 6 rebounds and 3 assists -- but didn't do much on the court for most of the game.  Perhaps someone should let him know that he's being covered by Wally freakin' Szczerbiak, not Ron Artest.  We desperately need offense, and that's what Ray Allen does.  Did... needs to do again.  Pierce is at least killing himself on D.  What are you doing, Ray?

Third, Pierce and LeBron's defensive battle may not go down in the  NBA Playoff lore, but it should.  Two of the most dynamic offensive players in the game are virtually playing eachother to a standstill.  The one advantage each has when playing lesser opponents is their strength, but that has clearly been negated facing eachother.  They are each giving 100% on the defensive end -- Pierce holding LeBron to 7-20, James holding Paul to 6-17 (with nearly all of Pierce's baskets coming against Pavlovic while LeBron was on the bench).  Unfortunately, LeBron has the advantage here because he's been able to get to the line (8 attempts to Pierce's 2), and because his teammates have been stepping up and hitting their shots.  LeBron had 13 assists tonight, and it was clear that he was comfortable letting the rest of the Cavs make their shots.  Pierce is stuck with a group in which 5 players shot a combined 0-12.  I don't mind that Pierce isn't doing much on offense, as he's killing himself on D... but we really need him to step up on both ends.

These two even brought a little excitement to the contest.  Before LeBron was about to go up for a layup, Pierce wrapped him up.  LeBron didn't like this, and as his momentum carried the two out of bounds along the baseline, they began to get a little shovey.  Anyway, it wasn't a big deal... LeBron didn't want to be wrapped up, and Pierce didn't want LeBron to get an easy bucket.  Some woman who I was about to refer to as, "some crazy lady" before I just found out was LeBron's mother, Gloria, went over to the two and began screaming at Paul until LeBron started screaming at her to get away.  KG headed over there, and it was just a weird, weird moment.  Good thing Jermaine O'Neal wasn't a Celtic or Gloria might've gotten a right-hook to the jaw.

Fourth, Sam Cassell is the worst.  He needs to stay on the bench.  He does not bring a single positive to this team.   5 shots don't seem like a lot, but in a close game his momentum-killing bricks derailed the offense and gave Cleveland a handful of easy transition buckets going the other way.  His defense is porous, as Daniel Gibson was able to score most of his 14 points running circles around Sam.  Doc, if you want to still have a job next season, I beg you, use Eddie House.  Just try it.  Do you honestly think Eddie could play worse than Cassell?  It wasn't that long ago that in this very blog I called Eddie House an "offensive wizard" and even photoshopped his picture to give him a pointy hat and a wand.  We Need Offense.  Sam Sucks.  Put In Eddie...  Please.

BOXSCORE 

MVC:  PJ Brown.  Haven't mentioned him yet, but for an old man who hasn't seen much court time, PJ gave us 22 minutes of consistent, quality basketball.  With Perk being useless, and in foul trouble, and useless, Doc turned to PJ, who returned the favor by nabbing 6 rebounds and scoring 8 points on 4-4 shooting.

So, we're headed back to Boston on Wednesday, where we'll probably win by 18... It's not right to keep toying with the hopes and dreams of small children all over New England... or guys in their mid-twenties.  Play consistent, Boston.  And play Eddie House, Doc. 

You may have caught this clip of a sit down conversation between Bill Russell and Kevin Garnett during halftime of last night's game.  For those of you that are unfamiliar with Mr. Russell - he only won 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons as a player and coach.  He is truly a living legend and you can see the amazing level of respect these two men have for each other. 

I definitely had goosebumps watching this for the first time last night.  ABC and ESPN are planning to show additional pieces of the conversation as the Celtics continue through the playoffs and I can't wait to see more!

By the way...no disrespect to Ted Williams, but can Bill Russell get a tunnel or bridge or something named after him around here.  We certainly know that decision wasn't based on the number of championships brought to the city!

The highlight of tonight's contest between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers happened during the halftime show.  ESPN ran about 3 minutes of a conversation between Bill Russell and Kevin Garnett.  I'm not ashamed to admit the ol' eyes got a little watery.  Bill told KG, with tears developing in his own eyes, how proud of Garnett he was, and told him that he believes KG will win 1 or 2 rings before he retires, but if he doesn't, Bill said he'd share one of his championships with Garnett.  KG sat there, virtually speechless, and we're going to try to find a clip of that to share with you.

Other than that, tonight was a bloody disaster.  Boston came out flat... once again.  The bench wasn't able to rescue anybody this time.   We were porous on defense, embarrassing on offense and I have no confidence that we'll be able to make any road game even competitive from here on out.  Thank God for home court advantage!

The Celtics came out in the first, missed a couple of easy baskets, and Cleveland immediately grabbed the momentum-reigns and never looked back.  After the first quarter, Boston was down 32-13 -- we let the Cavs shoot 65% from the field, and at one point the score was 16-6, with Ben Wallace having as many points as the entire Celtics team.  It was that kind of night.  Boston made a couple runs to cut down the lead, rattling off 10 straight points in the 2nd and 7 straight in the 3rd, but both times we let Cleveland regain control with some easy 3 point shots.   

We're not going to dwell too much on tonight's performance.  With the exception of Garnett and Posey, the entire Celtics team was sub-par.  To paint a picture of the type of night it was, Boston didn't attempt a single free-throw until there was 3 and 1/2 minutes left in the first half.  To close out the 2nd quarter, Perkins airballed a 7 foot jumpshot, and in the third he actually attempted a 15 foot turnaround jumper while being covered by Ben Wallace (look at the picture if you think I'm making that up).  Delonte West played "Rover", wreaking absolute havoc on our offense.  Rondo had zero confidence in his jumpshot in the first half (he knocked down a couple in the second), effectively allowing Cleveland to ignore him.  Cleveland shot 54% from the field, 53% from downtown, dished 29 assists and only committed 10 turnovers.  West dominated Rondo, scoring 21 points and 7 assists (on 7-11 shooting with 4 3's), to Rondo's 7 points (on 3-10), 1 rebound and 0 assists.  

BOXSCORE 

MVC: We're giving co-MVC tonight to KG and Posey.  The only two Celtics who came to play.  Garnett finished with 17 points (8-13 shooting) with 9 boards.  Posey had 11 points with 3 3's.  Neither was spectacular, but they hurt Boston the least... 

In keeping with my post-loss venting sessions, there are a couple things I want to touch on.  First, the officiating was atrocious tonight.  Now, I'm in no way blaming the loss on the refs.  We blew it by playing terrible basketball, but were this a close game, my blame may lie on the striped shirts.   I'm not sure what our guys  need to do to get to the foul line, but they're getting roughed up out there and not getting any calls.  Second, it looks like we're going to get at least one Oscar-worthy performance from LeBron per game.  Tonight it happened on a flagrant foul on Posey.  LeBron was driving, Posey reached out to stop him -- obviously going for the foul, but he did go for the ball -- LeBron happened to drop his head and shoulders (as he usually does) and Posey grazed LeBron's neck with his hand.  The way LeBron dropped and rolled on the ground clutching his neck, you'd think he just had a run-in with the Boston Strangler.  Of course, once he made his point he jumped to his feet as if nothing had happened.  His act (and Varejao's just as bad) is getting old, quick.  The man is 6'9" 250.  Act like it.  My favorite part about all the LeBron acting is his new Vitamin Water commercial where he plays the defense attorney.  At the end of the commercial, as he proves his case, he says, "Besides, dude's fakin'".  Yes you are, LeBron.  Yes you are.

Lastly, we're going to dispense some amateur, outsider advice for Doc.  Number one, there's no reason that ice-cold Ray Allen should have 1 fewer field goal attempt than KG -- more importantly, there's no reason that KG should've only taken 13 shots.  Tonight he was all we had -- get him the ball.  Second, try throwing Eddie House out there.  If the Cavs are going to let Delonte West roam around and disrupt our offense, replace Rondo with House and let's make them pay.  There's a reason that we have Eddie -- for situations exactly like this.  That'll keep West where he should be (and where we know where he is) and let the rest of the offense function as it should.  Third, let's mix it up for Game 4.  We haven't won on the road yet -- let's try something else.  Sit Perk and start Posey -- or bring Ray off the bench.  Our defense is clearly better when Posey is on the court.  The only downside is matching up with Big Z, but Zydrunas is killing us no matter what we do, we don't have the height to deal properly with him.  At least with Posey out there we can cut down on the perimeter attacks and ensure LeBron is kept in check. 

That's all I have for you tonight.  I'm still confident we're moving on to the next round -- mainly because we kept LeBron in check for 3 straight games now (he was 5-16 tonight if you were wondering) and we seem invincible at home -- but it sure would be nice to win an away game. 

I'll let the Rock tell you all about it.

Thanks to Redsarmy

We can chalk the Celtics decisive victory up to two very important factors: Defense (of course) and our bench; mainly, Posey, Powe, Cassell and PJ. 

The game began like a nightmare.  Boston's offense mimicked the complete lack of flow from game 1.  The Cavs were triple-teaming KG on the block, not allowing him any good looks.  Not only was Ray Allen missing his field goals, he was missing free-throws as well.  Worst of all, the Cavs head coach Mike Brown, decided (intelligently) that he was going to let Big Z anchor the Cleveland offense.   Zydrunas scored the Cavs first 8 points (not missing a shot), Cleveland jumped out to a 12 point lead and it had all the makings for a looooong night in Beantown.

That's when Doc went to his bench, and the tide turned for good.   Posey did all the same, great Posey things he did in Game 1, Cassell kept his finger off the trigger and focused on getting his team good looks and hitting his open shots, Powe was a monster under the rim, and even PJ Brown got in on the action.  With the energy group on the floor, Boston quickly turned the deficit upside down, putting the Celtics on top (where they'd stay for good).  At the end of the half, the bench had outscored our starters 26-18 -- Powe had 9 points (and 6 boards), and we went into the half up 44-36.

Quarter number 3 began with a bang.  Ray Allen scored the first basket of the half on an easy lay-in (off an offensive rebound from a previous missed shot attempt), and Boston quickly rattled off 6 straight points (including 2 more from Ray on a pair of free-throws) before Mike Brown called a timeout.   It didn't matter.  Boston didn't lose an ounce of momentum and they completely steamrolled the Cavs in the quarter.  Not sure what happened to Ray Allen during halftime, but he came out playing masterfully.  Not only did he score 11 points in the 3rd (after being held scoreless for 72 minutes of basketball), but he orchestrated quite a few easy baskets for Boston.  Doc finally used Ray appropriately, getting him the ball off of screens.  Cleveland would double-team Ray as soon as he received the pass, and he'd hit the open Celtic.  Cleveland had no counter.

Boston's defense was astounding once again.  The Cavs began the game hitting 11 of their first 22 shots.  Out of their next 22, they only made 3.  One of the announcer made the comment that, "It is almost like there are 6 Celtics on the floor".  Not only did they keep LeBron in check, but nobody in red could establish anything.  Boston snatched 11 steals and held Cleveland to just 36% from the field.  However, the best defense was saved for James.   After shooting 2-18 on Tuesday, James only converted 6 of 24 tonight (including 4 bricks from downtown).   He finished with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 more turnovers (to add to the 10 from game 1).   While the Cavs did a better job of getting LeBron in a position to score, the Celtics defense wouldn't allow it.  Hustling back on transition, what looked like easy baskets by James turned into missed layups (or no shot attempts at all) as LeBron was met by 2, 3 or sometimes 4 white jerseys between him and the rim.  I could gush about the Celtics defense for 10,000 words and I wouldn't be doing them enough justice.

MVC: Paul Pierce.  In the first quarter, Paul was the only Celtic doing anything productive on offense (scoring 7 points, after his anemic game 1).  He finished the game with 19 points (on 7-13 shooting), with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals (and no turnovers).  Despite leaving the game for a bit with an injured thumb (he appeared to bend his thumbnail back at the start of the 2nd), his D on LeBron was top-notch again.  He's not intimidated by LeBron, and more importantly, he's up to the challenge of guarding him.  Congrats to Paul as well for winning All-NBA 3rd team honors (Garnett made 1st team, not surprisingly), although Pierce definitely should've been 2nd team of Dirk.  Just a great day for Paul Pierce and his fans.

A couple things to touch on before we sign off here.  First, LeBron James' crying, overreacting and over-acting on the court.  Just 2 days ago I got into a debate on the CelticsBlog forums about LeBron and whether he's a "crybaby".  Oddly enough, I took the stance of defending King James.  The discussion started over his over-acting on the flagrant that was called on Cassell during game 1.  My stance was that his reaction (while absurd) worked, he got the flagrant call and the opportunity to get some extra points out of the situation.  Did I necessarily agree with it?  No, but I didn't think we should attack LeBron over it, as he was just trying to put his team in the best position to win.  My stance was, and still is, that it is the ref's faults for being so easily swayed and the NBA's fault for doing nothing about all the flopping, whining and acting on the court.  Well, tonight LBJ took it to a whole other level.  First, he got a call on Posey when they both went for the ball along the sideline and LeBron literally propelled himself backwards as if he was shoved (even though Posey didn't touch him).  Worse, the ref was RIGHT THERE.  Incredible.  Second, and far worse in my opinion, was the call THAT HE GOT when he was driving down the middle and Pierce grabbed him, preventing him from attempting the layup.  LeBron wanted it to be a shooting foul -- it was called a blocking foul.  It truly could've gone either way.  LeBron had not, by any means, began an attempt to shoot or to get into a position to shoot.  But, it was obvious that that was what he was going to do once he took the next step... Pierce, wisely, stopped him before he got the chance.  Anyway, LeBron spend the next 5 minutes complaining directly to the refs.  He got in their huddle while the refs were debating, and he carried his whining all the way through while he inbounded the ball -- he literally stood there while he held the ball to inbound it, yelling at the ref.  Is there another player in the league who can show up an official for MINUTES in a row and not get a technical?  I still can't blame it on LeBron, but the league needs to do something about this.  It really turns off the casual fan and makes the league look tainted.

 Alright, I'll end my anti-acting rant now.  Boston played amazing defense, once again.  They kept LeBron in check, and minus the opening minutes outburst by Zydrunas, didn't let another Cav get anything going.  They had more energy, more desire, and the deeper team.  Our bench bailed us out, KG owned the paint (partially due to the fact that Ben Wallace left early with "dizziness" and didn't return), and KG's wingmen stepped it up.  I'd like to see if Boston can keep this momentum up and win a game on the road.

Lastly, let's calm down with the chants of "over-rated" and thinking that we somehow own LeBron.  I brought this up briefly after Tuesday's game, but last season Detroit had similar success at home against LeBron in the first two games... only to see him go off and single-handedly win 4 straight games (and the series).  He's still an unstoppable player, and although we've been able to keep him in check for 8 quarters, we can't realistically expect to keep it up.  LeBron is going to get his points... if he has to hog the ball to do it, he's going to.  My concern is how we'll match points with him down the stretch on the road if we get into a dogfight.  Up 2-0 feels good... but it felt great against the Hawks and we know how that turned out.  Beyond all that, though, just a great game by the entire Celtics team and coaching staff. 

Oh, and during the pre-game show Stephen A. Smith was talking about Tyson Chandler and said that he's, "long, lanky, and has long arms".   Just thought you'd enjoy that.  GO CELTICS!!!

This one comes from Pierce talking about one of the problems in Game 1 was that he was too hyped up to play.

Sometimes looking at the video montage the Celtics put together for pregame introductions "makes you feel like you drank 10 Red Bulls."

Round 2 of the playoffs brings old friend Delonte West back to town with the Cavs as he faces the team that he began his career with - the Boston Celtics. 

Delonte was shipped to Seattle in the Ray Allen trade on draft day last year.  He's now the starting point guard for Cleveland after being traded for a second time during the season.

If you're a fan of Delonte or even if you know nothing about him, you need to check out this video made during his time in Boston.  Words really can't even begin to decribe it.  Let's just say...Delonte is one unique cat!

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish...

There a a ton of storylines for tonight's game, but the biggest, and most important, revolves around LeBron James.  LeBron nearly had a quadrupal-double tonight, putting up 12-9-9-10... that's 12 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists and 10 turnovers.  Oh yeah, he also only made 2 field goals (on 18 attempts) and missed the potential game-tying layup with a few seconds left.  To understand just how masterful the Celtics defense was tonight, try to let this little fact sink in:  LeBron scored the first field goal of the game, and he didn't score another until there was only 5 minutes left in the 4th.  James was shut out (from the field) for 3 whole quarters of basketball.  You don't need to be a rabid NBA fan to know that as LeBron goes, the Cavs go.

OK, enough LeBron talk... the last thing I want to do is get that man all riled up.  On the flip-side, Boston's main cog, Kevin Garnett, was absolutely dominating.  He finished with 28 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.  He made two clutch baskets down the stretch to help seal the win.  He busted out of the gates, scoring 12 first quarter points, attempting to set the tone for Boston.  In the first half, he was an offensive juggernaut down-low.  Cleveland (like most other teams) couldn't handle him in the post.  Unfortunately, in the second half he reverted back to hanging out by the 3 point line... although one of his big, down-the-stretch shots was a 20+ foot jumper, so I'm not complaining.

Rondo was excellent at home, once again, notching 15 points (5-8 FG), 5 rebounds and 6 assists.  Rondo came out just as hot as KG and rattled off 8 of Boston's first 12 points.  He and KG were literally the only Celtics contributing on offense for the majority of the first half.   At one point, KG had 16 points, Rondo had 10, and the rest of the team had 9 combined.  The confidence and swagger were back for Rondo... now only if he can keep that up on the road.

Pierce and Ray Allen were a completely different story.  Ray was held scoreless for the first time in 11 years,  shooting 0-4, committing 4 turnovers and didn't get to the free-throw line once.  Pierce struggled even more, putting up a LeBron-like 2-14, with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 turnovers.  He also didn't attempt a single free-throw.  You can't complain about a win, and Pierce was lights-out guarding LeBron, but these two need to come with something more in Game 2.  Perkins, on the other hand, picked up right where he left off in Game 7.  12 boards, 2 blocked shots and 7 points. 

Off the bench, Posey was tremendous and Sam Cassell (yes, THAT Sam Cassell) came up huge.  Posey did all the great James Posey things we've seen him do all year long... except he did them to LeBron.  Pierce go into early foul trouble and Posey stepped in and put the clamp on James.  Posey logged 25 minutes of PT, with nearly all of it guarding LeBron -- and you can attribute the King's terrible play on the defensive stylings of Posey.  He never let LeBron get into any kind of rhythm, and if you want the key statistic for the game, just look at Posey's +/-: 17+, the next highest player was KG with +7.  Posey was lights-out, and he had himself a pretty impressive offensive game as well, with 8 points and 2 three's.

BOXSCORE 

Cassell on the other hand, still has a bit of that gunslinger mentality, but tonight his shots fell.  He hoisted 8 shots in his 18 minutes, but made half (including 2 three's), and had 9 huge points in the 4th quarter alone.  As much as it terrifies me to admit, we may need Sam on the court late in games to hit some big shots for us. 

On the other side of the ball, Zydrunas had his way with us once more -- 22 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.  Ben Wallace was a non-factor, Delonte had a solid game but only managed 4 points on 2-10 shooting, and Wally hit some open shots, made a couple hustle plays, but came away with only 13 points with two 3's. 

MVC: Kevin Garnett.  He played 39 minutes of inspired basketball, dominating on both ends of the court.  Finally, FINALLY, a Celtic told the rest of the team to get on his back.  He made big shots at the end of the game,  locked down on D, and  didn't let his team lose tonight.

Lastly, the low score can be attributed to some sloppy play and some missed open shots, but both  teams played stellar defense.  This series is going to be a dogfight.  Doc kept screaming all night that we were playing into Cleveland's hands by slowing the ball down and getting stuck in a half-court basketball game.  Luckily, our defense was able to keep LeBron in check and come up with just enough baskets to win.  Next time, I fear we won't be that lucky.  LeBron can't be shutdown forever, but neither can Ray and Paul.  I am ready for Game 2.

I just wanted to take a few paragraphs of your time an share some of my thoughts for the Celtics round 2 matchup with the Cavs.  Oh, and to apologize for my lack of Game 7 blogging -- due to a family engagement, a car accident (not involving me) which severed some fiber optic cables, there was to be no blogging yesterday... nor cable, nor internet.  But we're back in the 21st Century now, so all's good.

Anyway, the obvious storyline for Round 2 is Lebron versus the Big 3.  Unstoppable force versus United Team, etc, etc.  Of course King James terrifies the bajeezus out of me.  He truly can't be stopped -- he's just too strong and too good.  Much like Larry Bird, at the end of the game, Lebron is going to be getting the ball, and he's going to get his shot.  Most of the time it falls... but that's not the point.  Our glaring weakness during that way-too-long Hawks series is that we