Game 7 and Series Recap
What do Mike Greenberg, a 1971 Steven Spielberg movie, and Paul Pierce vs. LeBron James have in common?  They’ve always been involved in a Duel.  As much as I like the movie and as good of a concept the TV game show hosted by Greeny is, the Paul Pierce vs. LBJ duel was a complete joy to watch.  It wasn’t always pretty but it was extremely entertaining.  LeBron James was as equally impressive in the first half as he was in the second half.  And Paul Pierce matched him nearly point for point.  LeBron James did his damage in beautiful and fluid offensive attacks against the best defense in the league and in the most hostile environment.  Paul Pierce forced ill-advised pull-up 20-footers and could not find a way to miss them.  LeBron James was clawing to win an improbable win and Paul Pierce was so timely in connecting on bad shots that he was always able to keep the separation, even on a unbelievable bounce on a free throw to stretch the game into a “comfortable” two-possession lead. 

Most importantly for the Celtics in this game, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were horrendous and damn near detrimental to their team on offense.  But Rajon Rondo stepped up with a solid game.  His 8 points, 8 assists, and 8 rebounds were all timely.  Despite having an awful statistical game, Eddie House was able to provide amazing energy off the bench and emotionally carry the Celtics for important stretches.  But most importantly, P.J. Brown rose from the dead to score 10 points and grab 6 rebounds including 6 huge fourth quarter points.  The Celtics stepped up when the Cavs couldn’t.  Other than Delonte West, nobody on the Cavaliers came up big when needed.  They rode LeBron James until the final buzzer and it simply wasn’t enough. 

This series was won by the home team.  This series was won by defense.  Only one team cracked 100 points in this series and that was Cleveland in Game 3.  If a team was hovering around 90 points in any given ball game then they were probably going to win that game.  It took two people from the winning team to step up each night.  KG’s defense was instrumental.  LeBron’s leadership and determination were scary.  Paul Pierce’s sacrifice was more impressive than his Game 7 performance.  This series didn’t answer any question for the Celtics and their road problems heading to Detroit.  But they’ll have another chance to figure it out this week. 

Looking forward to the ECF- The Celtics are facing an Eastern Conference dynasty.  The Pistons have been to the Conference Finals 6 straight seasons.  The Boston Celtics have been once (2002) in 20 years.  From the start of the season, we’ve known that these were hands down the two best teams in the Eastern Conference.  We’ve known that they would be the best possible match-up for basketball fans.  We’ve known that the only way for Kevin Garnett to get his new team to the NBA Finals would be to go through Detroit.  Game 1 is Tuesday. 


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Game 6 Recap
If I were to describe this game in one word, it would be uuuuggghhhhhhh.  Some call it a defensive battle, but that’s just trying to be pretentious that you saw more in this game than actually met the eye.  The two teams combined for 33 turnovers.  The two teams only combined for 29 assists with just 10 of them coming from Cleveland.   The two teams shot a combined 51 for 141 or 36% from the field.  Both teams shot 16 three-pointers.  Cleveland made 5 and Boston made 4.  Four players scored in double digits in this game.  Only 2 of them cracked 20 points.  It was the ugliest game that I’ve watched since Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy were tearing their players off of each other on South Beach. 

So why did Boston get out uglied in this game?  The bench was awful.  I was convinced that Glen Davis was either throwing the game or shaving points.  Eddie House all of a sudden made an appearance over the poor shooting Sam Cassell.  Doc Rivers threw his winning rotations out of the window in a way to spice things up a bit.  Rajon Rondo played like Raven Simone 2 days after making me wonder if he would be a top 10 point guard next year.  Ray Allen continued to embarrass himself and almost ensure the off-season talk of “Should Ray Allen retire?”  Paul Pierce expended all of his energy on defense and couldn’t make enough of the bad shots he took on offense.  Kevin Garnett continued the reputation of not being a crunch time player by not scoring in the last 6 minutes of a close game and not even taking a shot after the 2:59 mark.  The Celtics for the 6th straight game in the playoffs took everything they did well at home to win and Men In Black’d it from their memories. 

However, don’t assume that everything is sunshine and sprinkles for Cleveland.  They were nearly as bad as Boston was in this game.  They had the benefit of home-court advantage and home-court treatment from the referees.  LeBron James’ aggressive nature helped him shoot more free throws than the entire Celtics’ team.  Ben Wallace was completely useless for 22 minutes.  Ilgauskas had a rare terrible game with just 7 points.  Wally Szczerbiak had a 2 for 11 shooting performance.  The Cavaliers are lucky to still be playing after Game 6. 

Looking forward to Game 7: The Celtics have to do their normal home routine of playing stellar defense (about 20 points given up difference from home to road), getting big plays from a role player, and riding the wave of the home crowd energy.  Kevin Garnett has to have a big game.  Ray Allen and Paul Pierce have to give some help.  Rajon Rondo needs to be the better point guard in this game.  The Celtics’ defense can’t let anybody on the Cavaliers not named LeBron James have a big game.  And someone named Eddie House or Sam Cassell needs to knock down a big shot or two if they’re going to get key minutes. 

For Cleveland, LeBron James has to be a playmaker first and a dominant scorer second.  If he can’t involve his teammates and get their confidence going early, then his scoring exploits are going to have to be legendary to pull out a Game 7 upset on the road.  Ben Wallace needs to play great defense because he isn’t going to give anything on offense.  Zyndrunas Ilgauskas needs to give the Cavs at least 15 points.  And the backcourt of Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West each need to have productive games that include timely shooting, double digit scoring, and solid defense.  Someone is going to have to be a hero in this game, other than LBJ. 
Prediction for Game 7 – Boston by 9 points

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Game 5 Recap
LeBron James stole the momentum towards the end of Game 4 in Cleveland when he crushed on Kevin Garnett’s head.  He did the same thing that he was able to do in Detroit last year.  In Game 5 of this series, Paul Pierce took the momentum back.  With 1:46 left in the third quarter, Paul Pierce threw a desperate jump pass to Kevin Garnett after getting caught in the air with nothing to do 22 feet from the hoop.  As soon as KG caught the ball, Pierce moved around him towards the baseline.  KG dumped the ball to Pierce while looking away and Pierce was able to quickly move baseline around Anderson Varejao.  Pierce quickly elevated and dunked emphatically with two hands as he pulled himself up on the rim, slapped the backboard, and somehow avoided a technical foul.  It was an emotional release for Paul Pierce.  It was a reminder that he was a really good player that could do exceptional things on the basketball court.  It was a validation of his skills and ability. It was the way for him to take the momentum away from a Cavs team that was trying to play spoiler in Boston. 

The key to Boston winning this tightly contested game was the play of Rajon Rondo.  He annihilated the Cleveland point guards with 20 points, 13 assists and 2 big three-pointers to keep the game from getting out of hand in the first half.  He played 42 minutes of nearly perfect playoff basketball.  He looked like one of the top point guards in the game that had been there before.  In the words of Trent from Swingers, he looked like he was “all growns up.”  Kevin Garnett added the typical line of 26 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals.  Ray Allen contributed 11 points. Glen Davis provided 6 crucial points off the bench.  James Posey played amazing second half defense on LeBron James.  And Paul Pierce showed LeBron that he wasn’t the only small forward that could dominate on offense. 

Looking forward to Game 6- Will the Celtics finally win a road playoff game and close out this series?  Can they afford to go 2 straight 7-game series before facing the Pistons?  Or does LeBron James have a new trick to get his team to the promise lane?  The Cavs have to put the doubt into Boston early that they can’t win on the road and that this series is going back to Boston.  If the Cavs can blow out the Celtics in Game 6, then maybe they can have the confidence to steal Game 7 on the road.  To win Game 6, they have to concentrate on a few things:
1) Don’t Forget Big Z.  Ilgauskas had 6 points and only took 5 shots in Game 5.  He was instrumental in their Game 3 and 4 wins and he needs to be established early as a threat inside and a bailout option when LeBron is double-teamed. 
2) Make the extra pass. The Cavs had just 11 team assists in this game due to LeBron dominating the ball and another stagnant performance of their team offense.  Only three players for Cleveland had assists and the rest of the guys literally pitched a shutout.  They have to get some ball movement, which lead to open threes. 
3) Make their free throws.  The Cavs missed 13 free throws, which is the difference in this ball game.  They can’t give away free points like that in Game 6. 
Prediction for Game 6- It’s hard to believe that Boston won’t win a road game in these playoffs.  Celtics win by 5 and close out the series. 


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Game 4 Recap
In the words of Norah Jones and Ray Charles, “Here We Go Again.” 

LeBron James once again tied up a series 2-2 heading back to the road after being down 0-2.  Once again, LeBron James sealed the series tying win with a monster dunk over the best defender of the opposing team.  Once again, LeBron is gaining momentum at the worst possible time for the perceived best team in the East.  Everybody saw the dunk.  Everybody felt the dunk.  And if you’re like me, everybody thought that LeBron’s dunk may be the series turning moment.  It wasn’t a game-winning shot.  It wasn’t a shot that provided the Cavs with a safe cushion.  The game was decided.  But the momentum wasn’t. 

With that dunk, LeBron reminded everybody that he isn’t as bad as the 27% shooting display that he’s had in this series.  He reminded everybody that he isn’t the type of player to average nearly 6 turnovers per game in a series like he had so far.  He reminded everybody that we’re supposed to be witnesses to greatness, not witnesses to Boston being a dynastic-type team again.  I have to tell you that I’m openly rooting for the Celtics because of my disturbing man-crush on Kevin Garnett.  Even with that bias, LeBron’s dunk over KG was my favorite moment of that game (besides LBJ telling his mom to sit her ass down when she tried to mix it up with Paul Pierce and KG). 

Looking forward to Game 5: Other than Game 7, there isn’t a more important game in a series than a Game 5, especially when the series is tied 2-2.  The pressure is entirely on the home team.  If they win, they control the fate of the series with only having to win one game with 2 to play.  If they lose, they have to come back on the road to force a Game 7.  The pressure for this series is on every single member of the Celtics (except for Scot Pollard who is legally dead).  The Cavs can rest easy.  They still have a home game no matter what.  What can the Celtics do win this game?
1) Let LeBron go off early.  It sounds strange and it’s a dangerous territory you enter, but a team like Boston can pull it off defensively.  If you let LeBron score early, it may end up putting him in a great rhythm for crunch time.  But it does two things to benefit Boston.  First, if he tires out from scoring early, he will be taxed in crunch time.  Second,  it doesn’t allow the other Cavaliers to get into a rhythm, essentially keeping them cold when LeBron could need their help the most. 
2) Make some shots.  The Celtics haven’t shot over 42% in any game of this series.  Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, and Ray Allen have to be efficient.  Sam Cassell has to be worth a damn.  Kendrick Perkins needs a couple of buckets.  The Celtics have to share the ball, make the extra pass and knock down some shots.
3) Paul Pierce needs to show up.  KG may be the leader, Ray Allen may be playing the worst ball of his career and Sam Cassell may be shaving points, but Paul Pierce has to get 20 efficient points in this game.  If he makes LeBron work on defense, they’ll come out with a win. 
Prediction for Game 5- Celtics win by 6, take momentum back. 

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Game 3 Recap
Is it time for the Cavs to breath a sigh of relief after coming through with a huge home game win?  Is it time for the Cavs to worry about LeBron James having three straight ineffective games against this playoff opponent?  Is it time for the Celtics to worry about being 6-0 at home but 0-4 on the road?  In a word – no.  You can’t do anything of those things if you’re these two franchises.  Each team has to be worried but not overly reactionary like the media would like.  Should Cleveland breath a sigh of relief because they avoided going into a 0-3 hole?  Of course, but they should also realize that this Boston team can and will win anywhere it plays if they’re running their systems correctly.  Should Cleveland be worried about LeBron James being 13 for 58 (22%) from the field with 19 turnovers in 3 games?  No, because he doesn’t struggle that often, which makes you think that he’s due to run off a big stretch of mind-bottling games that makes you wonder if this is the best player ever.  Should Boston be worried that it can’t win on the road in the playoffs up until this point?  Well, maybe a little considering that the teams they’re 0-4 against are the Hawks and Cavaliers (not exactly the Utah Jazz in SLC). 

This game turned out this way because the Cavaliers role players actually came through with their respective roles.  Ben Wallace rebounded, blocked shots, and converted on easy buckets created by his teammates.  Wally Szczerbiak contributed 16 points and got the free throw line 7 times.  Delonte West scored 21 points and had 7 assists with 4 three-pointers made.  Joe Smith came off the bench for 17 points and 6 rebounds.  The Cavs shot over 50% from the field, had only 10 turnovers and got to the free throw line 33 times while converting 24 of them.  They also hit 10 threes and out-rebounded the Celtics.  Cleveland played a complete game that included some much needed player and ball movement (that lead to 29 team assists on 37 makes from the field. 

For Boston, they didn’t actually play a terrible 2nd through 4th quarters.  They just couldn’t show up in the first quarter that included Cleveland shooting the ball at a ridiculously efficient rate (60%) and a raucous Cleveland crowd that gave them an initial boost of energy that they desperately needed after games 1 and 2.  Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo all shot terribly from the field (10 for 30, collectively) and Sam Cassell along with Eddie House combined to go 0 for 9 in the game.  Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins had decent games but nothing that could have carried Boston through a game that they played so poorly as a defensive unit.  They were able to contain LeBron’s scoring efficiency (5 for 16 shooting) but they couldn’t keep him from contributing in other ways (8 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks).  It was another typical playoff road loss that they introduced to their fans and pundits in the Atlanta series.

Looking forward to Game 4: The Celtics have to get back to the style of play that they implement at home in the playoffs.  They draw a lot of energy from the crowd at home but on the road, they simply don’t have enough juice to choke the opposing team’s offense into submission.  They come out flat offensively and when Cleveland is shooting like they did in Game 3, Boston simply can’t compete with that kind of combination.  In order to change things in Game 4, Boston has to do a few things:
1) Kevin Garnett needs to take over. We’re not talking about taking over offensively here.  He needs to get his defense ready to play.  There’s only so much Doc Rivers (literally) and Tom Thibodeau (figuratively) can do to prepare the defense to play great defense.  KG needs to get more talkative and get in the faces of his players when they screw up defensively.  It’s his job to be the Ray Lewis of this team. 
2) Find a way to get Pierce and Ray going.  It’s understandable that Pierce may not have a great series offensively because of his assignment on James, but Ray Allen shouldn’t have to work to get by Wally Szczerbiak.  Running Ray Allen off screens towards the middle of the floor should open up a lot of options offensively.  If you can turn Ray Allen into someone that Cleveland has to respect again, he can turn difficult tasks into easy ones for Boston. 
3) Guard the perimeter.  Boston simply can’t allow 10 three-pointers made or over 50% shooting from outside.  They need to close out defensively and get quicker in their rotations. 
Prediction for Game 4- Boston comes back to win and put LeBron in a corner.  Celtics win by 4. 

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Game 2 Recap
Get ready Cavaliers’ fans; it’s time to panic about LeBron James and his team’s chances of moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals.  Okay, not really but it is a little intriguing that LeBron James is struggling in the playoffs like he never has before.  8 for 42 shooting with 17 turnovers in the first two games is definitely not getting it done.  And when his play is struggling, you hope that he can dominate in other facets of the game such as defense, passing, and rebounding.  Well in Game 2, he only had 6 assists and 5 rebounds, which isn’t exactly failing but it isn’t dominating either.  Only Zyndrunas Ilgauskas helped out in a game where the Cleveland Bench only contributed 17 points with nobody scoring more than 5.  Ben Wallace left after four minutes due to extreme dizziness that nearly caused him to faint when he made it over to the bench.  Delonte West only had 3 points but did manage to get 4 blocks, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. 

For Boston, they kept Cleveland with that same ugly performance but managed to get their own performance to be a little prettier.  There was only one category that Cleveland positively outperformed them in (blocked shots – 7 to 2).  Boston managed to keep the Cavs to just 35% shooting.  They only allowed 2 three-pointers in 15 attempts.  The Celtics were the aggressors once again and got to the free throw line 38 times, including 8 for Ray Allen and 7 for Rajon Rondo.  Nobody in particular on Boston had a great game or even that good of a game, but they made sure through great defensive intensity and execution that nobody on Cleveland had a good game at all. 

Looking forward to Game 3: The Cavaliers have to get back to what they do best.  Their defense has been pretty good, but they can’t allow the Celtics to get to the free throw line nearly 40 times and expect to win.  They also can’t be so inept on offense.  If the Celtics are going to take away LeBron James with impeccable defense by James Posey and Paul Pierce (really, this is being ignored by the national media) then somebody on the Cavs has to step up from the perimeter.  Zyndrunas Ilgauskas is not going to be able to keep this team afloat.  Here are three things that Cleveland needs to do:
1) Run a damn play.  Does Cleveland even have enough plays to necessitate having a playbook?  Is their only play just spread out and let LeBron go one on one?  Find a way to get the other guys involved by maximizing ball movement and LeBron’s passing ability. 
2) Either Delonte West, Daniel Gibson, or Wally Szczerbiak has to have a big game.  One of these guys needs to step up and knock down open shots.  If Cleveland can turn these guys into threats that need to be respected, then they can open up the offense that has been smothered up until this point. 
3) Keep up the defensive intensity.  Even though the Celtics appear to be dominating this series, they’ve been awful on offense.  They shot just 40% from the field in Game 2 and are averaging 82.5 points per game in this series.  That’s not exactly turning on the sprinkler systems.  If Cleveland can play better offensively AND keep the defense where it is then they’ll be able to not just compete with Boston but possibly blow them out at home. 
Prediction for Game 3- Cleveland wins by 8

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Game 1 Recap
I received a couple of interesting text messages during this game.  A few of them were from my friend Chris who is a big time Lakers fan and was complaining how ugly this game was without the MVPs (Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul).  He just wanted someone to make a lay-up and it’s hard to argue with that.  But on the other end of the spectrum, Talkhoops.net senior writer, Phillip Barnett, found the good in the game instead of the ugliness.  He said, “KG was great in the 4th and Paul Pierce should get as much credit for the win for not letting LeBron get in a rhythm early.  This loss is tough for the Cavs.”  And I couldn’t agree more with both people. 

Was this a pretty game to watch?  Absolutely not.  It was a game where there were 148 combined points where one team shot 30% and the other had 23 team turnovers.  It was a game that LeBron shot 2 for 18 with 10 turnovers, Paul Pierce shot 2 for 14 with no free throws and 6 turnovers, and Ray Allen went scoreless for the first time in the past 852 games.  But there are 5 things that can be taken away from this game.  Oh what the hell, I’ll even throw in a 6th. 

1) Paul Pierce is an underrated defender.  I’ve been saying this for years and think that he’s never received enough credit for the job he does on the defensive end.  Going into this series, everybody said that he’s too small to guard LeBron.  Well, good thing they aren’t playing one-on-one (well, technically they are because that’s the Cavs’ system).  Paul Pierce knows how to use his teammates as speed bumps in the road.  He constantly had a body on LeBron and found a way to funnel him into KG, James Posey, and Kendrick Perkins to make life difficult for LeBron.  James Posey also did a great job on LeBron but Pierce set the tone by sacrificing his offensive input with his defensive output. 

2) Zyndrunas Ilgauskas is a much better player than people realize.  How many big shots did this guy hit in this game?  He finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals but he played much bigger.  He was the steady rock that kept Cleveland within a possession of sending this game into overtime or possibly winning.  Every time he took an outside jumper, you knew it was going in.  Every time a Cavalier put up an outside shot, Big Z was either going to keep the ball alive or tip it in for 2.  He was an incredible force that Cleveland didn’t have an answer to.  He could be a big weapon for the rest of this series. 

3) This is not a meeting of Mensa by any means.  Mike Brown and Doc Rivers just aren’t very good coaches.  Mike Brown is really good defensively in terms of system and adjustments to make.  And Doc Rivers once played point guard in the NBA.  But that’s about as far as it goes.  Mike Brown kept the Cavs in it by the defensive adjustments he implemented but he also was a liability offensively, which prevented them from winning this game.  Here’s an idea; put LeBron James in the post and surround him with Z at the top of the key, Wally and Boobie Gibson in the corners and Delonte West on the wing.   How many easy buckets would that offense create?  As far as Doc goes, neither you or I have the time to break down his coaching mistakes from game to game. 

4) Sam Cassell has some Epcot Center-sized oysters.  He hit two huge three-pointers in the fourth quarter to keep the Celtics with a two-possession lead. He drained a 22-footer to push the lead to 6 with 6 minutes to go in the 4th.  And then he knocked down two big free throws after getting run over by Ilgauskas with 50 seconds left to put the Celtics up 2.  The guy just seems to love the big possessions and it was the right move having him running the team in the 4th.  He did almost lose his composure and have the most inopportune meltdown in NBA history when he was fouled by Ilgauskas and then incidentally (and I can’t stress that enough) kneed by Ilgauskas 2 seconds later.  But he was able to calmly knock the free throws down and direct traffic on KG’s game-winning basket with 21 seconds left. 

5) Why did LeBron James make a move so early on his second to last possession?  He made his move with about 13 seconds on the clock and put up the missed lay-up with about 9 seconds remaining in the game.  Why give the Celtics a chance to win the game if you make that shot?  I know that you’re a good defensive club, but that’s giving the other team a really good chance.  Now to his credit, he did have a really good chance to score and 99 times out of 100 he makes that shot.  But I thought it was too early. 

6) Kevin Garnett came up huge.  With all the criticism that he gets for fourth quarter performances (some of it is justified, a lot of it is not), KG was aggressive and a force to be reckoned with in this game.  He was the only stable thing except for Sam Cassell in some spots.  Two-thirds of the Big 3 were completely useless on offense but KG was usually able to right the ship.  He shot 13-22 from the field and had only one turnover in a game where his team could not take care of the ball.  He hit some tough shots at the end of that game (and one bad shot that he missed badly on).  He stepped up when his teammates needed him to and made the right plays.  He usually makes the right play at the end of games.  This time the right play was to score. 

Looking forward to Game 2: This was a bad loss for Cleveland.  The series never really starts until the home team loses a game.  And this was a game for Boston to lose.  Boston should have blown them out but couldn’t do it.  Cleveland let one slip away.  Just like in the Spurs-Suns Game 1 a couple of weeks ago, championship teams don’t let those games get away.  The Cavs have to find a way to score and find a way to get the pressure off LeBron.  Guys other than Ilgauskas need to step up.  For Boston, they need to get Ray Allen going.  He’s been terrible lately and the first 3 plays of the game should be run for him to score.  Get him going and everything opens up. 
Prediction for Game 2: Boston wins by 4

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