Cavaliers play uninspired, Celtics even series at 1-1
by John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) on May 3, 2010 9:52 PM CDT
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We all knew this was going to be a tough series. What we didn't know, or believe, would be the Cavaliers would play uninspired basketball, at The Q no-less, in getting drilled by the Celtics 104-86.
Much will be made of the Cavaliers furious rally. How they nearly came back from 20+ points down to make it a game. Like Game 3 against Chicago, however, that rally came up short. Perhaps more troubling, at least to me, is how the Cavs fell down by 25 to begin with.
Playing what might of been the worst playoff game of his career, LeBron James simply could not get into a rhythem. At least for the first 3 quarters. LeBron did end up with 24 points on 7-15 from the field, but James was 0-4 from deep. As is the case most night, the Cavaliers go as LeBron goes - that's what makes him the MVP, and that's what can lead to a blowout such as this on nights that LeBron is either hurting or simply off.
A personal pet-peeve of mine, free throws, continued to be a major thorn in the side of the Cavaliers. Cleveland missed 12 free throws(26/38), hitting under 70% again. In the playoffs, the Cavaliers free throw shooting has been plain awful and is a huge reason for their two losses to date.
No, I won't blow this out of proportion. It is one game - no matter what the final score. There is an old saying, however - a playoff series doesn't really get started until the road team wins a game. Consider this series off and running in a big way. The Cavaliers now know that they will have to do something they could not do in 2008 - win a game in Boston.
In that series, the Cavaliers lost all 4 games in Boston on their way to a 7-game defeat at the hands of the Celtics. It was one of the driving forces for the Cavaliers to get home-court throughout the playoffs the past two seasons. The Celtics have now taken away that home court advantage. Simply win their home games, and the Celtics win the series.
Perhaps a good thing for the Cavaliers is the fact they will get to think about this loss for 4 days - Game 3 won't take place until Friday night. That is a long time to hear the questions, to discuss an embarrassing loss, and focus on whether or not LeBron James is healthy.
Whatever the case may be, the Cavaliers need to be concerned about Mo Williams. Yes, he played well in the 3rd Quarter of Game 1, a huge reason why the Cavaliers were able to come back and win. Tonight was a different story. Williams just about everything he put up, including a technical free throw in the 4th Quarter. For the game, Williams scored 4 points on 1-10 shooting. Compare that to the production the Celtics are getting from Rajon Rondo(13 points, 19 assists) and it makes it tough to keep up - whether you like Williams or not.
I'll say it again, this is not panic time, far from it. The series is tied 1-1 and both teams will have plenty of rest heading into Game 3. The Cavaliers' goal heading to Boston should be the same as the Celtics coming to Cleveland - split the two games over the weekend and regain home-court.
At least we know the Cavaliers can likely not play any worse. Now they get to think about it. The Celtics came to Cleveland and stole home-court advantage from the Cavaliers. The Cavs need to return the favor.
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You all know I try to be as positive as possible, but someone’s gonna need to talk me down off the ledge after that one. It’s not like it was a tough loss, either. It was embarrassing and pathetic.
"You are an LGT success story" -- Jay
It was one game in a seven game series. The Celts shot out of their minds. That’s all I’ve got.
by rockemsockem on May 3, 2010 10:15 PM CDT up reply actions
And what of our pathetic play on both ends of the floor?
"You are an LGT success story" -- Jay
by Turkmenbashi on May 3, 2010 10:21 PM CDT up reply actions
actually have played well in both games offensively
by celticinorlando on May 3, 2010 10:21 PM CDT up reply actions
for a comparison, the Celtics shot 52% eFG. so they did shoot worse in game one than they usually would, but they definitely shot the lights out tonight.
In the Miami series, the Cs shot 50.1% eFG and they shot a bit under 50 eFG before tonights game.
The Cs shot over 47% from behind the Arc. before the game, they were shooting 37% in the playoffs and 35% in the regular season.
Rondo hitting 1-2 on 3s and Sheed hitting 3-4 is extremely uncharacteristic b/c both have shot pretty poor from beyond the arc this year.
As an example, if the Cs shot from the field at the clip they have shot during the playoffs, they would have only scored 96 points. while the cavs lost by 10, it would have still been a very winnable game…
basically the cavs sucked and boston shot very well.
I teach good life choices. That’s why I almost didn’t graduate High School.
I teach good life choices. That’s why I almost didn’t graduate High School.
I here ya man. Just got my wisdom teeth out, so I’m still in pain but have to go back to work tomorrow to a job I hate and then this… It’s too bad we let sports affect our personal lives so much, but I’ve always felt like that’s an essential part of Cleveland sports fandom. Yeah, maybe there’s “more to life than sports,” but I’m too young to care about it just yet.
"You are an LGT success story" -- Jay
by Turkmenbashi on May 3, 2010 10:41 PM CDT up reply actions
"Yeah, maybe there’s "more to life than sports," but I’m too young to care about it just yet."
THIS
Hell Yeah.I don’t care who you cheer for this statement is badass.
"Just to remind you, Orlando made it to the finals last year without this guy. Crazy."~John Krolik
It was embarrassing and pathetic.
Yes. That was some of the laziest play I think I’ve seen.
On to Boston.
by Western Reserve on May 4, 2010 8:19 AM CDT up reply actions
The Cavs are lucky not to be down
2-0. I hope Lebron gets healthy, I would hate for this year to end due to an injury. I was thinking Lebron should not have been playing if he was going to not actually contribute to the team. But then in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, he played like he should have been the whole game. What gives? If you can suck it up and go all out in the fourth, why not the whole game? Why do it after your team is down by 25? If he couldn’t go, he should have sat out much more, as the Cavs played well with him off the floor.
Cavs
Played hard for at least 5 minutes of 48! Another disappointment going to happen in Cleveland I’m afraid! I hope I’m wrong but the Cavs don’t play hard for 48 minutes and the Connecticut girld team shoots fouls better than their team! If the game is close, all you have to do is foul the Cavs and the way they shoot fouls, they’ll be lucky to split the pair! I want to believe in this team, but they are too lackadaisical to make me think they can win it all! Garnett is killing us because Jamison can’t play him defensively and can’t rebound either!
Garnett was 7/21 tonight. It was a tale of two Jamisons on D: The first half was outstanding. Held his ground, caused two turnovers, forced tough turnaround shots. The third quarter, he gave up THREE lobs for layups while fronting. Can’t figure it out. But overall, Jamison on Garnett was not the problem tonight.
We’re going to hear people begging for more JJ. I’ll definitely give him credit for energy, but really… one rebound in 19 minutes? That’s frightening. And when is Varejao going to put up a 10 point / 15 board kind of game?
With Shaq, he’s getting the shots you’d hope he would get. He simply has lost the ability to score from outside about three feet. I’d like to believe it’s temporary, and really, we have no choice but to assume it is.
Turk, I’ll say this to boost you up: LBJ has laid his worst playoff egg ever, and I don’t think it has a thing to do with the thumb. Meanwhile, the decrepit Sheed goes 7-8 and buries several contested deep balls (and some uncontested shots). You live with him taking those shots. If it goes that way again, we’ll lose.
And yes, that’s what we said about Rafer Alston last year, and he kept making shots. Same with Pietrus, et al. But you have to live with the other team making a lot of deep balls. The offense needs to wake up, but the D isn’t far off.
I dunno, Evan. I would argue giving up 104 to this Celtics team, lucky shooting or not, means the D is a lot worse than not “far off.” Good points otherwise. Andy hasn’t been Andy all playoffs, and JJ certainly isn’t the cure-all.
But it’s not about JJ himself as much as it’s about an offense that runs the ball more. With JJ in there instead of Shaq, we run the court more and tire out the Old Three. Instead, we’re running a listless offense through Shaqdow (that’s the shadow of Shaq) against Boston’s set D which, last I checked, was damn near tops in the league.
"You are an LGT success story" -- Jay
by Turkmenbashi on May 3, 2010 10:27 PM CDT up reply actions
Bah
Hickson nothing, Shaq should come off the bench and Andy should start. the Cavs need to run the Celtics ragged, they are much faster and athletic. Then bring in Shaq and slow the game down to give Lebron rest, and then Shaq can do his post ups and kick out to the wings if they double team.
Where did my reply go… ?
"You are an LGT success story" -- Jay
by Turkmenbashi on May 3, 2010 10:41 PM CDT up reply actions
Oh dur, nevermind. Evan, just let me say, I mostly agree, except for th Hickson part. JJ himself doesn’t make the team better, but he does allow us to run more and tired out Boston’s old core. Otherwise, we’re stuck running this listless offense through a tired old Shaq against Boston’s set defense, which happens to be the best in the league.
I don’t care how much we feel we need to get Shaq his touches and get him going for the ORL series… there’s not gonna be an ORL series unless we eschew some of that mentality in favor of using our superior depth to run these geriatrics off the floor.
"You are an LGT success story" -- Jay
by Turkmenbashi on May 3, 2010 10:44 PM CDT up reply actions
Actually, if anything, 3 feet is giving Shaq the benefit of the doubt on his range. He missed a whole lot of shots tonight that were closer than 3 feet. He was terrible. If he can’t hit that 3-foot baby hook, then the Cavs must stop wasting the half of the first and third quarters trying to get him established. He’s got to perform better – he was a big reason the Cavs lost tonight.
"...maybe this year, there's no gorilla" - YoDaddyWags
I'll post the Mike Brown comments...
but needless to say, he is pissed.
FTS
SBNation's Cleveland Cavaliers Blogger
by John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) on May 3, 2010 10:21 PM CDT reply actions
By the way, let me just say: I don’t want to succumb to woe-is-me Cleveland fandom. These are supposed to be long series. I’d love to waltz through, but winning is supposed to be tough. I’m showing up for the rest of this series looking for us to play like the league’s best team. I’m looking for our MVP to play like the MVP he is. We’re either on the brink of another classic Cleveland letdown, or we’re experiencing the grind that comes with winning. I’m ready.
This is what I wanna here. It’s the first part of your second-last sentence that keeps lurking in my mind, though…
"You are an LGT success story" -- Jay
by Turkmenbashi on May 3, 2010 10:39 PM CDT up reply actions
And to remind everyone
Winning easy doesn’t prepare you well for tough games that you are bound to run into in the playoffs. Last year was a easy walk to the conf. finals and the Magic had to battle in tough series all the way there, we all know how that ended up. This year the Magic have had the light series so far…maybe Boston is the Finals preparation series….
I only buy this line of reasoning to some extent. Losing by 18 on your home court doesn’t prepare you for anything. It doesn’t make you mentally tougher. It exposes your lack of drive and intensity.
"You are an LGT success story" -- Jay
by Turkmenbashi on May 3, 2010 10:50 PM CDT up reply actions
celts
Celtics have the home court advantage now! Let’s see if the Cavs wake up!
I wouldn’t say that yet. yes, technically they do, but they have not at all played like they have any sort of “home court advantage”. 6 playoff teams have a better road record than them with 4 teams having the same record (5 seed Miami, and 8 seed Chicago). they are only one game better at home than the Pacers. All 8 playoff teams in the west have a better record, one sub .500 team in the west has a better home record too.
the garden is not the home court advantage it once was…at least now how these Cs play…to put it this way, they gave the Nets one of their 4 road wins when they blew a game at home and lost 5 out of 6 at home to close the season (and they were actually playing for something.
I teach good life choices. That’s why I almost didn’t graduate High School.
I haven't watch the game replays yet..
But obviously the Cavs needs to wake up.. Mo only scored 4 pts and Lebron has 5 turnovers.. come on guys keep it up..
we don't light the stars, we simply fade with them..
I’m no basketball expert but IMHO wouldn’t we be better served by playing Shaq less and just running, running, running the older Celtics ragged?
Arent we both younger and deeper? Just seems to be common sense to me to play faster.
I only pray that turd Rasheed Wallace does not continue to shoot 99% from 3 point land. So gay that EVERY year someone shoots 20x their season average ONLY against us.
Please don’t use “gay” as a synonym for “lame” here.
"You are an LGT success story" -- Jay
by Turkmenbashi on May 3, 2010 11:09 PM CDT up reply actions
Split not so surprising....
During the regular season, the Cavaliers split with the Celtics in Cleveland, and they split with the Celtics in Boston. So it is reasonable to envision this series tied at 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3. We may be in for a very exciting 7-game series.
Go Cavs! Four days of rest can only help LeBron’s elbow.
by BrownsCavaliersIndiansForev on May 3, 2010 11:20 PM CDT reply actions
all this means is we will win in 6 or 7 instead of 5 or 6. The Cs are a good road team, but somehow struggle at home. we killed them at home by like 30 and then had a Defensive performance as bad as this one and only lost by 4. I think I feel fairly confident we can take at least 1 out of 2 in boston and maybe get 2 out of 3 whtn its all said and done.
I teach good life choices. That’s why I almost didn’t graduate High School.
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