photo courtesy of Scott Abelman/flickr
CavsCast: Game #1: Cleveland at Boston–Bring on the Celtics
The Cleveland Cavaliers will be facing off against the Boston Celtics tonight in the second round of the NBA playoffs, and didn’t you know, they don’t have a chance!
Just ask the media…
There is no doubt that the all-knowing media will continue to preach that the Celtics will beat the Cavaliers, thanks to the Big 3. The only difference between now, and the beginning of the playoffs is that I’m sure most will have this series going six or seven games, with the Celtics eventually winning the series thanks to home court, instead of the four or five games most originally were blathering about. They’ll talk about how they’ve said the Celtics were going to the finals from the start of the season, and they can’t go back on it now. They’ll be rambling on and on about how the Celtics learned a lot during the Atlanta series, and that’s what the Big 3 needed to gel together in the playoffs. I’m sure they’ll talk about how the Celtics reacted with their backs against the wall against Atlanta, blowing them out. They’ll all bring up how well the Celtics play at home, and that it’s possible this series will be a lot like the series against Atlanta, with the teams winning all their games on their home court.
Pssssst…Cleveland isn’t Atlanta…
Guess what. They still have to play the games.
It’s amusing how all season long I’ve listened to the rest of the league talk about the Cavs being a one-player team. I’d be foolish to say otherwise. To say that the Cavs have anything more than LeBron James would damn near be sacrilegious. I’m fine with the Celtics looking past Delonte West, who has provided more than even the Cavs have bargained for, including hitting a winning shot against the Bullets…er…Wizards in round 1. It’s not like he’s going to be fired up for this series against his old team. Forget about Daniel Gibson, who seems to be on the precipice of returning to the old playoff form of last year. Who cares if he has the ability to bury a team from beyond the arc. It doesn’t really matter that Devin Brown and Wally Szczerbiak provide an interesting tandem at the #2 slot. Brown is the guy that drives opposing teams bonkers getting in your face, penetrating, and being just enough unorthodox to give a team fits from an unlikely source. Let’s hope that Wally Szczerbiak is just an afterthought. His 26 in game 6 against the BullWizards will ensure the Shamrocks will be forced to at least have a man in his general vicinity to avoid getting lit up from outside. That won’t matter, will it? Of course, Z is too old and too slow to be any good. Just ignore his double digit garbage points, and when he starts launching 12-15 footers…and making them, go ahead and be surprised. If Z is washed up, then what about Big Ben Wallace. What a bonehead move to take him in a trade. What does he have to prove anyways. It’s not like he’s got any playoff experience. Joe Smith and Anderson Varejao are there as well. I’m sure the Celtics aren’t worried about them either. Smith is a leader, and never really makes mistakes. He can make a key shot, and board when he needs to. Varejao makes too much money now, but I don’t think the Celtics need to worry about the spark he brings, or the defense. Let’s focus on the fact he can’t shoot.
And then there’s LeBron. Surely he can’t take on the Big 3 by himself, and actually win. That couldn’t be possible….could it? I mean imagine that, the defending Eastern Conference champions having a shot to win. Oh yeah, they got lucky that year. It was pure luck of the draw. Yeah, just pure luck…and here come the Celtics and their four leaf clovers. Here comes the mighty Celtics, riding on their media NBA title that they won last fall.
Wait…you mean they still have to play the games?
Cavs in 7 games, and they’re gonna win it right in the mouth of the media beast.
Join us RIGHT HERE for the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. the Boston Celtics, Tuesday night at Cavalier Attitude - and don’t forget to log your vote for the series result to the right of the home page.
This entry was posted
on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 8:08 pm and is filed under Delonte West, Anderson Varejao, Cavalier Attitude, Wally Szczerbiak, Boobie, Devin Brown, Z, Paul Pierce, Joe Smith, LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers, Kevin Garnett, Daniel Gibson, Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Boston Celtics.
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30 Responses to “CavsCast: Game #1: Cleveland at Boston–Bring on the Celtics”
May 5th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
This is going to be a fun series…I hope we get a good mix of fans tomorrow night.
Make sure if you are watching the game close to your computer, to hop on by and check us out…
I’ll be here for the duration…
May 5th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Blow the whistle, man…blow the whistle.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
I think its great that the Boston media is already calling LeBron a crybaby and overrated and such. I mean they think the flagrant 2 on Rondo was really that bad, LeBron got tossed into the first row of camera guys in mid-air. Songaila’s suspension was just a punishment for what had happened all series to the Cavs. Funny thing is, Boston people feel the world owes them something. They can shove it up their ass, Let’s get one back for the Tribe.
GO CAVS!!!!
May 5th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Jim, Love to have you at the Garden for game 7 when the Celtics wake up and put James Posey on Lebron. Don’t worry about respect for Delonte, there are many people in Mass that think he is one of the most underrated players in the League. Biggest disappointment of the off season was losing him. The matchup at 2 guard however is another story. The inability of the Celtic’s weakest defensive player (Ray Allen) to cover Joe Johnson nearly cost us the series. It will be a plus here however as he matches up quite well and will run poor Wally into the ground in 5 minutes. Anyway if there is a game 7 I will get you a ticket if you can get up here. Just so you know, there are plenty of seats left on the Celtics bandwagon.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
First of all the Celtics are classy and should not be confused with the Red Sleaze. Second of all everyone here is petrified that James will ruin the party. Third of all, only Red Sox fans think anyone owes them something and those anyones are from New York. And lastly our asses are all really small in New England. I recommend that you try shoving it down our throats because our mouths are really, really big. Jim you are right, this is going to be a lot of fun. Are Celtic/Indian fans welcome?
May 6th, 2008 at 4:20 am
James - I’ve found all the “one man team” and “not even as good as last year’s team” comments amusing too. There’s no doubt that this team revolves around LBJ, it always has, it always will–no matter who his supporting cast is. But who would you rather have in the backcourt: LH and his 35% shooting, or Delonte and Wally? Would you rather have Gooden, a guy who disappears in crunch time, or Big Ben & Joe Smith? Playoff Boobie is back, Z is playing his usual underrated ball, and the defense & rebounding has been solid.
Who knows how this series will go, but the Cavs were retooled to match up with the likes of the Celtics and Pistons. I have a feeling it will all come down to defense and rebounding, and hopefully the extra days of rest will show for the Cavs tonight.
May 6th, 2008 at 4:33 am
I like the Cavs chances but i 6, not 7.
if it goes to game 7 it would be hard to beat the C’s in boston.
May 6th, 2008 at 5:32 am
The Cavs have no chance. The team is poorly coached and constructed.
May 6th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Cavs chances? They have none. Zilch. Nada.
Why? They must score to win, and since the Celtics are playing LeBron James, he’s never scored the 90+ points in a game that will be required to beat the Celtics.
Celtics in 5, assuming DeLonte embraces “cookies” and gives LBJ some offensive assistance one game.
May 6th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Looks like D’antoni will be the coach of the Chicago Bulls which means that the Cavs will end up being the fifth or sixth best team in the East.
May 6th, 2008 at 7:28 am
The last few comments are eerily similar to comments from Pistons fans last year …
May 6th, 2008 at 8:39 am
LOL Cavs have no chance? The Hawks had no chance, either. Newsflash for you: Cleveland isn’t Atlanta. Cleveland wasn’t 8 games under .500. Cleveland’s been battle-tested in the playoffs before. The Pistons teams they faced in each of the last two seasons were better than this Celtics team.
And don’t forget that the best player on the floor will be wearing wine and gold, not the Celtic green.
I love the fools on ESPN who are calling Celtics in five…Boston needs seven games to beat the 8th seed 37-45 Hawks, yet just five games to beat the defending Eastern Conference champs who feature the conference’s best player. LOLOL…I love it. Keep it coming, guys.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Spurs needed 6 games to erase the Suns last year, and only 4 to erase the Cavs. Both World Series years, Sox needed 7 to erase Yanks/Indians respectively and 4 to erase the Cards/Rox, again respectively.
Number of games needed to defeat previous opponent in NO WAY correlates with number of games needed to defeat next opponent. If you really believe that I have some oceanfront property in Wyoming to sell you.
PS- I’m a Red Sox fan and don’t think anyone owes me anything… not sure why people think Sox fans think they’re owed something. We want our teams to win, doesn’t mean we think we’re owed it to win. The only way to win is to win.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Evan - that’s kind of the point … the Suns, Yankees, and Indians were probably better than the Cavs, Cardinals, and Rockies respectively (although I have no doubt the Tribe would’ve found a way to lose even if they’d gotten past the Sox). So if the Cavs are better than the Hawks and it took the Celtics 7 games to finish them off … the logic implies that the Celtics are in trouble.
But the reality is that it’s a new series, the score’s 0-0, and the past doesn’t matter. It’s the Cavs mission to at least split the games in Boston; it’s the Celtics’ job to go up 2-0. The good news is that all the pressure is on the Celtics … and LBJ loves playing the underdog. The Hawks shook the Celtics’ confidence, but the Wiz strengthened the Cavs’ resolve. We’ll see how it plays out on the court starting tonight, but either way I expect a long series. Few expect the Cavs to win … so what do they have to lose?
May 6th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Hey Chris, maybe you weren’t watching, but someone on the cavs through Deshawn Stevenson the play BEFORE Lebron got thrown. And , first of all, Marvin Williams still had his hands on Rondo when HE WAS ON THE GROUND AFTER. THE CAVS STINK. THE SERIES IS OVER. FOR ALL YOU CAVELIERS FANS, MOVE TO BOSTON!!!!!!!!!!
CELTICS RULE, CAVS DROOL. LEBRON STINKS.
May 6th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
ESPN said the Celtics in 5 - I have much more respect for them now.
The Celtics had a bad 1st round going 4-3 against the Hawks who were playing out of their minds at home. Funny that the Celtics 4-3 record (57%) is still better than the 55% record the Cavs had this season.
I’m gonna feel sorry for you guys knowing that you came up so short this year after investing in a bunch of stiffs for a front court when what James really needs is some scoring help to get that team FG% up out of the basement of the NBA rankings . . .
May 6th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Hope it goes seven and triple OT each game.
he he he he he ….
May 6th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
We’ll see…it’s going to be a good series.
Loudmouth…always welcome…good to see the folks from the baseball side of the tracks over here.
Good to see you too Charlie…
May 6th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
4-0 Cavs…both teams can’t get a thing to fall…
Pierce out of the game with 2 fouls early…
May 6th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Looks like Szczerbiak is reverting back to the guy that didn’t hit a shot the first month he played for Cleveland. What is he, 0-5 already?
May 6th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
I’m pretty impressed with how the Celtics move the ball around. They are always looking for an extra pass. It’s a bit of a testament to Allen, Garnett and Pierce that they’ve allowed that mentality to exist on this team. It’s rare in today’s NBA to have three scorers like that on the same team promoting ball movement.
Cleveland is shooting 13%…
May 6th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Cav’s defense was very impressive in the first half.
May 6th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Z’s little underhand airball was SWEET…
but man.. Cleveland’s D is awesome!
May 6th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
man… lebrons making horrible decisions..
hopefully he can get his head straight
May 6th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
…and by decisions.. i mean shot selection
May 6th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Well…to say this was an ugly game is the understatement of the century.
Gotta give it to Boston’s defense for shutting down LeBron, and in doing so, winning the game.
May 6th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
So let the better defense win…
May 6th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Good call Pete, see you on the flip side
May 7th, 2008 at 12:51 am
Wow, what an ugly game. However I doubt LeBron has another game like this in the series, so if the rest of the team can play D like they did last night they will have a great chance to beat the Celtics
May 7th, 2008 at 2:57 am
LeSkilless will have more ugly games. He routinely misses layups which has been a problem of his since he entered the league, he has no post game,no mid range game and of course he can’t shoot from outside. After five years in the league all Lebron can do is dunk.
If Ray Allen and Paul Pierce had good games, this first game would have been a slaughter. Like I said earlier the Cavs have no chance. This series will go 4 or 5 and then it’s good riddance to the Nike creation.
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