MVN - Most Valuable Network

Letting another Game 4 slip away, CLE 88-77

tenaciousT would say Ground Hog day redux.  Another away game.  Another loss.  Cleveland surged past the Celtics for a 88-77 win. 

Although there are ramifications of this loss which may be quite different than the Game 4 loss in Atlanta, both Game 4s were lost by being pummelled in the 4th quarter.  Doc Rivers mentioned the Celtics “have to play better under stress” and noted the offensive output being limited to 12 points in the 4th.  Compared to the Atlanta Game 4, it was the defense that gave way and allowed the Hawks to pour in 32 points in the 4th and cap a huge comeback.  But let me tell you, it felt like the defense also wilted in this game, although they did a fine job against Lebron James, his 3 pointer and rim rattling dunk in the 4th notwithstanding.

The Celtic defense let the also-rans like Booby Gibson, Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith and Anderson Varejao shoot an amazing 21 for 34 for a 61% field goal percentage.  I guess it was the case of pick your poison because the group coverage on James is going to leave folks open, and the non-James Cavaliers were feeling it tonight shooting those kind of numbers.  So witness what having a superstar can do for you when he can do other things than just score to help the team win.  James dished out 14 assists and had 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and 3 steals along with his 21 points on 7 for 20 from the field.  The Celtics played  their best when James was on the bench in the 2nd quarter with 3 fouls, as they went on a 10-4 run.

While the James’ supporting cast of Gibson, Szczerbiak, Smith and Varejao shot that searing 61% from the field, good for 48 points - the Celtics trio of Cassell, Powe and Posey shot a goose egg of 0 for 9.  There was no help by the Celtics bench except for PJ Brown . . . thank goodness for PJ Brown. 

Paul Pierce faded, Garnett faded and Ray Allen all faded and the Celtics shot 4 for 15 in the 4th quarter.  The defensive intensity was decent - better than Atlanta Game 4 for sure, but it was not fierce.  Perhaps the attention to defense sapped some precious energy from the Celtics as they didn’t drive and try to score in the paint.  Meanwhile, the jump shots were falling short when it mattered. 

So the ramifications are this - last year, Cleveland came back from 0-2 deficit to knot the Detroit series at 2-2.  They proceeded to  win Game 5 in Detroit by 2 points, with James scoring 48 points and the series was over as the Cavs won Game 6 back at home.

Will the Celtics allow the Cavs to remain within striking distance in this Game 5?  The Celtics trounced the Hawks by 25 points in Game 5 of the 1st round, allowing the road woes to fade.  But at this point, being 0-5 on the road in these playoffs, Game 5 at home is certainly a must win game because there is no way the Cavs are losing a clinching game in Cleveland in a would-be Game 6 scenario.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 6:32 am and is filed under Celtics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.