Cleveland Browns Week 11 Winners and Losers
November 17, 2014Mount Union beats John Carroll; Hudson eliminates St. Ignatius
November 17, 2014How fitting, it seems, that in same building that once served him enough demons that Constantine could be called to exorcise them, LeBron James gave us his first virtuoso performance of this young NBA season.
In Boston for work, I bought a ticket to see the Cleveland Cavaliers play the Celtics at TD Garden on Friday night. It was my first time watching the team in person on the road, and my first time observing how those that root for his opposition react to James. It was in this very historic building four years ago that James ripped off his Cavaliers uniform after being eliminated from the playoffs by the Celtics yet again, pushing his now former and current team into a basketball grave much deeper than six feet. How surreal it was to see him back here, clad once again in wine and gold garb, taking on a Celtics team that was a mere skeleton of what it was the last time James wore that very uniform.
How does an opposing crowd view LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love? What does David Blatt’s offense look like up close after almost a month of installation? Why is the Boston accent such an abomination of the human vocal chords?
The 2014-2015 Boston Celtics are an odd bunch. The starting lineup features an emotionless Rajon Rondo, who after passing Paul Pierce to move into fourth place on the Celtics all-time assists list, weakly raised his hand to acknowledge the crowd, then went back to staring off into nothingness. Jeff Green is here, too. During player introductions, he ran out a good five seconds before his name was announced and looked like he’d rather walking across a bed of coals than on that basketball court. Kelly Olynk is starting, a big man with a nice touch from deep when left open. Jared Sullinger is extremely talented, possessing that throwback, back ’em down, below-the-rim game. And Sad Tyler Zeller exists to pick up fouls and generally look disinterested. Fans around me wore Celtics shirts with Garnett and Pierce still etched into the back, as if they know this current team is just a placeholder until the Celtics can win again.
The Cavs, on the other hand, were starting to resemble a 24-year-old in a new city who has stumbled upon a bar that serves up a hometown brew. After an up and down start for James and his band of Merry Men, they were on a two-game winning streak, riding high after a much needed offensive explosion against a talented New Orleans Pelicans team earlier in the week. Then the game started.
I was looking for a storyline that night, though I wasn’t sure what it would be. How does an opposing crowd view LeBron, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love? What does David Blatt’s offense look like up close after almost a month of installation? Why is the Boston accent such an abomination of the human vocal chords? Any and all of those questions quickly dissipated when it became clear the Cavaliers would pay as much attention to playing defense as Michael Jordan does to clothes that fit.
The Celtics would shoot almost 55 percent from the field on this night, a ridiculously high number considering Rondo took 10 shots and missed seven of them. The Cavs are so excited to get back on the offensive end that defensive mistakes are quickly swept under the rug as the ball is rocketed back inbounds a few milliseconds after a Celtic shot swishes through the hoop. The Celtics were in the midst of a 41-point third quarter when I decided it was time for a beer and some food to calm my frustrations. I came back with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (TD Garden will forever be dope for offering this) and a Bud Light, and the Celtics with a 100-84 lead with just one quarter to play.
For much of the game, my attention was locked in on LeBron James. I was close enough to the action to clearly see his facial expressions and his mannerisms, and it was ever fascinating. The first thing I noticed is how hard James works to bury his frustrations with the young players around him when they do something dumb, which happened about as many times that night as Joe Haden has shoes. In the first quarter, after a failed offensive possession, James put his hands together, brought them up over his face and took a deep breath. It was almost Zen-like. In another instance, after an atrocious showing on defense led to a Blatt timeout, James swiftly strolled to the end of the bench, far away from his teammates, as if sitting any closer to them would cause James to become violent. His anger management techniques failed him in that unexplainable third quarter, when the Cavs, who defend the pick-and-roll like its a hot stove, failed to switch and let another Celtic drive to the hoop untouched. James slapped the ball with his enormous hands and spewed what I’m sure were a cluster of expletives, his body vibrating from the force of his words. Down 19 after a Zeller layup to being the fourth quarter, it seemed the storyline of my trip to Da Gawhden would go something like “Yeah, it was cool, but the Cavs got crushed. Had a PB&J though.”
Then the rest of the fourth quarter happened. Irving kicked it off, draining a handful of threes to trim the Celtics lead back down close to double digits. James would channel his inner range to finish the comeback, including a huge and one to tie the game and beautiful dimes to Shaun Marion who quietly played a huge role in the improbable win. The Celtics crowd was fantastic. They were vocal all night, mostly to shower James with boos any time he complained about a foul or stepped to the free throw line. But in that last quarter, when a Cavs comeback became inevitable and James turned back the clocks to his first tour of duty with his hometown team, the crowd just wanted to bask in the spectacle. They oohed and ahhed with each spectacular play, and bashfully cheered as if they longed for more. It was a strange experience, to leap up joyously after a huge James basket and not be cursed for doing so, as many leapt up with me. James is older, but the reaction to his play is the same. It can transform an entire arena in to one throbbing mass, all foaming at the mouth for a glimpse at a once-in-a-lifetime athlete.
With seven seconds left and the Celtics down one, Rondo received an inbounds pass and proceeded to do nothing with it, dribbling the clock down to zero before hurriedly launching a shot that wouldn’t matter. With the 19-point comeback complete, James playful tossed the ball toward the ceiling before walking off the court, the elder statesman following his students back to the classroom, hoping another lesson of how to win had been etched into their memory.
As the capacity crowd emptied out around me, with fans muttering “He didn’t even get a shot off!” I stood and took it all in. In a place full of more banners than an episode of Game of Thrones, James’s final statline read like this: 41 points, four rebounds and seven assists. It reminded me of his first stint in Cleveland, when a box score like that was commonplace. And for a night, it reminded fans of the player James still is, and what this Cavs team will be when they put things together on the defensive end.
I scooped up my Northface, which was soaking wet due to a pool of beer hiding beneath my seat, took one more look at the faded yellow seats around me and headed back out into the cold Massachusetts night. The Cavs would obliterate the Atlanta Hawks a day later as I watched from the comfort of my couch instead of a folding chair, picking up where they left off in Boston offensively and tightening the defensive screws ever so slightly. If the Cavaliers do indeed go on an extended run moving forward, I’d like to think I could look back at that night in Boston as the catalyst, the anger James once held disappearing into joy as the final horn blared. And if you look close enough, you’ll see me there, arms raised, enjoying the Cavaliers return to basketball relevance in a city that once spelled nothing but disappointment and pain for no. 23.
7 Comments
Great stuff LBJ is back in all his glory. Although for me he’s having to do way to much lifting. That being said it’s only eight games. On a side note…LBJ has a cold but will play tonight. On a further side note…I can’t stand the Boston accent which makes it interesting to be a Boston sports fan. On a much further side note I’ve been told as an Ohioan I have an accent. Now the person telling me this was from Texas so I think her ear was a little off. Have a nice day!
LBJ player of the week in East!!!
i watched the game on Boston television. WOW – those announcers are annoying crybabies. They argues about almost every call. And, of course, they said nothing when Kyrie took that shot to the body on his last attempt (though i wouldn’t have called the foul, it was a foul).
I would go so far as to say they even rival Ken Harrelson on the annoying scale.
Tommy Heinsohn used to be good now that’s he’s gotten older he sounds like the old guy yelling to stay off his lawn.
http://grist.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/get-off-my-lawn.gif?w=500&h=200
“It was in this very historic building four years ago…”
Jordan, you know you were not in the historic Boston Garden, right? The TD Center is not much more than half the age of the Browns’ new stadium.
take it easy on the kid – it’s historic for him. haha!
Yup, definitely realized that after I submitted this. Celtics did win their only championship with Pierce, Allen and Garnett there, so it’s sort of historic? Kind of? Maybe? I’ll see myself out