Cavaliers Preview Game #59: Cavs at Celtics
Written By: Andrew | Category: Cleveland Cavaliers | Comments: 171
Cleveland Cavaliers (44-14) vs
Boston Celtics (36-19)
TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA
Thursday, February 25, 2010
8:00 PM EST
TNT/WTAM
After finally snapping that 3 game losing streak, the Cavaliers must now turn their attention to the rival Boston Celtics. Both teams come into this game relatively fresh as each had last night off. This is going to be a great playoff test for the Cavaliers. One of my biggest concerns about this season was that prior to the trade deadline, the only time the Cavaliers played the Celtics was on opening night. I wanted more info on how the Cavs match up with Boston to better know how to proceed at the trade deadline. Now, I realize most Cavs fans don’t take the Celtics seriously, but I refuse to overlook this Boston team. They’re a veteran team that knows how to win big games. This, however, is just a regular season game and the Celtics are without Paul Pierce, so we’ll see how motivated each of these teams really look tonight.
Projected Starting Lineups
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-G Mo Williams (16.1 ppg, 5.0 apg, 1.2 spg, 15.85 PER)
-G Anthony Parker (7.3 ppg, 1.6 apg, .450 3P%, 9.54 PER)
-F LeBron James (29.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 8.5 apg, 31.74 PER)
-F Antawn Jamison (20.0 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 0.2 bpg, 17.54 PER)
-C Shaquille O’Neal (12.1 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.2 bpg, 18.44 PER)
Key Reserves: Anderson Varejao, Delonte West, JJ Hickson, Jamario Moon, Jawad Williams, Daniel Gibson, Leon Powe
Injuries: Sebastian Telfair (out)
Boston Celtics:
-G Rajon Rondo (14.0 ppg, 9.8 apg, 2.5 spg, 20.06 PER)
-G Ray Allen (16.6 ppg, 2.8 apg, .342 3P%, 14.56 PER)
-F Marquis Daniels (6.7 ppg, 1.9 apg, .273 3P%, 11.93 PER)
-F Kevin Garnett (14.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 0.9 bpg, 19.30 PER)
-C Kendrick Perkins (11.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.9 bpg, 15.93 PER)
Key Reserves: Rasheed Wallace, Tony Allen, Glen Davis, Nate Robinson, Shelden Williams, Brian Scalabrine
Injuries: Paul Pierce (doubtful)
Team Efficiency Stats
Cleveland Cavaliers:
-Off (101.7 ppg, 42.1 rpg, .485 FG%, 21.7 apg, 14.3 TOpg, Eff-108.7, Rank-4)
-Def (95.0 ppg, 38.2 rpg, .439 FG%, Eff-101.2, Rank-7)
Boston Celtics:
-Off (98.7 ppg, 38.8 rpg, .484 FG%, 23.7 apg, 15.5 TOpg, Eff-104.6, Rank-13)
-Def (93.8 ppg, 39.7 rpg, .443 FG%, Eff-99.1, Rank-1)
Previous Matchups
- Boston 95 at Cleveland 89 – 10/27/2009 [box]
Future Matchups
- Sun, Mar 14 at Cleveland
- Sun, Apr 4 at Boston
Game Notes
In the opening night of the NBA season, Cavs fans saw Shaq struggle on offense, but disrupt KG a little on defense. That pretty much became about all we expected out of Shaq for much of the first half of the season. Moderate output on offense, but decent and better-than-expected performance on defense. However, in recent weeks, Shaq has steadily been growing into a serious offensive threat once more. Boston will provide a nice test to see if Shaq’s offensive game can project to postseason type basketball. Boston is still the best defensive team in the NBA, balancing both perimeter defense and interior defense, as well as slowing things down into a playoff-style half court game.
With their quick perimeter guys in Rondo and Robinson, and with all of their size in the front court, the Celtics are excellent at defending the pick and roll game. Furthermore, they have mastered the sort of bend-but-don’t-break style of letting LeBron get his and not letting anyone else beat you. We’ll see how that philosophy holds up now that LeBron has another great offensive player at his side in Jamison whom the Celtics must account for at all times. If Garnett is forced to stay closer to Jamison than he has on Varejao or Hickson in the past, then things could really open up for Shaq inside.
It’s also key for Mo Williams to get out of this slump. The Cavaliers still need Mo to find his offense and preserve his role as a legit 2nd and/or 3rd option in this offense. Mo went through similar struggles early this season when he couldn’t adapt to playing off Shaq and Parker, and I feel a little bit like he’s doing the same now that Jamison is here. Mo needs to be assertive and make sure he’s getting his shots early as well.
Finally, LeBron needs to attack the rim much more in this game than he did in the last few games. This isn’t meant to pile up on him after several articles have been written this week about LeBron’s shooting. After all, LeBron’s shooting has won the Cavaliers plenty of games in his career. However, I feel like he has somewhat gotten away from what works in the first quarter as the games have progressed. Boston will actually give LeBron some driving lanes, and in the past he’s used them to put up some enormous numbers against the Celtics. Hopefully he gets back to that in this game.
On defense, the Cavaliers are just a mess right now. It’s not that they aren’t a great defensive team anymore, but rather, the issue is that they aren’t even a good defensive team right now. I am so utterly disheartened by this team’s defense as of late, particularly along the perimeter. And yes, I’m looking squarely at you, Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, and Delonte West.
The Cavaliers have given up 100+ points in 5 of their last 7, and 95+ in all 7 of them. Pathetic. Absolutely inexcusable and pathetic. 3 straight teams have shot better than 50% against Cleveland and 4 of the last 5 have been above 48%. Again, this is pathetic. And you know what? The Cavaliers defense is in serious trouble in this game as well. Now, not only do the Celtics have Rajon Rondo, who Mo Williams and Anthony Parker have 0% chance of ever stopping, but they also have Nate Robinson, who Mo Williams and Anthony Parker have 0% chance of ever stopping.
You want to know why the Cavaliers have been struggling lately? Watch the way Mo Williams “defends” the pick and roll and then watch the way Rondo defends it. As soon as the high screen gets within 4 feet of Mo, he begins to back up so he can go around the pick rather than fight through it. To compensate, Jamison or Varejao will give a hard show to try to slow down Rondo. Obviously, though, the Cavs can’t switch because Mo Williams cannot defend KG or Rasheed or whoever else is providing the high screen. So as a result, Andy or ‘Tawn will have to drop back, which means Mo needs to step back up to get in front of Rondo. This is where Mo gets beat every single time. Rondo will blow right by him. Because Andy or ‘Tawn are busy recovering on their own guy, this means that now a 3rd defender must leave his man to help Mo cut off the penetration. At this point, the Cavaliers have 3 defenders out of position and not solidly defending their guy. 2 quick passes later, and their opponents have either an easy layup inside or a WIDE OPEN 3 point look from outside.
It’s frustrating, and it happens again and again and again and again and again. I am so sick of it, I can barely take it. Why Mike Brown isn’t giving Gibson some minutes back (who was actually fighting through some screens when he was playing), or giving Delonte his starting spot back (who has the footwork to recover properly when going around screens, and who can also occasionally switch off on the screen) is beyond me. This needs to happen, soon, though because I see no sign of Mo Williams improving his defense any time soon. And if Mike Brown is going to just sit there and let this happen over and over again without making any adjustments, then he should be fired right now. This season is too important, and this is the most blatant episode of lethargic effort I have ever seen under Mike Brown. It’s time for it to stop.
Brian Windhorst suggested Mo’s shoulder is what causing him to back off the screen so early, as he doesn’t want to bump it at all. That’s a distinct possibility, but if that’s the case, Mo shouldn’t be playing. He’s doing this team nothing but harm by playing the way he is right now.
Anyway, not that I have achieved some catharsis and vented my anger toward the defense, I’ll just finish up by saying that I really hope this team isn’t using Z’s absence as a crutch. I’ve heard similar sentiments suggested in a few places, and while nobody loves Z more than I do, I feel like it’s time for this team to get their head put back in the right place. They developed some bad habits in racking up their 13 game win streak against bad opponents. Now they’re playing a bunch of good teams, and they’re paying for those bad habits dearly. I hope they don’t wait until March 21st to get serious about this season again. I want to see the Cavaliers come out tonight and try to prove a point to the Celtics. You acquired Jamison to become the elite team in the Eastern Conference, now it’s time to act like it.
Vegas Line
Boston +2.5
Over/Under 193
From The Outside Looking In
CelticsBlog
Celtics Hub
Red’s ArmyCeltics 17
Hardwood Houdini
Perk Is A Beast
Birds Of A Feather
Stepien Rules
Cavs: The Blog
The Wine and Gold Rush
Random Thoughts
Next Game For The Cavaliers
Friday, February 26, 2010
7:00 PM EST
Cleveland Cavaliers at Toronto Raptors
FSOH/WTAM
Author: AndrewSchnitkey
Andrew Schnitkey is a founding editor of WaitingForNextYear. Though he has written about every Cleveland franchise over the years, his primary focus is the Cavaliers and NBA basketball in general.Andrew Schnitkey has written 533 articles for Waiting for Next Year.
No Pierce?
Getcha wheelchair ready.
Go Cavaliers hopefully our backcourt shows up and Rondo doesn’t turn it into Swiss cheese!
Completely agree about Mo going under screens. I’ve noticed that for some time and it’s so aggravating when you see it happen but nothing is done about it. That’s what good shooting PG’s destroy us b/c he allows them to jack up shots all game long. Then they blow by him.
This can be fixed by a) going over the pick or b) playing Gibson more often to switch the look up on who Mo is guarding.
No matter what we say, Brown won’t change anything, it’s just fruitless complaining.
Appreciate the analysis of how the Cavs defense has been breaking down recently.
Don’t know what the situation is with Mo. He’s been medically cleared to play, but he’s definitely playing scared. Seems to me that he’s got to just play through that, though I wouldn’t mind Brown having a quick hook on Mo tonight in a rather meaningful game. He can either bring in Gibson or slide Delonte over and bring in Jamario or Jawad to chase around Ray Allen.
Just to those ready to celebrate a victory because Pierce is out: we have beaten them without Z, and they have beaten us without KG. Injuries don’t make automatic victories.
anyone other beantowners hitting up the game tonight? I’ll be there sportin the colors
“anyone other beantowners hitting up the game tonight?”
This the most question ever.
not quite sure what that means, guessing you’re making fun of me? ok are any other cleveland fans that live in boston attending the basketball game this evening?
@boogie close, i’ll be watching the game from my couch in the north end.
can’t get much closer
<—will be proudly sporting the newest t in my collection
Andrew, you always frame these matchups so well – thanks man. Can’t wait for the game tonight; living outside of our beloved hometown, I relish the rare opportunity to watch a full Cavs game.
If the Cavs don’t come out tonight and just crush the Celts, I will be surprised.
@12 Same here I’ll just take the win even if it’s ugly.
Now for all of you that don’t no Mo Williams by now, let me tell you. Hes going to be the NO-SHO-MO that i know he is. When its crunch time thats when the NO-SHO-MO comes out. Watch he has a terrible game and then i’ll have to come on here and hear you guys make excuses for him.
NO-SHO-MO will be on display tonight. 9pt, 2 asst, 3-13 FGs, and no defense. I hope im wrong but knowing Mo, im probably right on point.
We will win but Rondo is gonna expose our perimeter defense. I need to see our old solid defense and soon.
This is going to be a tough one. Let’s hope the boys have it together tonight. If not I’m sure we’ll never hear the end of it in the national media
All I can really say is… I’m excited. The Orlando/Boston games always get me excited like a kid on Christmas morning.
Hopefully, AP can disrupt Allen tonight. If he doesn’t maybe Brown will finally do the right thing.
thanks mr. c! i was on the fence whether or not to go out to the corner pub and watch game with locals (it’s a hurricane over here!)… but now im going!
[oh wait. i'm a local.]
@TheBoogie Where can i get one of those shirts?
@18
Jimbo, I liked your old avatar better. Ah, what is more rare than a steaming high-humidity day in Hiram in July. But then I guess we’re just men of a certain age, eh?
Wow, how quiet is that crowd? Huh Simmons?
we are out of sorts tonight…the malaise continues. Where is the defensive intensity? They look like the ’02 Cavs on D right now
We are SLOOOOOWWWWWW getting back on defense. Killed by transition buckets.
Good grief twan. You’re getting better looks with the Cavs than you ever did with Washington. Could you please help us out?
Defense is for losers
I’m about to just turn this off…
Terrible first quarter, Celtics shoot 70 percent. Defense optional again.
defense? what defense?
edit: offense? whats that?
this is actually making me nauseous…anyone but the celtics…please.
these guards continue to kill us
k, I’m officially starting to panic a bit. Even if we come back and win this game, we are undoubtedly having huge issues all of a sudden.
Big Baby playing dirty much like a child would.
Mo Williams is like a turn stile on defense Rondo picked up right where the Hornets guards left off. Shaq injured his thumb now it just gets better!
How was that not a foul on Big Baby against Shaq?
mo can’t be 100% even if he isn’t fully in game shape he’d be playing better than this somethings up
Are you kidding me? No defense at all.
“your as coooooold as ice…” sigh
How many high percentage shots are we going to give up? The difference is at point guard right now. Our guards have disappeared. What’s going on?
Have we suddenly become uninspired for no apparent reason? I can’t imagine why the team with the best record in the NBA would virtually lie down on the D end of the floor and drop percentages drastically on the offensive side. Lord, I hate making trades. Don’t care how good the new guy is.
we should be losing by 40
And shoot. Dont like the sound of that thumb sprain.
were about to be down by 40 if they just keep leaving ray allen wide open
If the celts fall back to earth this is a 4 point game.
Jameson 3 pts, Mo 3 pts, at the half.
Come on!
oh where or where has my mo williams gone oh where oh where can he beeeeee?
We are lucky to be down 8.
So say Shaq is out for a chunk of games. Is this a blessing in disguise (ie get used to playing a small lineup, integrating new players) or does this make the Jamison trade a huge mistake.
Shaq being out for a chunk of games is almost certain to cost us the overall #1 seed
At least Lebron started attacking the rim. Delonte can get there as well, why isn’t he?
I’m all for some Powe in the 2nd half, especially with Shaq out. He at least should be motivated to come out and work some people over.
@stin4u, I cringe every time I see Allen that wide.
Good note though, Varejao is all over the place and playing KG pretty well.
They needed Jamison just bad luck with the Shaq injury.
We are missing another piece of the puzzle.
Yes, they are killing us in transition, but that’s because all we do is shoot jumpshots.
4 FTs?
WE HAVE TO GO TO THE RIM! Nobody takes the ball inside. Not Bron. Not Mo. Not Delonte. Not Jawad. No one.
They just look for pretty shots all the time. No fight. No physicality. Nothing.
@historycat, that’s the story right there. And what is up with Jamison’s shot? He looked like he was pushing those 3 pointers out of his hand instead of shooting it smoothly.
(Written as MP34 was posting…)
+1
agree’d jack…maybe mo should watch some tape on rondo and press the floor some….this is ridiculous.
Can’t stand the D. No turnover creation, no blocked shots, getting outrebounded. We all complain about LeISO, but turnovers create all the points we were seeing this team put up earlier. Not to mention a fought-for rebound here and there (Varejao notwithstanding). Could just be a mid-season lull, which I’m hoping, but D is all effort, and it needs to be stepped up.
I respect Mike Brown and think this team takes on his personality…a great measure of the positive impact of a coach, and so I think now the proverbial ball is in his court to get this figured out.
The biggest mystery is what the hell is up with LeBron? He looks downright salty and uninspired out there… perhaps Windy was onto something when he was talking about LBJ not being the same without Z. Sure looks that way.
Jacob, can we get some sort of statistical survey of the Cavs’ work in the paint in these losses?
Sure, the defense intensity is bad. But it’s hard to setup a defense when you are constantly responding to missed jumpshots.
LeBron looks really unhappy. The whole team looks out of it. No energy. No pop. No giggles. Nada.
@MattC, I noticed that same sort of nonchalance that we are seeing now at the beginning of the season with LeBron. I trust (hope?) it’s just a matter of being bored and waiting for the real season (playoffs) to begin?
@matt thats what im sayin! he looks glazed over, just totally blank….I wonder what the heck is up?
What could cause this total change of heart? The Z trade? LeBron letting it slip that he’s leaving? What?
SHAQ IS OUT! WE NEED Z!!!!! I predicted this!
@Jack/Stin4u – Honestly, I’m no LeBron fan boy. So, with that, let me suggest something most will prolly jump down my throat for:
Perhaps this trade which put us over the top as far as the de facto favorites in most people’s eyes added to pressure LBJ’s feeling? Let’s be honest here, so far LeBron hasn’t proven he can REALLY handle pressure all the way.
Combine that with the loss of Z, maybe his possible fatigue, and who knows… But I don’t think he’s been playing as many minutes as he has in the past, is he? Certainly not a significant amount more…
btw anyone else not a fan of the black shoe/white sock combo?
Bleh. Cavs are playing poorly and the Celtics are hitting some crazy shots. Is there a team that gets away with more moving screens than the Celtics? Between Big Baby Davis and Garnett in the 2nd quarter (only quarter I saw), I think they committed more moving screens than the Cavs have all season. And they got annoyed at the only one they got called on. At least so far as I can tell.
Really, I don’t care; I just wish the NBA was consistent about favoring the home team. Then the Cavs could get some better calls at the Q.
lol stin4u, I’m with you on the shoes.
After reading the article about how LeBron puts up 10 outside shots a game and gets 10 pts a game (on average for both), I legitimately cringe whenever he takes a long shot now…..anyone else feel that way?
/frustration building
I think that look on Lebron’s face is frustration no one else is picking it up on the defensive end.
Yes Josh, yes.
Can we put Mo in a Pop-a-Shot machine for a day and a half so he gets his stroke back?
Why isn’t Windy updating his blog or Twitter? I wanna know whats going on!
@Josh…yes! I can’t stand seeing this dribble dribble shoot mentality lately from LBJ. THere just seems to be absolutley no flow or continuity with this team right now. Was it Z being traded? Doubtful to me, he was not a major cog in the rotation.
To me it is all about defense. Defense creates offense for this team, and when their opponents are going for 48% or better, it’s all half court sets after that, which as we see or are seeing, is not necessarily pretty.
No excuses…you are what the scoreboard says you are. Right now, the Cavs are struggling.
I think WIndy is probably too furious to update. His halftime update on Cleveland.com reads like one of our comments.
Arghh bad bad 3 by lbj. Coulda pulled within 4. Take it to the rack.
Would be nice if we set up some offense. 13 assists, 6 turnovers with 6 min left in the 3rd.
The cringing of course is intensified when it is:
A: at the beginning of the shot clock
B: on a possession where everyone stands around and looks stupid
C: when it’s incredibly obvious he’s just gonna stand there and pound the rock for 22 seconds and jack it up
honestly these guys look bored…..like they dont even wanna be there
Look how easy that was – take it to the rack, and 1
Quick google check shows that Mo has been 9 off 33 from the field in the 4 games since his return. That’s 27% shooting.
Oh and fun fact. Antawn Jamison’s middle name is ‘Cortez’
If there was an award for ugliest possessions we’d be a shoe in
Fearless Prediction:
LeBron scores 40+, Cavs lose by 5
Wow, Celtics look like the Globetrotters to our Generals.
I’m surprised this is even close.
Antawn! Keep it going Cortez!
did lebron just hit him self in the face with the ball?
Cavs have always been about defense…finally we are seeing it again in the 3rd qtr. Keep it up…no matter what sir charles says about speeding up the game.
jj had some gastro thingy Reggie…shut up already.
much better quarter…lets finish this one!
@Josh…predict: Cavs win this game by 5 because they are that much better.
Guard play is seriously bugging me. Last year we were all hopped up on Mo’Lante and hotsauce, and backcourt was a strength. This year we got the frontcourt…eh..what happened?
Is chemistry really really that important???
What I need to see is keeping opponents under 20 pts in a quarter consistently. Then I’ll feel better.
Bos points in the 3rd? 18. And look we’re within one. Do that in the first we’re up by 12, do it in the 2nd we’re up by 6.
Well, Rondo is supposedly known to only be good for 2 quarters each game and I think he already got his 2. So a bad 3rd and hoping for a bad 4th for him. Lets close it out!
We are better when Andy is on the floor. Period. He is the only one who crashes every single time.
I agree we’re much better, but as long as Lebron is the one and only option (which Jamison has somewhat changed in the 3rd), I don’t see us being able to get enough points to pull it out, unless he gets hot from outside…..because we all know at least 2 or 3 times, he’s gonna settle, and we’re gonna cry
Now this is looking more like the Cavs we know.
Jamison was already in the air before Davis was set, I can’t agree with that call…..that said, that foul on Wallace at the end of the 3rd was poppycock
Good job, Jackie Moon. That was the right call. He had position and even had the arms crossed in front.
I am counting on the Celtics age and Rasheed’s fatness to catch up with them in the 4th.
Hot sauce!
the Boston crowd doesn’t think their guy committed a foul unless he stabbed an opponent with a broken bottle.
I am man enough to say I love Delonte. Yes, I said it!
Hickson all over the court showing why he deserves AT LEAST 15 min a game.
Defense translates to offense…that’s gotta be the Cavs m.o. to the title…no other way.
DYNOMIIIIIITE
Hickson is a ninja at getting good position under the hoop on the offensive end.
Hickson is like the Offensive version of Varejao…..he gets to the bucket, and works hard…..that’s it, no skill, just 100% effort, all the time
JJ, dont foul Sheed! You actually want him to have the ball so he can brick another 3.
LeBron…….stop it….please
nice fade three lbj…..*face in palm*
JJ is the man…even if he doesn’t create his own shots.
there goes LeBron with his 3′s.
If Lebron cant drive on Ray Allen….
Tough d and a clutch 3 from mo. Thats what I like to see.
Tough d and a clutch 3 from mo. Thats what I like to see.
Great angle on that replay TNT, thanks.
Rondo’s a 59% FT shooter? they actually pay this guy?
Mo is on his way back!
Mo! Where you been?!?
And Mo is back!!!!
MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
He’s feelin’ this!!!!
Mo!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks to Perkins, there’s no way the Cavs lose this game. What a dumb altercation to get in. They were already waking up, now there’s no way they don’t hammer this one.
Thank you Mo for shutting us up. Way to step up buddy
Phone rang…MO is back!!!
yes MO!!! Knock down those wide open shots and the Cavs get a huge boost however long Shaq’s out. I’d dare say as Mo goes in the playoffs, so go the Cavs. If he’s hitting the Cavs will be unstoppable.
We gotta pulse!
D has stepped up big time in this game. Cant lose sight of that here.
KG just cannot get off the ground on his jumper.
This is fun basketball to watch!
WOW! Turnaround complete!!
No heat checks Bron…no heat checks. Keep taking it to ‘em!
The fact that they ran the Mo baseline play right out of a timeout makes me feel all warm on the inside…..like a shot of rum
JJ is +19 right now.
Where wert thou mo!
Delonte > Rondo
man’s game, Delonte!!!
Can we get Leon Powe into the game please. I mean, we signed this guy for almost exactly this game.
The team is getting some confidence and flow and Lebron wants to stand at the top of the arc and ruin it.
I dont get it. The crowd is so quiet. What is the matter with the Boston fans?
//Simmons’d
Lebron=marberry
Lebron has to cut out those end of the game fall aways! Take it strong. They cannot stop him. Seriously now!!
Mike Brown must have heard you Eli…here comes Powe
Absolutely the best half time coaching adjustment job I’ve ever seen from MB.
A goosey and some swagger!
Windy keeps tweeting that Shaq being out has been a blessing in disguise in getting this rotation down.
Hansolo…was it MB or shaq getting injured?
Yikes does Powe look slow running up and down the court. Is it just me?
HAHAAHAHAHAHAHA We’re beating them so bad the Mascot is in……BRIAN SCALABRINE
Good Lord, if they played every quarter like this we wouldn’t hear anything from the national talking heads.
Beets!! Grow underground. Beats!!! Grown unto Celtics.
The young and quick rotation isn’t one that would work against some teams, but it absolutely the bag of bones and dust that are the Celtics.
@justin, good question. But why bitch in any case?? He made the adjustements.
THAT is an empty arena, Simmons.
/Now shut up about the Q crowd.
Thank you, Cavs, for coming back and smacking in the face the team i hate hearing about all the time.
Wow. What a turn-around. That has to be demoralising for the Celtics and, more importantly, their fans.
Hope Shaq’s not out too long…severely sprained thumb…are we looking at a few weeks? Good thing the Cavs have depth w/ the bigs..they murdered the Celts w/ the smaller lineup, esp in transition.
Where’s everyone that was saying Mo is a choker!?!?!? I told you he had to play his way out of it, same with Delonte. Where is Jaythetruth at calling Mo a choker tonight!? People need to stop analyzing every game so closely.
Cavs showed a TON tonight. Without Shaq and Z. Mike Brown put LBJ at the 4 with Andy at C and we became unstoppable. JJ played real well with LBJ. Jamison has to be a bigger factor, but as he gets more comfortable he will be. GO CAVS!
WOAH CAVS TICKETS SELLING FOR 10′ KG COMIN TO CLEELANNN
Of course, now Barkley looks like a genius for picking us before the game.
S-dub, no one thinks Mo choked the past few games, but he was off. He may still be off. Let’s give it time, at least more than one quarter. He needs to get a rhythm going.
You can’t think 3 points in the first half was up to par for him.
Barkely has probably just watched the Celts more than most of us. They are miserable lately on closing out games. They can be skilled and productive for much of a game, but they are not sustaining it against the quality teams.
Welcome back Mo Williams I hope this jump starts him in getting back to his first half form but still nothing but three pointers. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the Cavaliers look so bad in one half only to turn it around in the second lets not be fooled by the final score but the win was still nice especially on the road.
Props to JJ Hickson for coming in and contributing given he hasn’t seen the floor since the All-Star break he logged some nice minutes. If Shaq is out Hickson will have a role as will Powe who was great to see take the court finally. I am shocked Daniel Gibson never got in I guess it’s his turn to be lost in Mike Brown’s Bermuda Triangle of a bench.
S-Dub take it easy Mo has been terrible since he came back I give him credit he hit some big shots but all he does is attempt 3s now. I want to see what he does in the next game because he was owned against New Orleans and he was owned in the first half as well as the third and didn’t show up until the fourth. By my count that’s 7 bad quarters to 1 good one.
@historycat – Well, it was a good pick wasn’t it?
Takeaways from this game:
1) Our small lineup is really really good as long as we aren’t playing a team with Dwight Howard on it.
2) JJ Hickson needs to play minutes.
3) When the Cavs get a couple layups and force players to move, they look nice.
Also, @Mark: look, the Simmons comment was obnoxious. I totally agree. But just to be a little fair and not stoop to that level, he wasn’t hating on the fans for not getting excited while their team look disinterested and were coughing up a huge lead. He was down on them for allegedly not being stoked during the shootout.
And honestly, he has a point. The Orlando game, for instance, was crazy. Their fans were crazy that whole game. And I was at the Orlando game at the Q–we weren’t even close to matching their intensity. We don’t want to get too excited. We don’t. We, much like the team we live for, seem to be waiting for the playoffs. The regular season, especially after last year, just doesn’t move us that much anymore.
That said, ~@~ on Simmons.
God, just look at the plus/minus numbers for the bench…
You have to love the Celtics scoring line by quarter: 31, 25, 18, 14. It reads like the downward sliding chromatic phrase you hear at the Q when the opposing team misses a significant shot — wah, wah, wah, waaaaah….
It also reminds us that the Celtics are getting old. Wait, it doesn’t remind US, but it should jostle the likes of Kenny Smith, who cannot clear his head of his frozen notions: “Kobe is the best; no one beats the Lakers; the Cavs are weak; the Cavs can’t beat Boston.” The guy keeps repeating himself like some senile bench sitter in the park, and he gets paid as an “analyst.”
I never thought I would commend Charles B., but he did call this one at halftime. The guy has finally gotten over his hate for the Cavs. Surely not for Cleveland, but at least he recognizes the team’s character for what it is.
My only complaint about this game: would have liked to have seen Booby.
Come back DJack!
@164 phil m I thought the Cavaliers were meat the way Barkley was slurping them especially at the half when he was so confident they would come back and win easily. I’m not used to Sir Charles speaking highly of the team luckily for me he had Mighty Mouse Kenny I made a career off of Hakeem Olajuwon’s back Smith to level things out.
@boogeyman: yeah, you could see it as leveling out expectations, but I’ll be interested to see if Kenny Smith is able to adjust his brain cells should the Cavs take this season.
@ Jack – Totally agree about the Simmons comment. I just like sticking it to Boston.
@ Phil – thats my complaint about every game! Hey oh! Thanks, I’ll be here all night!
@167 phil it’ll take Smith sending Boston fishing before he probably gets off riding them.
@Mark even better then watching those Boston fans sit there watching their team fall apart is knowing Nate Robinson brings his losing ways with him from NY. For some reason I can’t stand that midget. With him there I now have Rondo, Perkins and Robinson to enjoy when the Celtics fail.
You gotta have faith in the depth and skill of the Cavs…
Even without Shaq, we hammered the Celts.
Now we have a 2 game winning streak
I completely agree that JJ should get more minutes… He’s an animal of a young player, and he give the Cavs energy when he is on the floor…
I know that Powe only played for a few minutes, but he played very aggressive with an in-you-face style that’s going to strengthen the D and force opponents’ turnovers.
I think the Cavs just needed some adjustment time after getting Jamison, and Mo coming back after being out.
I have faith in the depth and skill of the Cavs.
Don’t sleep on the Raptors tomorrow…never a break for LeBron!