Cavaliers News

"Paul Pierce and Ray Allen found their shooting touch. LeBron James can only hope he left his in Cleveland. more stories like this Pierce scored 19 points, Kevin Garnett added 13 with 12 rebounds, and Allen broke out of a seven-quarter scoring drought with 16 points to help the Boston Celtics beat the Cavaliers 89-73 on Thursday night and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals."

"Along the lines of the emperor having no clothes, the King currently has no clue. LeBron James retains the potential to convince us of otherwise, but what the Celtics are doing to the top scorer in the NBA at the moment is nothing short of a beat down. James is missing layups and airmailing jumpers, and most every shot he takes seems to hit the rim with the weight of a tenpin bowling ball. By late last night, James was talking to himself so much that you couldn’t help but wonder if he should have been pushing an empty shopping cart."

"In the Celtics’ 89-73 Game 2 win, James again struggled, this time with 21 belabored, double-teamed points on 6-of-24 shooting. The Celtics took a 2-0 series lead behind a two-act attack - a first half fueled by the bench and a second led by 16 points from Ray Allen, who finally broke into the scoring column after six scoreless quarters in this series."

"Paul Pierce and Ray Allen found their shooting touch. LeBron James can only hope he left his in Cleveland. Pierce scored 19 points, Kevin Garnett added 13 with 12 rebounds, and Allen broke out of a seven-quarter scoring drought with 16 points to help the Boston Celtics beat the Cavaliers 89-73 on Thursday night and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals."

"LeBron James peeled back his upper lip. ''Want me to show you?'' he said to a Cavs PR representative who had asked (at my request) where he was hit on Boston Celtics guard Sam Cassell's flagrant foul Tuesday night. James then revealed the cut that he received inside his mouth as he drove to the basket. ''People think I'm diving,'' he scoffed. ''Maybe I need to get my eye poked out for people to know I'm getting hit.'' Clearly, James hears the crowd and the comments, comments that state he overreacts and draws foul calls with Shakespearean antics. The cut was proof otherwise. James does get hit, and when he does, he reacts. The crowd doesn't like it because the game is fast and the hits are hard to see live."

"It has been seven months and 89 games, but as the Cavaliers prepared for Game 2 against the Boston Celtics, they were going back to the basics from training camp. After reviewing the game video, Cavs coach Mike Brown said some of the team's standard offensive principles of ball movement and of general rotation broke down in the 76-72 loss in Game 1. It was surprising considering that the Cavs have been running the same plays for months and, in Game 6 against the Washington Wizards, displayed some of the best movement and execution all season."

"Boston coach Doc Rivers knew he'd never win, but he was willing to make a case for James Posey as the NBA's top sixth man. "When they were asking about the Sixth Man Award, I brought up Pose," Rivers said Wednes day as the Cel tics prepared to host the Cava liers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals tonight in TD Banknorth Garden. "You could never win the argument with his numbers, but you can with his value to our basketball team." This is a basketball team that led the NBA with a 66-16 record and owns a 1-0 record in this series against the Cavs. "

"LeBron James had the worst shooting night of his career in Game 1 of the best-of-seven semifinal playoff series against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, but neither James nor coach Mike Brown is concerned. History is on James' side. "He is who he is and it's as simple as that," Brown said. "He's human and he had a tough night. He hasn't had many tough nights in a row. Usually when he has a tough night, he bounces back the next game and has a pretty good game." That has certainly been the case over the years for James. He has had a knack for coming back strong after subpar games. James does not lack confidence in that regard."

" Every NBA playoff game takes on its own character. Cavs-Celtics I was that of two dancers and four left feet. I can't remember an uglier playoff game between two good teams. Only some of the offensive malaise was born of championship defense. With Game 2 tonight, here's five reasons for each team to be concerned:"

"The Cleveland Cavaliers took pride in the fact that they held Ray Allen scoreless for the first time in 852 games dating back to 1997 and held Paul Pierce to only four points on 2-for-14 shooting in Tuesday night’s 76-72 Game 1 loss to the Celtics at TD Banknorth Garden. But they are still trying to figure out a way to stop Kevin Garnett."

"Part of what the Celtics worked on yesterday was predictably hopeless. Attempting to determine how Cleveland will change its use of LeBron James in the wake of a 2-for-18, 12-point performance is like trying to figure out where the next bomb will land. But the Celtics had to at least try heading into tonight’s Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. “You can assume changes based on what they’ve done in the past, but I think we just have to focus on what we do defensively,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. Only one change appears to be guaranteed: The Game 1 LeBron is assuredly gone, just as the Paul Pierce and Ray Allen of that same night have probably checked out. Shots, or more specifically makes, are back on the itinerary."

"LeBron James shook his head when asked if on Tuesday night he played as poorly as he possibly could in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ sloppy, 76-72, loss to the Celtics at the TD Banknorth Garden. The 23-year-old superstar said, however, that he has no intentions of letting Celtics fans catch a glimpse of the rarely-seen nadir of his game when the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals resume tonight. “Oh, no, it’s not the worst, but at the end of the day, we still had a chance to win the ballgame,” he said. “I wasn’t satisfied with the way I played but to say it was my worst game? No.”"

"Statistically, LeBron James just finished the best regular season of his career. He led the NBA in scoring at 30 points per game and had career highs in rebounds (7.9), assists (7.2) and blocks (1.1) per game. The Cavaliers were 0-7 when he didn't play, and he carried them to numerous victories with clutch fourth-quarter play. In all, it was quite a Most Valuable Player resume."

"The Eastern Conference semifinals started Tuesday night. Unfortunately LeBron James didn't. Of the many unexpected things that happened in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, James having a downright dismal offensive night had to be the most unexpected. On a night when Ben Wallace was making a fadeaway jumper and Sasha Pavlovic was brought off the shelf, James struggled. No other way to put it. ''I missed a lot of shots that I can usually make,'' James said. And even with that, the Cavs almost won, almost stole the first game. They led by two with 1:30 to go, had the score tied with 37 seconds left. They had chances. Problem is they didn't, and now they trail 1-0."

"The game couldn't have been uglier, but it also maybe couldn't have been more winnable for the Cavaliers. In part one of what could be a slugfest series, the Cavs scrapped with the favored Boston Celtics, keeping themselves in contention to steal a road victory until the end. But for as much as they did right to put themselves there, they couldn't finish. In the end, LeBron James ended a subpar night by faltering while the Celtics' veterans made some huge plays to take a 1-0 series lead with a 76-72 victory."

"Paul Pierce was able to laugh about it afterward. Pierce made just 2 of 14 shots and had six turnovers in the Celtics' 76-72 victory over the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals on Tuesday night in TD Banknorth Garden. Ray Allen went 0-for-4, going scoreless in an NBA game for the first time since Feb. 26, 1997. "

"LeBron James received one first-place vote and finished fourth in the NBA's 2007-08 MVP voting. Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant won the award, his first, with 82 first-place votes. James, who finished second in MVP voting in 2006, was not surprised Bryant won. "I've always stated, since two or three years ago, that Kobe Bryant's the best player in this league," James said. "And he's been the best player in this league for five or six years. It's good he won it. His team played well and he's part of the reason why they finished No. 1 in the West." "

" One more play and a swarming defense on James made the difference as the Cavs came up short in a 76-72 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at TD Banknorth Garden. The Cavs are now 0-14 when they play Game 1 of a playoff series on the road. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is in Boston on Thursday. "

"From the moment they arrived for yesterday morning's shootaround at TD Banknorth Garden, it was apparent that Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West - a pair of former Celtics who were dealt from Seattle to Cleveland as part of a blockbuster three-team trade Feb. 21 - had checked their emotions at the door. While they have not forgotten all the good times they had in Boston - Szczerbiak for the 2006-07 season; West from 2004-07 - they returned last night fully intending to help the Cavaliers take care of business."

"He matched his playoff career high of 22 points, but it was of little consolation to Zydrunas Ilgauskas as he sat slouched in his stall in the visitors' locker room at TD Banknorth Garden, a pair of ice bags taped to his knees as he cooled his dog-tired feet in a large bucket of ice. With basketball god LeBron James looking like a mere mortal - he nearly posted the first quadruple-double of his career with 12 points, 10 turnovers, 9 assists, and 9 rebounds - Ilgauskas did his best to steady the Cleveland Cavaliers on his gangly 7-foot-3-inch frame."

"LeBron James sat in front of his locker, both feet settled into a rectangular gray tub of ice water. He read from the final box score. "A lot of shots I didn't make," James said. "Layups, pull-ups. The last one. The ball was all the way in, it just jumped out. It was a symbol of the type of night I had." What a night. LeBron made only 2 of 18 shots in a 4-point playoff loss to the Celtics. He committed 10 turnovers. He had 9 rebounds and 9 assists to go with his measly 12 points. Almost a dubious quadruple-dou ble."

"Imagine two heavyweight boxers, nose to nose, sweating profusely, throwing body blow after body blow until only one is barely left standing. Not the type of fight you want to watch over again or remember. No, not pretty in the least. more stories like this That's basically how Kevin Garnett described his Celtics' ugly 76-72 victory over the Cavaliers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series at TD Banknorth Garden last night."

"It’s no secret players relish an opportunity to stick it to a former employer. Former Celtic Joe Johnson nearly pulled off a miracle in the first round of the playoffs, his exploits carrying the underdog Atlanta Hawks to seven games against the heavily favored Celtics. Now it’s Delonte West’s turn to make the Celtics pay for trading him. West spent the first three years with the organization before getting sent to the Seattle SuperSonics in the Ray Allen deal on draft day last June. "

"Danny Ainge was just doing his due diligence last summer when he asked Wally Szczerbiak about Kevin Garnett. The Celtics had learned that Garnett could be available, and Ainge wanted to know as much as could about him. The message from Szczerbiak was fairly well to the point: Get him. Now."

"We may have to go to horror expert Stephen King for a ruling. Last night it was just too close to call. Were the Cleveland Cavaliers more frightened by the sight of LeBron James making just 2-of-18 shots? Or were the Celtics more alarmed that, in spite of that, they were able to win Game 1 of the teams’ Eastern Conference semifinal series by just four points, 76-72? In either case, nobody expects a sequel. No one can figure on James to author another version of his worst shooting night since . . . ever."

"Rarely, if ever, has a bad night felt so satisfying for Paul Pierce. The reason might have even been glorious. The Celtics captain scored only four points on 2-for-14 shooting in the Celtics’ 76-72 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers last night, but along with James Posey, he also was the first line of defense in an effort that limited LeBron James to 2-for-18 shooting."

"There isn’t a defensive scheme that LeBron James hasn’t seen, according to Doc Rivers. No rotation, no player, no two players, nothing that can be designed on a clipboard. But the Celtics certainly did imitate and recycle until they turned virtually every drive into agony for the Cleveland star. They simply ran the house at James last night - with Paul Pierce, James Posey and even both Allens (Ray and Tony) up front and lots of help underneath - and walked off with a 76-72 win against the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals."

"The Cavaliers could end up sending the Atlanta Hawks thank-you cards and presents should the Cleveland team win its playoff series that begins tonight against the Boston Celtics in the TD Banknorth Garden. The would-be upstart Hawks stretched the boys from Boston to seven games in their opening-round series and might very well have left a blueprint for the Cavaliers to follow. ''We were able to watch and see how Atlanta defended some of their sets and some of their players, and we were able to use some of Atlanta's ideas and watch and say that's probably not the way we should do it,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said."

"A key component of the Cleveland Cavaliers' approach sprang from one of the ugliest moments in NBA history. It took a winding path, but that moment helped the Cavs to adopt a mantra that has carried them through the first round of the NBA playoffs this year and to the Finals a year ago. ''No excuses'' became public last year, but it has been a major team tenet from the day Mike Brown was hired as coach. ''No excuses'' carried the team through bad no-calls a year ago and trash-talking and bad fouls of Round 1 this year."

"With the opening round of the playoffs concluded, the Cleveland Cavaliers can be thankful for a couple of things. Numero uno: escaping a series with the Washington Wizards for a third consecutive year, which is not something you'd expect, given how well these two teams know one another. Yes, there were moments of drama, but realistically speaking, the minute the Wizards poked LeBron James with taunts of being overrated, this series was over. TNT's Charles Barkley knew it and said it more than once on the air."

" When the Cavaliers and Celtics take the floor tonight in Boston, you can expect the same passionate play that fueled Cleveland past Washington in the first round of the playoffs. The major difference, though, will be the increased star power when the defending Eastern Conference champions visit the team with the NBA's best regular-season record. It starts with the highly competitive nature of Cavs veterans LeBron James, Ben Wallace and Joe Smith, and Celtics vets Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Players from both sides were a little chippy during their four-game split in the regular season. "

" It's not like it used to be, I tell myself. You went through an unmarked door on Causeway Street, climbed some steps, and turned left into the dark at the top of the stairs. But Boston Garden, a ramshackle tenement that squatted atop North Station in downtown Boston, is no more. Its vile aroma -- one part stale urine, one part sweat, one part smoke from Red Auerbach's infernal victory cigar, with a drop of leprechaun bile thrown in -- is gone. "

"The Cleveland Cavaliers are a different team now. Some would even say they underwent an extreme makeover in February, rearranging their roster in a three-team, 11-player deal. The changes not only bolstered the Cavs' sagging playoff hopes but left them vastly improved over last year's squad that upset the favored Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals and advanced to the NBA Finals, where they were swept in four games by the San Antonio Spurs."

"Celtics-Cavaliers. Hmm. It's a series we've sort of been expecting, even if some thought Washington might prevail in Round 1 (whoever could have thought that?) and the Celtics would be suffering from cabin fever after their first-round sweep of the Hawks (whoever could have thought that?) Be that as it may, LeBron James and the fellas are in town and the Eastern Conference semifinals start tonight. One oddsmaker has the Celtics at a rather eyebrow-raising 5-2 to sweep the series while the best he can offer for the Cavs is 15-1 to win it in seven games. Here's a look at some of the factors that may determine who goes on and who goes home."

"We live in an Age of Hype, and we have become conditioned to expect letdowns. more stories like this The Next Great Thing never turns out to be quite that, unless, of course, it does, and then it has a distinct, unforgettable name: LeBron. "Le" means "the" in French. I'm going to guess that "Bron" is just something that popped into the head of his then 16-year-old mother, Gloria, when he popped out of the womb on Dec. 30, 1984. We don't know whether she had any grand designs for this baby boy, but after watching him play basketball for several years, I hereby declare that "Bron" means "Chosen.""

"And now for something completely different. First, the obvious. LeBron James has been monstrous against the Celtics. He has scored 30 or more points in each of the last 10 meetings between the teams, including averages of 32.3 points, 9.6 assists and seven rebounds in three games this season. James’ scoring punch considered, those are better than Magic Johnson numbers. Joe Johnson might be LeBron Lite, but nothing more. But Johnson’s ability to explode wasn’t all that got the Celtics in trouble in the previous series. "

"Cleveland is a great place. Great people. Great places to hang out in an improving downtown. A down to earth citizenry short on pretense and long on local pride. If many years of regular visits there has yielded any knowledge, it’s simply that Cleveland is REAL. That said, it’d be fair to note that the fine city is not among the top five tourist destinations for May. Yet the Celtics were praying for the chance to visit Cleveland when they accidentally took their series with Atlanta to a crunch time. Having secured at least next weekend on Lake Erie, here are some factors that will determine whether the Celts get to explore Detroit or Orlando later this month..."

"There is something about LeBron James that always has brought out the showman in Paul Pierce, though not necessarily in a good way. Then-interim coach John Carroll was livid one night near the end of the 2003-04 season when the Celtics captain, during a long delay for a broken game clock, gleefully started heaving shots from midcourt at the urging of the Quicken Loans Arena crowd. Pierce treated his matchup against the rising Cavaliers star in much the same way that night, as a shootout."

"Now the Celtics draw LeBron James and a Cavaliers team that won the Eastern Conference title last year. That is enough to make anyone — even the star-studded Celtics — a little antsy."

""Bring on Cleve-land!" they began, polishing off the afternoon with something I'm not sure I agree with: "We want Cleve-land!" Do they? Well, that's who the Celtics get. And you can bet LeBron James will make Celtics fans sweat even more than the Hawks did. "I don't know what message the rest of the league got," Garnett said. "But this is our home court, we're comfortable here, and this is how we play here. We don't play for anyone else but ourselves." I wasn't as impressed with the Celtics' Game 7 performance as, say, Garnett or Doc Rivers were. I'm still wondering what the heck they were doing in that predicament to begin with."

"When LeBron James first walked into the Boston Celtics' arena, then called the FleetCenter, five years ago, he had to listen to a bunch of stories about the famous Celtic mystique and the genius of legendary coach Red Auerbach. The teller was Paul Silas, James' first head coach, who loved to point to the rafters and the two banners he helped win as a member of the Celtics in the 1970s. James has a sense and a respect for the history of the game, but that's not what he's focused on as the Cavaliers gear up for their Eastern Conference semifinal series with the Celtics"

" They have a rich history filled with 16 championships and rafters cluttered with banners proclaiming their success. They had the league's best regular-season record, a dominant home-court advantage and an overpowering "Big Three" that led them there. The Cavaliers are just thankful to finally have an opponent for LeBron James and Co. With Boston's 99-65 Game 7 victory over Atlanta on Sunday, the Cavs got what they expected all along, the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals beginning Tuesday at Boston's TD Banknorth Garden. "

"Celtics coach Doc Rivers could have started preparing his game plan for the Cleveland Cavaliers late in the third quarter, right about the time Kevin Garnett took a behind-the-back feed from Paul Pierce, converted a layup while being fouled to give the Celtics a 70-34 lead, and then mouthed to press row, "Game over." Now, following the Celtics' commanding 99-65 Game 7 victory over the Atlanta Hawks yesterday at TD Banknorth Garden, it's Game On with LeBron."

"While the Celtics were wrapping things up with the Hawks yesterday, the Cavaliers were preparing at home in Ohio, careful as to not provide any bulletin-board material for the C’s. It’s clear the Cavs don’t expect to see the same Celts who looked out of sorts at times against Atlanta. “It’s going to be a really good matchup,” LeBron James told reporters. “They play great team basketball, (and) they are very good defensively. They have a lot of guys they can go to offensively."

"As a reward for surviving the Atlanta Hawks, the Celtics will now get a break. After advancing in the playoffs with a 99-65, Game 7 victory that was, in truth, more of a Heimlich maneuver, they know that what nearly defeated them in the opening round will no longer be a factor. The Celtics will not be overlooking the Cavaliers. If they fall in this next round, it will be a basketball issue. And after coming within 48 minutes of perhaps the most ignominious departure in NBA history, the Celts are very comfortable with that."

"If the Cavs learned a lesson from losing the fifth game of their first-round playoff series against Washington, they learned it well. Because the way they played offense in the deciding sixth game of the series was exceptional. The Cavs moved without the ball, they moved the ball, they got open shots — and it all led to an easy win. It helped, of course, that their shots went in. But the offensive adjustments made by Mike Brown and carried out by LeBron James won the game."

"When the Cavaliers won their first playoff series in 13 years in the final seconds of Game 6 against the Wizards in 2006, there was a pileup of players at center court. Ostensibly it was on top of Damon Jones, who had made the winning shot, but it was LeBron James who started everything by tackling him in celebration and inviting others to follow. Then in his third season, James had never experienced anything like winning a playoff round and he celebrated the newness of it."

"For two months, Delonte West has been trying to tell anyone who will listen that Wally Szczerbiak would come around. "I've been saying that since the trade happened," said West, who came to the Cavaliers with Szczerbiak from Seattle on Feb. 21. "He's a pro. He knows what he does best - he shoots the basketball. If he misses one shot, he's not going to defer from shooting the next one." "

"The Cavaliers' second-round playoff opponent will not be determined until later today when the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics play Game 7 of their series. Whichever team the Cavs face, their approach will be the same. Lessons learned in the first-round series against the Washington Wizards helped the Cavs realize not to take any games off. The rally cry is to play each game as if it is their last. "

" Even if the Celtics win today, they have reason to worry while the Cavaliers look like an even tougher out than they were a week ago. Boston coach Doc Rivers' reminder that despite a 66-win regular season this was still an untested playoff team looks particularly observant with the bottom-feeder Atlanta Hawks taking the Celts to a seventh game. For the same reason the Cavs had to win in Washington to feel good about themselves going into the second round, the Celtics needed a road victory (or two) to consider themselves title contenders. That chance disappeared Friday -- right along with Paul Pierce."