Cavs vs Celtics Recap

Cavaliers vs. Celtics Recap - 2/25

Stealing a theme from Dicken’s famous novel “A Tale of Two Cities,” the Cavs-Celtics game last night was indeed a tale of two halves. The Celts came out of the gate with a burst, and led by the play of Rajon Rondo, jumped out to a quick double digit lead. The Celtics looked like the superior team on both sides of the ball, getting and capitalizing on easy offensive looks, while smothering the Cavs on the defensive end. But yet despite shooting an otherworldly 70% for the first 15 or so minutes of the game, the Celtics were unable to deliver the knockout punch; and through the play of LeBron James the Cavs were able to hang around and cut the lead to just 8 before the half. And well everyone knows what happened in the second half. The script was flipped, and the Cavs just absolutely dominated, specifically in the fourth quarter, on their way to a decisive 20 point victory. I know it is only February and this game has an asterisk next to it due to Pierce’s absence, but still there were some things that could be ascertained from both team’s performances.

-DEFENSE. One word. Two syllables. Seven letters. And the absolute key to the Cavaliers accomplishing their championship dreams. During the Cavs three game losing streak after the break, they surrendered over 100 plus points to each opponent, and dropped from 1st to 4th in field goal percentage defense. The rotations were slow, the on the ball defense was abysmal, and the closing out on shooters was not nearly sufficient. The players in the NBA are so talented offensively, that they are going to get their points, but to be a good defensive team, one must make it so those attempts are challenged and difficult. The Cavs were doing neither; players on the Nuggets, Bobcats, and Magic were all able to get very easy shots, and that leads to the increase in opposing field goal percentage. The Cavs were a little better against the Hornets last game, but still got scorched by the rookie guard tandem of Darren Collison and Marcus Thorton. This trend continued in the first quarter against the Celts. Rondo was able to get into the lane and score at will, and this freed up shots for the suddenly red hot Ray Allen. At the 9 minute mark of the 2nd quarter, the Celtics were shooting 73% as a team and held a double digit lead. I will give credit to the Celtics where it’s due, because they were knocking down shots at an incredible rate, but the Cavs were not making it any harder on them. After the break though, the Cavs became the aggressor on defense and wonderfully shut off driving lanes, forcing the Celtics to take a lot of bad, contested jump shots (take a bow Rasheed). They showed they have the ability to really bear down and shut out a team, but too often it is a switch they believe they can just flip on when they need it down the stretch. I know it is unrealistic to expect 48 minutes of perfect defense, both individually and as a team, but in the playoffs there needs to be much more of the showing from the second half than the first.

-Shaq’s Injury- Right in the middle of the Cavaliers first half struggles, it appeared to only get worse when Shaq was forced to leave the game with a “serious” thumb strain. Already without Z, Mike Brown was forced to go super small, and pull JJ Hickson back off the end of the bench. I am one of the biggest JJ supporters there are (Danny Egger will inevitably say he is the biggest). I believe he has a great upside in this league, and was very impressed when Danny Ferry worked to get the Jamison deal done without giving up Hickson. Now this might be a bit of a stretch, but remember just a few years ago when Amare Stoudemire came into the league right out of high school…The 15-18 foot jumper he now makes a living on was non existent, and really all he had was freakish athleticism, and a desire to get better. Not even I will go as far to say that JJ has as much raw talent as Amare, but he does rival his athleticism, as we saw in a full display last night. He is still learning the game, and probably two years away from being considered a serious NBA player, but the easiest thing to teach is how to shoot. And maybe most importantly for Hickson’s confidence, is that LeBron believes in him. In the rare occasions that James was around last summer, he always brought Hickson to work out with him, and I think that that exposure to greatness and work ethic will only continue to inspire him. Ok, after that JJ tanget, back to the point at hand. Following the Jamison trade, I believed the Cavs would struggle for about a month while trying to adjust, and that the biggest problems would fall on the shoulders of Coach Mike Brown. The Cavs now have the most talent on their roster since the LeBron era began, and it is up to Brown to find the best rotations that work. This will involve a lot of tinkering and experimenting, some of which will lead to frustration, but I think last night (hopefully) taught Brown a lesson. And that is that you can’t have a set rotation in the playoffs, because it really ALL does rely on the matchups. Yes, the Cavaliers brought in Shaq and will need him to win series against the Magic or the Lakers. The same can be said for Jamison. But as last night showed, it can be very beneficial for the Cavs to go young and small against the Celtics. There is no denying that the Celtics front line is older and more laboring than the Cavs, and last night showed a marked advantage for the wine and gold when Hickson and Varejao were in there. JJ particularly was fantastic last night, beating the older Celtics up and down the floor, collecting loose balls, steals and a couple highlight reel alley-oops (The Cavs were also +27 when he was in there). I know there is a lot of pressure on Coach Brown to succeed, and that he might be hesitant to shy away from the usual set playoff rotation, but the NBA today is a very dynamic game, and it is always the team that utilizes their match up problems that comes out on top. So while his impact would be negligible against other elite teams, JJ Hickson is a valuable asset against the Celtics and should be used accordingly.

-Rondo- There honestly can’t really be a debate about this anymore; Rajon Rondo is the best point guard (talent wise) in the East. He showcased his whole arsenal in the first quarter last night, blowing by Mo Williams with ease and either finishing with a nice variety of floaters or creative lay ups or finding open teammates (he had 5 assists in the quarter as well). He was pushing the tempo and the Celtics were getting one easy basket after another. It is this Celtics team that should scare people, because they not only lock up in the half court on the defensive end, but then Rondo is able to use his explosion to get up the floor in a hurry and create mismatched advantages. The only problem is, and I have said this about Rondo before, he only seems to play this way for a maximum of a little over 2 quarters, and not even that much last night. Part of it could be that his older teammates can’t keep up throughout the entire game, but whatever the reason, like so many other games, Rondo disappeared in the second half last night. I will give credit to Mike Brown for switching the bigger and more physical Delonte West onto Rondo (I mean I wouldn’t want to embarrass Delonte on national TV by blowing by him…would you?) Still though, I have no doubts that Rondo could play at a high level against West, and yet he doesn’t. It’s as if the exuding confidence in his own ability during the first half has only a 24 minute shelf life, because he was not even close to the same player in the second. I still think he is afraid to take that big shot in the 4th, and when it comes to crunch time and the consequences of mistakes are magnified, that he still is going to defer to his other teammates. There is no doubt that he has made enormous progress in the last two years, but now his mental game needs to catch up to his blossoming physical game. Without Rondo playing consistently at a high level, you can kiss any serious playoff success for the Celtics good bye. At some point Rondo will make the leap and understand that this is his team to run, not just for 2 quarters, but for the entirety. This realization along with the continued improvement of his jump shot will make him truly one of the top tier players in this league…I’m just hoping it doesn’t happen until after June.

-Bay Village Represented Last Night- Maybe I am a bit biased, but I honestly believe that besides LeBron, Mo Williams might be the most important piece to the Cavs success. When he is playing well and knocking down shots, this team is near impossible to beat. There are simply too many options on offense and opposing teams that are scheming to not let LeBron beat them are often subjected to a barrage of Williams’ three pointers like the Celtics were in the fourth quarter last night. Coming back a week or two earlier than expected from his shoulder injury, Mo hadn’t really looked right since the break. His shot was off, and as a shooter, when the ball isn’t going down it can really adversely affect all the other areas of your game. Shooting the ball after a shoulder injury, one would think that you would really try and focus on using your legs to help your shot, but paradoxically the opposite seemed to happen to Williams. He was concerned with proving that the shoulder was healthy that he was using almost exclusively arms on his shot, and the majority of his shots were pushed and fell short of their target. In his first starts back, he was only 2-17 (1-9 from 3), and the beginning of this game didn’t start much better. He was getting beaten so badly by Rondo that he had to get pulled in favor of West, and only attempted 3 shots in the first. But the funny thing about a shooter in a slump is that you got to keep shooting, and often times it can only take one shot to change everything. For Williams, that shot came in the second half when he pulled the trigger on an 18 footer and hit the rim about four or five times before falling through. Watching live, it was the type of shot that isn’t supposed to go in, but as a shooter who has been there, it’s the one that helps you believe the others one will start to fall as well. After the rattler went down, I began to notice a slight difference in William’s demeanor, and I wasn’t the only one. In just another example of his greatness, I think LeBron saw this change as well, because throughout the fourth he had the confidence to find Mo, and he delivered in a big way, hitting four 3s in the quarter. It may be difficult for people who aren’t shooters to understand what I just described, but as Mo said after, “the game (and especially shooting is about 90% mental.” Yes talent of course plays a huge role, but even the greatest of shooters can go through lulls. The art of shooting is one of definitive ebbs and flows, and while he had been struggling mightily, it doesn’t take much for a great shooter like Mo to get going again. So while when Boston wins a championship, they say “cue the duckboats,” I’m going to paraphrase and say for Cleveland to win one, Mo Williams has to keep “cueing the goosenecks.” Just out of neighborly courtesy, I have to quickly talk about Andy as well. I know I have written this before, but his improvement on the offensive end this season is astounding. Even as of last year, he was an offensive liability, but now is someone who has to be accounted for at all times. Yet, in the many instances when his man wanders or cheats to help on LeBron or Shaq, Andy makes the perfect cut and finish, which he did three or four times last night. Depending on how long Shaq is out for, Andy will be thrust in the starting center role, but unlike in years past, I do not feel the team will be any less efficient offensively, and they will actually be better defensively, especially tonight against pick and roll heavy Toronto. Now I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, but I will take myself and my two aforementioned neighbors against any 3 other neighbors in the country…any takers, didn’t think so.”

-Bit of a Mismatch at the 3- As I was told multiple times, LeBron James threw a party at the club Rumor in Boston on Wednesday night, but apparently he was still in the festive mood, because he threw another one in the Garden last night. Now while the rest of teammates didn’t show up until the second half, King James was more than able to hold his own (even despite having to play through the constant “eye effing” he was receiving from Kristin Ryan in her floor seats (her words not mine.)). It is getting to the point that it truly doesn’t matter who tries to guard James, but last night was especially tough for the Celtics. Without Pierce and with Marquis Daniels battling the flu, James was able to do whatever he wanted on the floor. He could blow by Daniels or Tony Allen any time he touched, and I liked that he did just that, instead of settling for fall away jumpers. His aggressiveness was rewarded with double digit free throw attempts in the first half, and open looks for his teammates in the second. He also hit two very big 3s in the first half to cut into the double digit deficit and keep the Cavs close. Speaking of 3s, Marquis Daniels missed two big ones yesterday that I know Celtics fans would have liked the 3-point shootout champion to have taken. Missing those shots prevented leads from going back to 11 and 9 respectively. All in all it was a 12 point swing in the favor of the Cavaliers, yet another luxury of having the best player on the planet (sorry Kobe, it’s not even close anymore). A lot is made about LeBron’s ability to play both like Michael (killer scorer) and Magic (gifted passer) seamlessly. He is so talented that teams must be forced to pick their poison and try and make him do just one of the two. Last night, the Celtics didn’t get that memo as James went for 36 points along with handing out 9 helpers and 7 boards. I know Rivers and the Celtics can live with either the points or the assists, but they simply cannot surrender both. I know that Pierce is a better defender than anyone LeBron saw last night, but it is unreasonable to assume that Pierce can battle to effectively defend James nightly for 7 games and still have enough energy to put up the offensive numbers the Celtics need to win a series.

Overall, I don’t want to make too much of this game because it is still only February and Pierce is the heart and soul of the Celtics, but I do feel much more validated in my preference to playing Boston over Orlando in the playoffs. Don’t get me wrong, the Celtics are still a very good and dangerous team that is capable of making a deep playoff run. But I think there is now a solid formula developed to beating them, and it is one that the rest of the league can thank the Atlanta Hawks for exposing. The Celtics struggles, particularly this season (0-4), against the Hawks are well documented and pretty easily explained. The Celtics struggle with young athletic power forwards (Josh Smith, JJ Hickson) and hot streak shooting point guards (Jamal Crawford, Mo Williams). However there are differences between the Cavaliers and Hawks in that the Cavs are more suited for playoff basketball because they have the pieces to play multiple styles while what you see is what you get in Atlanta. Luckily for the Celtics though, if the records hold up, they would not have to see either of those teams until the Conference Finals, and I personally would favor them in a series against the Magic simply because Orlando doesn’t have the athletic, attacking 4 or game changing point, and Perkins defends Howard as well as anyone in the league. But that is a different discussion for another day. I think this win was a good one for the Cavs because they proved to themselves it is possible to win in Boston (had lost the last 9), and hopefully they can continue to develop the chemistry and cohesiveness that is vital to any championship run.