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Cleveland Cavaliers 108 - Boston Celtics 84: Game 3 Recap

I'm not frustrated with the Celtics losing this one. It would have been nice to see them pull it out. But it's tough to beat a team on the road when said team is up against the wall. Game 4 is the big one. There is a big difference heading home 2-2 against Atlanta and doing so against Cleveland. And that difference is LeBron James. Other reactions:

- As I said I'm more or less okay with the loss. But I don't like the fact that Boston was never really in it. The Celtics never managed to put the fear into the home town crowd. That would have made me feel a lot better.

- Ben Wallace is not the Ben Wallace of old and he's certainly not worth $15.5 million. To put that in perspective that's over $2 million more than LeBron makes. However, Wallace still contributes and he did some excellent things tonight.

-  Delonte West  (21 points, 7 assists), Wally Szczerbiak (16 points) and Joe Smith (17 points) were also key. That hurt.

- Take everything good I said about the Celtics defense after Game 2 and apply it to the Cavs tonight. Great performance. And those two blocks LeBron had on Rajon Rondo were outrageous. Meanwhile, didn't it seem like the Cavs move around on offense a lot more? At points it seemed like they had 2-3 guys running off picks. And yes it's not possible to have 3 guys running off picks at one time

- Here's the deal with LeBron. He's so big, strong and fast that when he gets up a head of steam it's nearly impossible to stop him. No one in his right mind would step in front and take a charge. Credit Pierce with doing that. And trying to wrap him up like James Posey did is a recipe for disaster. Furthermore, LeBron has to do what he has to do. But I find his act is getting old a bit. For example if he and Eddie House are both in the air there is absolutely no way House can knock him down. I really believe this. It seems like LeBron took a page out of Dwyane Wade's book. Of course LeBron has 6 inches, 34 pounds and boat loads of muscle on Wade.

- Ray Allen was invisible in the first quarter. That's not good.

- As Mike Gorman said, if the Cavs are 10-19 from beyond the arc the Celtics are in trouble.

- LeBron also shot shot much better from the outside. That was key.

- Hey the Pistons, Hornets and Lakers all lost after taking the first 2. It's nothing out of the blue. Although the Celtics did get beat down. Like I said before, Game 4 is huge.

- Man Andderson Varejao is easy to hate.

- I thought Bennett Salvatore's charge call on KG and quick T on Doc Rivers shortly thereafter were petty calls. And that kind of stuff early on can make a difference.

- The C's looked a step slow all night.

- Memo to Paul Pierce - Don't leave your feet and look to pass. Bad decisions.

- At times the Celtics overpassed. And a few times it hurt them.

- Credit Cleveland and its coaches with making the necessary adjustments. The ball is now in Boston's court.

- In the back of their minds the Celtics have to think about Detroit going up 3-1. If Boston really wants/expects to win it all it can't continue to go 7. It would be nice to see the C's close it out in 5, 6 at the most.

- Watch film, stay loose and come out fighting on Monday. That's it for now.

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Comments

Display:

They neeed to

play more Posey and lessRay Monday.

by Michael18 on May 11, 2008 12:10 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Game 4 = Game 7

The race is on.

If the Celtics can find their game away from home before LeBron finds his game, the Celtics will win the series. But if LeBron finds his game before the Celtics do on Monday in Cleveland, he will not only beat the Celtics there, but he’ll come to Boston and get a victory there, too. The Celtics need a gut-check. It’s “Win or Go Home” time.

by Georgia on May 11, 2008 3:38 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Game 4 is Big

But I’d still have confidence in the Celtics in game 5 even if they lost tomorrow.

Green Bandwagon: Celtics '08 or bust. Are you on the bandwagon?

by Jim Weeks on May 11, 2008 9:26 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

But you can't think that way.

We should approach every game as the last game…not that we play or anything, but that’s just how we – well, the players and coaches – need to think. 0-4 on the road is very troubling and we’re officially playing with fire.

by Georgia on May 11, 2008 3:31 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Agreed

Green Bandwagon: Celtics '08 or bust. Are you on the bandwagon?

by Jim Weeks on May 11, 2008 5:55 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Ray Allen

needs to be able to have the freedom to shoot like Sam does.

by Michael18 on May 11, 2008 7:03 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Are you not concerned with not being able to win a road game?

Superman wears Manu Ginobili pajamas to bed.

by CMoney on May 12, 2008 4:00 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

It's not something I like

And the Celtics can’t win it all without doing so. That would require 28 games. Furthermore, at some point they’d have to drop one at home. But I watched all 4 teams out west lose each home game so far and I’m not convinced their road wins from round 1 help them now. I’d feel a lot better if they won tonight but I’m not panicking or jumping for the bandwagon if they don’t.

Green Bandwagon: Celtics '08 or bust. Are you on the bandwagon?

by Jim Weeks on May 12, 2008 5:13 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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