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.