Round 2 Begins

The grueling seven-game first round series against Atlanta is now behind us, and it’s time to take on LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. Cleveland is the defending Eastern Conference champions, and if the Celtics ever want to reach their ultimate goal, it’s only natural that they’re forced to come through the Cavaliers. They are led by the one and only LeBron James, who is dazzling to watch and is virtually re-writing the record books as we speak. Whether you like him or not, it’s impossible to deny that he is a once in a lifetime specimen.

Scott Souza went over the topic of how Boston plans to defend James today in his column :

The strategy will likely be to start Pierce on James and involve a lot of James Posey off the bench. The Celtics will trap him often, but will be wary of getting carried away with it given the perimeter shooting threats the Cavs have surrounded him with late this season.

``There will be many bodies in front of him, as long as there are not too many bodies in front of him,'' Rivers said. ``You can overdue it. If you do it like a team, you can get away with some of that (trapping) stuff. If you start running at him at halfcourt he's going to kill you."

Another matchup that may draw the interest of Celtics fans is Rajon Rondo vs. Delonte West, who spent his first three professional years with the C’s. Omitting the one or two inch height difference, it is apparent that Rondo has all of the physical advantages in his favor, particularly the lateral quickness. West, as we all know, is a tough player who will give his all on each possession, but "you can’t teach quickness." As long as Rondo plays attack basketball and makes it a point to force West to his right side on the defensive end, the Celtics should be in good shape.

The area where the Celtics may find themselves struggling, however, could be the rebounding column. Cleveland is one of the better rebounding teams in the league, both statistically and visually, and may even be more dangerous than their season statistics show due to the mid-season addition of Ben Wallace. If the Celtics want to put themselves in a good position to win each game throughout this series, especially on the road, it is impeccable that they will need to make sure Cleveland doesn’t dominate the glass.

In addition, and most importantly, Boston’s defense must be as strong as ever. As Doc Rivers eluded to in Scott Souza’s column, LeBron James can pick an entire defense apart. The Celtics need to make sure Cleveland’s role players and open shooters aren’t the ones that put them away. Their defensive rotations must be extremely on-point, especially on the road, and that sense of urgency must be visible at all times.

Let’s just play Celtics basketball. We can sit here and break down every aspect of the game and discuss each teams’ tendencies, but at the end of the day, the only way they end up on Kenny Smith’s "Gone Fishin’" segment is if they beat themselves.

Bring on the Cavaliers; let’s go Celtics.