Sim Celtics Narrowly Escape Sim Cavs

Basketball Prospectus is simulating the 2010-11 season.  And since reality bites, I say we just roll with it for a bit.

Basketball Prospectus | Sim Season: Fantastic Finishes

CELTICS 88, CAVALIERS 86: Great finish as the veteran Celtics staved off Cleveland's upset bid at the Garden. In a back-and-forth tussle, top overall draft pick Kyrie Irving hit a three-pointer then scored in transition to put the Cavs up 80-77 with 5:04 left. The teams traded points down the stretch. Anderson Varejao scored inside to put Cleveland up 86-84 with 1:10 to play. Ray Allen tied the score with a jumper at the 59 second mark. Kevin Garnett rebounded an Antawn Jamison miss, threw an outlet to Rajon Rondo, who found a cutting Garnett with a great pass. Garnett's layup with 26 seconds left put Boston up two. Cleveland took a timeout and ran a play for Baron Davis, who couldn't shake loose. Jamison ended up with the ball inside, missed, and Rondo snagged the rebound to seal the win. It was a nice debut for Irving, who posted a game-high 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting and added seven assists.

A quick scan of the Box Score (at the link above) indicates that Danny Ainge had a very boring offseason.  Jeff Green and Big Baby apparently re-signed and you'll see a few familiar low-cost faces like Carlos Arroyo and Von Wafer.  Good times.

I'm impressed that Danny gave rookie JaJuan Johnson 3 minutes of game time.  He must be turning over a new leaf.  Big night on the boards for KG with 15.

Enjoy.