Why I'm concerned about this series...

[justice]

Unlike the Atlanta series (even as we came back home 2-2), I really feel that this could possibly be the end of the line for us. No, I still have faith, but it is shaken....

If you look at the the numbers, the stats show Cleveland has had the upper hand so far in almost every statisticaly category, as each team has played 2 games at home. And keep in mind that James, although he has had his moments, has not been himself the entire series and that is scary. Anytime the game is close, and you have a player like LBJ, you have a good shot to win. And unfortunately for us, all games except the one we got blown out in, were relatively close.

Honestly, I'm not sure what is going on here and why we're struggling so much. Maybe part of it is that our 3 best players like to shoot jumpers and that style is exposed easily in the playoffs. Pierce is the possible exception to that group since he is capable of taking it inside and drawing fouls, but he has been shut down for the most of this match up. Speaking of which, what happened to the days of Paul taking over games down the stretch, which he would routinely do in the playoffs of '02?...PP breaking out NOW would be HUGE for us. We also have not seen a true leader break out of the pack and carry our team emotionally. Garnett is probably the one who will need to do it, if anyone.

Again, I'm not trying to be Mr. Doom and Gloom but we can't expect to win if we continue to play like we have in the first 4 games. We must break out of our shells....And if we are going to have any shot at winning the whole thing, we must begin to show our dominance at home and be able to win on the road.

[wdleehi]

I am worried that James has had two big plays down the stretch that could wake him back up.



I am worried that guys like Wally and West are now in the zone and have no problem playing in Boston. 



I am worried that the Boston offense will stay the same. 




I am worried because unlike Atlanta, Cleveland has the talent to beat Boston.





Now, with all that said, I still believe and think Boston wins game 5.

[celticmaestro]

well, we had a blowout win too don't forget.

i just think the offense is faltering. poor execution and not playing as a team. if we lose in this round there will be a lot of unrest within in the team and finger pointing too. i think it will be the end of doc if we end up blowing it this year.

[Yakmanev]

If we lose this series and it isn't the end of Doc Rivers then Danny Ainge is the one we should be infuriated with.
Something has to be done and it's Ainge's responsibility to do it.

[celticmaestro]

all those regular season games in san antonio and los angeles and detroit where we played in a supposed "playoff atmosphere" have clearly taught us nothing.

perhaps the problem is we play to the level of our opponents and save our best for the best. i wouldn't mind if this was the case to be honest but i don't think it is.

[celts55]

If I had to pick one reason it would be the lack of defensive intensity. Just once last night it would have been nice to make a stop. Sorry, but the fact that Ray can't guard Wally is a real concern to me. It looks like he has aged 20 years in the last week. The whole team really played like they couldn't care less during the entire forth quarter. Just felt like there was no emotion.

[crownsy]

If I had to pick one reason it would be the lack of defensive intensity. Just once last night it would have been nice to make a stop. Sorry, but the fact that Ray can't guard Wally is a real concern to me. It looks like he has aged 20 years in the last week. The whole team really played like they couldn't care less during the entire forth quarter. Just felt like there was no emotion.

your kidding right? they held the cavs scoreless for almost 7 minutes minutes in the middle of the fourth. the problem was they didn't score either. The defense played well in the fourth, but that doesnt really matter when you score a whopping 10 points.

score going in 67-70. score coming out: 77-87

now, counting that the last 2 cav baskets were pretty much "well, let them score, we need a 3 now down by 6" the C's held the cavs to 14 points in the fourth.

Thats great defense, and should = a W. instead, the offense stagnated and scored 10 points for an entire quarter.

Defense wasen't the problem last night, putting the ball through the hoop when it mattered was. you turn 3 or 4 of those stops into points, and suddenly were up 5 or 6 going into the final 3 minutes. instead they had, and we were so fustrated at my house we counted, 7 trips back at the cavs down 3, and they FAILED TO SCORE ONCE. unacceptable. then lebron, on the 7th try, scored that 3, and it was over.

you shot even a measly 40% on those 7 trips, and your up 3-5 when lebron hits that 3, instead of down 3.

And thats just that one 3 minute streatch, they had many more oppertunitys, but no one stepped up to score. Great defense is fine, but you need to turn it into points.

[wdleehi]

If I had to pick one reason it would be the lack of defensive intensity. Just once last night it would have been nice to make a stop. Sorry, but the fact that Ray can't guard Wally is a real concern to me. It looks like he has aged 20 years in the last week. The whole team really played like they couldn't care less during the entire forth quarter. Just felt like there was no emotion.

your kidding right? they held the cavs scoreless for almost 7 minutes minutes in the middle of the fourth. the problem was they didn't score either. The defense played well in the fourth, but that doesnt really matter when you score a whopping 10 points.

score going in 67-70. score coming out: 77-87

now, counting that the last 2 cav baskets were pretty much "well, let them score, we need a 3 now down by 6" the C's held the cavs to 14 points in the fourth.

Thats great defense, and should = a W. instead, the offense stagnated and scored 10 points for an entire quarter.

Defense wasen't the problem last night, putting the ball through the hoop was.

Defense wasn't great last night.  Cleveland still shot 45%.  Boston was not forcing TOs (especially down the stretch)  The only thing that kept Boston from allowing 100 points is they put Cleveland on the line about half of what they did the game before.


Better defense then game 3, but still not the level of defense that we would call good for this team. 

[crownsy]

I still maintain that the defense in that quarter was fine, what didn't happen was no one said "ok, its time to win this thing now, im going to get us a 7-0 run here, eitehr by myself or driving and finding teamates."

instead they all stood around like they were waiting for someone else to do it.

Someone had better start taking the reins in the 4th quarter, otherwise were in trouble.

[WedmanIsMyHero]

The Celtics averaged 100 points a game on the road in the regular season.  They averaged over 90 points a game on the road in the first round of the playoffs.  If they had hit those marks last night they would have won despite the defense.

The problem is that when the offense is bad, it also makes the defense worse.  Nothing kills momentum like a great defensive stop followed by yet another brick. . .

I still maintain that the defense in that quarter was fine, what didn't happen was no one said "ok, its time to win this thing now, im going to get us a 7-0 run here, eitehr by myself or driving and finding teamates."

instead they all stood around like they were waiting for someone else to do it.

Someone had better start taking the reins in the 4th quarter, otherwise were in trouble.

[LarBrd33]

The only reason I'm concerned is that I can't shake the feeling that we're just footnotes in the growing legend of LeBron James.  It's like watching Paul Bunyan grow up or the early days of Buffalo Bill.   I can't shake the vision of reading a biography of the Great LeBron James that says, at the tender age of 23, LeBron vanquished the mighty 66 win Boston Celtics and their feared threesome of hall of famers.

Kinda scary

[crownsy]

well there's nothing fearsome about them right now, thats the problem.

[Celtic]

Wally needs to stop getting so many open looks, he is so slow and should never be left alone on a double team. Ray needs to fight through picks and stay with his man. When Wally was here as a Celtic, he got a lot of his points posting up and had to work a lot more for his shot, why are the Celtics making his life so easy? It's Ray's job to defend Wally, and on the other end of the court, Ray is twice the offensive player Wally is, and let's not forget Wally is one of the worst defenders in the league, it's time to exploit him.

[crownsy]

Wally needs to stop getting so many open looks, he is so slow and should never be left alone on a double team. Ray needs to fight through picks and stay with his man. When Wally was here as a Celtic, he got a lot of his points posting up and had to work a lot more for his shot, why are the Celtics making his life so easy? It's Ray's job to defend Wally, and on the other end of the court, Ray is twice the offensive player Wally is, and let's not forget Wally is one of the worst defenders in the league, it's time to exploit him.

wally is lookign so good on defense because he can play tight because delonte is right behidn him.

doc needs to start runnign plays for the backside, rajon is all alone back there, and any kind of movement back that way that inlcuded a ball switch through rajon would work.

it's only been 4 games though, mabey doc will figure out were playing 4 on 5 on one side of the court in time to adjust