Cavs (2-3) at Celtics (3-2) Game 6 5/13

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
Cleveland Cavaliers (2-3) at Boston Celtics (3-2)
Thursday, May 13
8:00 PM ET
Round 2, Game 6
TV: ESPN 
TD Garden


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
  vs 
Rajon Rondo vs Mo Williams

Shooting Guard
  vs 
Ray Allen vs Anthony Parker

Small Forward   
  vs 
Paul Pierce vs LeBron James

Power Forward 
  vs 
Kevin Garnett vs Antawn Jamison

Center
  vs 
Kendrick Perkins vs Shaquille O'Neal



Reserves
Rasheed Wallace
Glen Davis
Tony Allen
Nate Robinson
Shelden Williams
Brian Scalabrine
Michael Finley
Marquis Daniels
Tony Gaffney
Oliver Lafayette 

Injuries
None

Reserves
Daniel Gibson
Delonte West
Jamario Moon
Jawad Williams
Daniel Green
Leon Powe 
zydrunas Ilgauskas
Sebastian Telfair
Anderson Varejao
JJ Hickson   

Injuries
None

Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Mo Williams
Rondo's aggressiveness and all around play continues to be the key for the Celtics.  The Cavs have thrown everyone on their team including LeBron James at Rondo in an effort to stop him. In game 4, their efforts were focused so much on trying to stop Rondo that they let everyone else on the Celtics go off.  Rondo has been a thorn in their sides and hopefully he will continue to control the pace of the game and dominate in this game as well. 

  vs 
Kevin Garnett vs Antawn Jamison
KG has been shooting the ball well this matchup favors the Celtics.  We are seeing the KG of old in this series, rather than the old KG.  This is a matchup that the Celtics need to exploit because KG has been able to get his shot off over Jamison pretty  much  any time he wants. 

Honorable Mention
  vs 
Paul Pierce vs LeBron James
Paul Pierce finally broke out and had a very good game in game 5 while LeBron had a terrible game.   Limiting LeBron's production will be a team effort but the bulk of it falls on the Celtics' Captain and he has done a good job so far. Hopefully Pierce's offensive game will continue to be on track in this game. 

  vs   
The benches continue to play a big part in this series.  The Celtics' bench has been coming through for them with Big Baby, Sheed, and Tony all coming up big at one time and others contributing as well. The Celtics need to continue to get good production and defense from their bench. 

Game Notes
The series now once again shifts back to Boston with the Celtics one game away from eliminating the Cavs.  So far, this series has been totally unpredictable with home court meaning little.

After blowing out the Cavs in Cleveland in game 4, the Celtics now have two chances to get one win to close out the series and move on to the Eastern Conference Finals.  They were in this same spot last year, up 3-2 on the Magic, and lost game 7 on their home court.  But,there is a major difference between that series and this one.  KG is back and playing well. 

 The Celtics are saying that they are looking at this like game 7 and don't want to go back to Cleveland.  Of course, they also said that they were looking at game 3 like it was game 7 and then allowed the Cavs to hand them their worst home playoff defeat in Celtics history.  Let's hope they play like it really is game 7 and not come out flat like they did in game 3. 

 They can't take a chance on what might happen if they go back to Cleveland and have to play a game 7 on the Cavs home court, even though they have won there twice.   The Cavs are bound to wake up, and Lebron is due for another big game.  The Celtics have got to come out focused and finish this off now. 

Keys to the Game
DEFENSE! DEFENSE!  DEFENSE! I can't say it enough, defense has been the key to the Celtics 3 wins so far and it is the key to winning this game and the championship.  The team that plays the best defense most consistently will win the title.  Everyone is wondering what has been wrong with the Cavs and it can be explained in two words:  Celtics Defense. 

Rebound   It's no coincidence that the team that has won the rebounding battle in each game has won the game.   Rebounding is the result of desire and effort and the team that wants it most will end up grabbing more rebounds.  Let's hope it is the Celtics that want this game more and will crash the boards to give themselves second chance points and limit the Cavs fast break opportunities.   

Focus for 48 Minutes -  The Celtics must come out focused and be aggressive right from the start of the game.  They can't allow bad calls and no calls to affect how they play.    Just like in game 5 they have to keep pressing from start to finish.  On the offensive end they have to focus on running the plays, moving the ball and playing team ball.  On the defensive end, they have to keep their focus and play the lock down defense that has left the Cavs dazed and confused more than once.   With a team like the Cavs, they have to focus from start to finish with no let up. 

X Factors
Focus and Officiating
Once again, the X Factors become the Celtics ability to come out focused, especially on the defensive end and to remain focused throughout the game with no let ups.   The officiating in game 5 was the best I've seen in the playoffs so far.  They missed some things on both ends, but for the most part they called the game fairly.    In game 2, the officiating was terrible, but the Celtics stayed focused and were able to come away with a win.  The key will be whether the Celtics can stay focused even if the officiating is one sided.   If they can stay focused, especially on defense, they will win regardless of the way the game is called. 

[Redz]

KNOCK EM OUT!

[jdpapa3]

I don't think Bill Kennedy's been on a game yet in this series...

[mzepol]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Cavs win game 6. It is after all probably the biggest game of Lebron's career. This is the first time anyone's questioned The King. He's never been in this situation before. If the Cavs lose tomorrow, Lebron's career might never be the same. Lebron will go edit in game 6.

What I don't expect is the Celtics having another game like game 3 of the series where they just laid down and let the Cavs steamroll through them. This is their best chance to take this series from the Cavs, and every Boston fan expects them to come out fighting. This series is theirs, they should take it and never look back.

Can't wait for game 6.

No profanity /Fafnir

[j804]

I smile just looking at the title, 3-2 baby!  

BUT weve still got unfinished business.....Get em!!

[Green Hell]

Lets Go Celtics Lets Go! If the Celtics are serious about bringing home #18 this year, this is what I expect to see from the Cleveland Lebrons all night.



DEFENSE    DEFENSE    DEFENSE

Force them to settle for the outside shot
Cut off the driving lanes
Hold their FG% to 42 or below
Then all we need to do is stay consistent on offense.
Spread the floor and make sure everyone gets the fair share of looks.

Those are our keys to victory and it all starts with good defense.

[twinbree]

TP FLCF. Gooooo Celtics! I'm too excited to type much else. We need to finish this tomorrow. NO MERCY!!!

[RebusRankin]

Since it worked so well last game:

In the words of Larry the Cable Guy

Get Er Done Celtics!!!!

[D Dub]

the Cav's have lost three in a row only twice this season.  it's going to take a monumental effort along with near perfect execution for the Celt's to make that happen a third time.

That said, I think the Cav's may be able to take one of the next two, but there is no way they get both of em'.

U B U N T U

[ACF]

TP once again. Now...

GO CELTICS!

[JHTruth]

I think you have to do everything possible to take away drives to the basket and live with semi-contested jumpers. The pressure on the Cavs shooters is going to be insane. Mo Williams has proven to be a playoff choke artist, Jamison has never been in the pressure cooker, and LeBron has not been able to stick jumpers other than game 3. If the Cavs miss the first few, the vise will start to bear down in their heads. In my opinion, the only way the Cavs can win is to make some shots early and get some confidence.

Make them miss early and the pressure will suffocate them all the way to summer vacation...

[Green Hell]

We gotta be able to stop Lebron because he is going to try to take over this game the minute he starts to get hot.



DO NOT let him find his rhythm and start knocking down shots. I would say not to even let him get more than 2 in a row. Because the minute the Cavs start to gain some confidence is the minute this game starts to slip from our hands.

Like I said earlier, it all starts with a strong, unrelenting effort on the defensive end and that's what I'm going to be looking for come game time, right out of the gate.

Cut off the head and the body will die. That's how we won Game 5 and that's how we need to close out this series tonight. Go get 'em our boys in Green!!

[Drucci]

We know LeBron will have a huge game and we know the Cavs will be desperate, so we must avoid the game 3 collapse and play it like a game 7.

Definitely excited for this game, there are lot of things at stake tonight!

TP FL and go Celtics, FINISH THEM!

[Kiorrik]

TP'd you up a bit more than usual, FL, 'cuz I missed a few of your topics. Great one, nice touch on the benches.

Had to deduct one TP afterward because you used ... snuggies. For fools sake, SNUGGIES!! Ugh.

That's bad.

LET'S GO CELTICS!!!

I'm going to definitely watch this game!

[celticinorlando]

to me tonight...you make him make jumpers. and if he gets in the and...you foul...