Celtics (36-42) at Cavaliers (51-27) Game #79 4/10/15

[FLCeltsFan]

  at 
Boston Celtics (36-42) at Cleveland Cavaliers (51-27)
Friday, April 10, 2015
7:30 PM ET
Game #79, Road Game #40
TV: CSNNE, FSO, NBA-LP 755(DTV)/752(Xfinity)
Radio:98.5 Sports Hub, WMMS 100.7
Quicken Loans Arena



Probable Starters

Marcus Smart...Avery Bradley... Evan Turner... Brandon Bass...Tyler Zeller


Celtics Reserves
Gerald Wallace
Jae Crowder
Phil Pressey
Jared Sullinger
Kelly Olynyk
Isaiah Thomas
Jonas Jerebko
Gigi Datome

Red Claws
James Young
Chris Babb

Head Coach
Brad Stevens




Possible Starters

Kyrie Irving... JR Smith...LeBron James... Kevin Love... Timofey Mozgov

Cavs Reserves
Mike Miller
Tristan Thompson
Joe Harris
Matthew Dellavedova
Iman Shumpert
James Jones
Brendan Haywood
Shawn Marion
Kendrick Perkins

Injuries
Anderson Varejao (Achilles)  out

Head Coach
David Blatt

Game Notes
The Celtics head to Cleveland for a big game in their playoff push. This is the 2nd of 4 games this season.  The Heat won the first 2 games 122-121 in Boston in November and 110-79 in Miami in March.   They will meet for the 4th and final time on Sunday in Boston.

After the Cavs clinched the number 2 seed on Wednesday, LeBron hinted at possibly sitting  out the next two games in order to rest up for the playoffs.  The Cavs would still have plenty of talent on the floor to make the game tough, but not having LeBron to deal with would make the Celtics task easier.  The Cavs are 2-9 without LeBron this season.  It would be even more helpful if Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love would want to rest as well.

But nothing has been made official and they may just be talking and the Celtics may have to face the whole team.  I've listed the normal starting 5 of the Cavaliers and will change it if I get any definite news on who they will start. 

The Celtics currently are the 7th seed in the East and if they remain there, this would be a preview of the first round of the playoffs (minus any resting players, of course).  The Cavs have won 18 straight at home and have held opponents to 91.2 points on 40.5% shooting in those games.  They are also 21-0 at home when they score at least 100 points.   The Celtics have won 4 of their last 5 games and their last 5 road games. 

The Celtics are 2 games behind the Bucks for the 6th seed.  They are tied with Brooklyn but occupy the 7th spot because they own the tie breaker.  They are 1 game ahead of Indiana and 1.5 games ahead of Miami who lost to the Bulls at home on Thursday.  Charlotte is 2 games back of the Celtics.  Games to watch are Charlotte at Atlanta, Washington at Brooklyn, and Indiana at Detroit. 

Key Matchups
vs
Marcus Smart vs Kyrie Irving
Irving is one of the top point guards in the league and will be a tough matchup for Marcus Smart.   He is averaging 22 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.  Smart will need to play tough defense to try to slow him down.

vs
Evan Turner vs LeBron James
LeBron James is a tough cover for anyone and he will definitely be tough for Evan Turner but hopefully he was telling the truth about wanting to rest up for the playoffs.  If LeBron plays,   Jae Crowder may be more effective defending LeBron if Evan struggles. 

Honorable Mention
Brandon Bass vs Kevin Love
Love is also a tough cover.  He is averaging 16.4 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists.  He is a very good 3 point shooter and can also take the ball into the paint.  Bass will have his hands full  trying to keep up with him.


Keys to the Game
Defense Defense Defense!! Defense is key to winning every game.  The Celtics' defense has been much improved of late, but they still need to increase their efforts on that end. The Cavs are 21-0 at home when they score 100+ points.   The Celtics are 7-34 when they allow their opponents to reach 100 points.  It will be very important for the Celtics to play tough defense and keep the Cavs below 100 points

Rebound - The Celtics can't score if they don't have the ball. They must crash the boards as a team to prevent the Cavs from getting second chance and fast break points. They also need to rebound to give themselves extra possessions and to fuel their running game.

Push the Pace - The Celtics need to push the pace of the game and keep the Cavs running. If they do, they will have a chance to get some easy points before the Cavs defense sets up.  When the Celtics walk the ball up and slow the game down they struggle.  They have to run and they have to move the ball.  No hero ball.   

Effort - The Celtics have won their games by putting out more effort than their opponents. They don't have the talent that the Cavs do, so they have to make up for it with effort and aggressiveness.  Their effort was very poor in the last meeting between these two teams and they lost by 31. They have to be the first team to loose balls and rebounds, and they have to be the team that works harder if they want to have a chance to win this game.

Play 48 Minutes The Celtics have to play hard for 48 minutes from the opening tip to the final buzzer.   They can't afford to let the Cavs get a big lead because the Cavs are a very good defensive team and it won't be easy to dig out of a hole against them.  They also can't let the Cavs back in it if they can manage to build a lead. 

Go to the Hoop - The Celtics need to go to the hoop and get into the paint.  3-pointers are nice and all but when they aren't falling, they can take a team right out of a game.  The Celtics need to drive more and not rely as much on shooting from beyond the arc, especially when they aren't falling.  They drove into the paint against the Pistons and it worked out very well for them. 

Play Hard No Matter Who is Playing - Sometimes when a team is missing key players it seems as though the Celtics underestimate them and don't play quite as hard.  There is a good chance that at least one and maybe more of the Cavs' stars will sit this one out.  The Celtics have to give 100% effort no matter who is playing for the Heat. 

X-Factors
Who Plays and the Officiating
If LeBron and/or Kyrie sit the game out,  it would make a win a little easier to get.  With the whole team playing, it would be a very tough game to win on the road in an arena where the Cavs have win 18 straight.   Also, the officiating makes a difference.  Most of the time, the Cavs get more than a little help from the refs.  Against the Pistons, it was nice to see the Celtics get the calls for once but we can't expect that against the Cavs (unless for some very bizarre reason the league actually wants the Celtics in the playoffs). 

[Ogaju]

Go Celtics!!!

TP for all the good work you do FCF!!! I hope the Celtics win this one.

[Humble G]

I may have been born and raised in ohio and even live in ohio but i bleed green! GO CELTICS! Tp for another awesome game thread

[SparzWizard]

I smell a trap game if LeBron, Kyrie, and Love all sit out.

[FLCeltsFan]

Thanks Ogaju!  And a TP for being the first to post in the game thread.   Go Celtics!! 

[hwangjini_1]

thanks flc once more, tp. your threads have been the secret weapon in the celtic arsenal and the reason they are winning!! 

i noticed you put watches up on top tonight. was that to compensate for the last thread's teddy bears chomping down the starting time? 

goooooo celtics!!!

[FLCeltsFan]

I didn't mention Perk in the game thread.  He's still my favorite player and it's just about killing me that he's playing on the Cavs now.  They don't play him all that much but I still keep tabs on him. 

[SHAQATTACK]

I may have been born and raised in ohio and even live in ohio but i bleed green! GO CELTICS! Tp for another awesome game thread

TP

Good man!

[FLCeltsFan]

thanks flc once more, tp. your threads have been the secret weapon in the celtic arsenal and the reason they are winning!! 

i noticed you put watches up on top tonight. was that to compensate for the last thread's teddy bears chomping down the starting time? 

goooooo celtics!!!

Thanks hwangjini_1  and a TP for always giving me a smile. 

[SHAQATTACK]

So our no name scrubs will pick up their hardhats and lunch pails and play the " LeBron All Star Club"
And assorted basketball heroes. ....and cheating refs for LeBrons cause

David vs Goliath .

[greece66]

wow, not only the thread is already up but the conversation has already started
(and I thought I would be the first to comment  )
Feels like playoffs already 

[greece66]

I smell a trap game if LeBron, Kyrie, and Love all sit out.

Actually Love only plays well when Kyrie and LBJ sit out. Remember their loss against Philly?
It was the only game that Love played anything close to his Minny performances

[SHAQATTACK]

I smell a trap game if LeBron, Kyrie, and Love all sit out.

Actually Love only plays well when Kyrie and LBJ sit out. Remember their loss against Philly?
It was the only game that Love played anything close to his Minny performances

Thinking the same.   Love will drop 30 and 20 , without the other two .

LeBron has stacked HIS team ,  got a nobody coach he can push around.,  LeBron does everything but sign the pay checks.

Smith a d Love will have 30 each with no Irving or Bron.

Nothing trap about the game ......it's a mommas kitty no matter how you stack it.

[greece66]

I smell a trap game if LeBron, Kyrie, and Love all sit out.

Actually Love only plays well when Kyrie and LBJ sit out. Remember their loss against Philly?
It was the only game that Love played anything close to his Minny performances

Thinking the same.   Love will drop 30 and 20 , without the other two .

LeBron has stacked HIS team ,  got a nobody coach he can push around.,  LeBron does everything but sign the pay checks.

Smith a d Love will have 30 each with no Irving or Bron.

Nothing trap about the game ......it's a mommas kitty no matter how you stack it.

Moving to the playoffs, seeing how Blatt performs is my nr 1 question per the Cavs.
Tbh, when they first said LBJ was going back with Blatt as a coach, I thought it would not work; more than that, that it would turn out being counter-productive for them.
[For those familiar with Euro-basketball I thought it would turn out like Bozidar Malkovich coaching Dominique Wilkins in Panathinaikos- they hated each other's guts from day 1; or rather Malkovich hated Wilkins; Wilkins could care less  ]
It was obvious that Cavs had decided to go with Blatt before knowing LBJ was coming back; Blatt had agreed to be in charge of a rebuilding team with young talent on a long term plan, in a scenario like CBS in Boston with enough time to adapt to the NBA. And then, he ended up in a situation where anything less than winning the championship in his rookie year will be regarded as a failure by the fans.

What is more, Blatt has achieved enough to be very proud of his own career- he defeated Spain with a rather mediocre Russian team in a Euro-championship final, he won the Euroleague with one of the weakest roster's of the decade just a year ago and, in Europe he has built a reputation of being a top-10 coach for both national selections and professional clubs. If you check out his interviews, it is obvious that much as he respects Lebron and the rest of the gang, he is being annoyed at being treated as a novice at age 55 and after having achieved so much.

By what I have seen so far -and surprisingly as this may sound- I have to say Blatt has been better than I expected[granted my expectations were very low  ] . Quite obviously the recent improvement of the Cavs is mostly due to LBJ and the addition of Mozgov and Smith; Blatt has done very little to address Love's fitting into the team, which the major issue with the Cavs roster to begin with (remember the Chris Boss controversy in September with Boss basically saying he had to sacrifice too much to fit in into a team that adapted to LBJ's playing style and insinuating it would be very hard given Love's defensive weaknesses to do the same...].
But Blatt has showed character and flexibility in working with a superstar under continuous scrutiny from the media and the fans.
What is still unclear to me is what kind of basketball he wants the Mavs to play lol, but he seems to be adapting to the circumstances well, and if he survives outright humiliation in the playoffs, he'll probably stick around the NBA for sometime.

[greece66]

In addition to the above, here is a recent passage of LBJ encouraging Blatt:

>I respect him as a coach, he respects me as a leader of this team and we have some good chemistry right now. We’re going to continue to grow for the betterment of the team. It’s just like for a rookie NBA player. Guys get better, they know the game, they start to learn it more and more, they know how to approach it every day. This is not an easy situation for him. He wasn’t hired with this roster, but I don’t think he’s shied away from it. He knows the game, and I’m happy to have him at the helm.

I can imagine Blatt turning green after reading such stuff 
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2294958-david-blatt-finding-his-stride-as-cleveland-cavaliers-coach