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Cleveland Cavaliers (0-0) at Boston Celtics (0-0)
Round 2 Game 1
Tuesday, May 6
8:00 PM, TNT
TD Banknorth Garden 
Probable Starting LineupPG 
Rajon Rondo PPG 11.6 RPG 4.10 APG 7.3 EFF + 17.43
SG 
Ray Allen PPG 16.1 RPG 3.40 APG 3.1 EFF + 14.57
SF 
Paul Pierce PPG 18.0 RPG 4.60 APG 4.7 EFF + 17.29
PF 
Kevin Garnett PPG 21.0 RPG 8.90 APG 3.9 EFF + 25.29
C 
Kendrick Perkins PPG 7.0 RPG 5.60 APG 0.9 EFF + 10.69
Off the Bench James Posey, Leon Powe, Sam Cassell, PJ Brown, Big Baby Davis, Tony Allen, Eddie House
Inactive: Brian Scalabrine, Gabe Pruitt
Injury ReportScott Pollard, ankle, out
Probable Starting LineupPG 
Delonte West PPG 10.2 RPG 2.80 APG 5.0 EFF + 12.67
SG 
Wally Szczerbiak PPG 10.8 RPG 1.80 APG 1.5 EFF + 7.67
SF 
LeBron James PPG 29.8 RPG 9.50 APG 7.7 EFF + 32.67
PF 
Ben Wallace PPG 3.2 RPG 7.20 APG 1.3 EFF + 10.33
C 
Zydrunas Ilgauskas PPG 14.5 RPG 7.30 APG 1.5 EFF + 16.67
Off the Bench Joe Smith, Devin Brown, Anderson Varejao, Daniel Gibson, Aleksander Pavlovic, Damon Jones, Dwayne Jones
Inactive: Lance Allred, Billy Thomas
Injury Report Eric Snow, ankle, out
Key Matchups 
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Delonte West
This should be a good matchup. Rondo started his career in Boston playing behind Delonte and will want to prove that he is the better point guard head to head. As with all the players who get traded, Delonte will play his best to show the Celtics they should have kept him (and with being a free agent this summer, maybe look at him again). These two players should know each other's tendencies as they played against each other for a full year in practice.
vs
Paul Pierce vs LeBron James
This is one of the best matchups in the league. They have a history and most remember the incident where Pierce spit at LeBron. Often their matchups get quite heated as both play very hard and have been their team's #1 option. With Pierce's new teammates, he should be able to concentrate more on defense and allow his teammates to carry the offensive load. These two players seem to bring out the best (and sometimes the worst) in each other.
Honorable MentionKevin Garnett vs Ben Wallace
Kendrick Perkins vs Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Wallace likes to play inside and Ilgauskas would rather play facing the basket. Expect to see Perk on Wallace and KG on Ilgauskas. Both should be good matchups with lots of physical play. Wallace doesn't provide much offense but will be a problem inside for the Celtics on defense. On the other hand, Ilgauskas has to be guarded on the perimeter as he is a very good shooter. Perk is coming off one of his best games as a pro and we will need more of the same from him in this game.
Keys to the GameDefense, Defense, Defense. If the Celtics learned anything from the Hawks game, it is that their defense is what is going to win games. They played the intense defense that made them the top defensive team in the league during the regular season in the four games at home but on the road, they forgot how to play defense. They can't afford any defensive lapses against this Cavs team.
Rebounding Along with defense, rebounding is key to getting a victory. They need to crash the boards and limit the Cavs 2nd chance points. On the offensive end, they can't be one and done and must be aggressive in going after rebounds.
Don't Settle for Jumpers The Celtics can't settle for jumpers. They must take the ball to the basket and try to draw the foul or get the easy basket. Although Ilgauskas can block shots, he isn't near as dangerous inside as Josh Smith so the Celtics won't need to be constantly looking over their shoulders as they go to the hoop.
X-FactorRest vs Rust The Cavs are coming in well rested as they finished their series on Friday. The Celtics are coming in on just 2 days rest. Often the team that has been resting comes in with some rust to their game and it will be interesting to see if the Cavs show some of that rust and if the Celtics appear to be tired from playing on Sunday.
Topic: 2nd Round Game 1: Cavaliers at Celtics 5/6/08 8:00 PM TNT (Read 87552 times)