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Cleveland Cavaliers (2-2) at Boston Celtics (2-2)
Round 2 Game 5
Wednesday, May 14
8:00 PM, TNT
TD Banknorth Garden 
Probable Starting LineupPG 
Rajon Rondo PPG 11.4 RPG 3.90 APG 6.1 EFF + 14.73
SG 
Ray Allen PPG 14.0 RPG 3.50 APG 3.0 EFF + 12.91
SF 
Paul Pierce PPG 16.0 RPG 4.60 APG 4.3 EFF + 14.64
PF 
Kevin Garnett PPG 20.0 RPG 9.20 APG 3.6 EFF + 25.09
C 
Kendrick Perkins PPG 6.7 RPG 6.50 APG 0.5 EFF + 11.64
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 9.5 RPG 3.50 APG 4.5 EFF + 11.80
SG 
Wally Szczerbiak PPG 12.1 RPG 1.60 APG 1.7 EFF + 8.70
SF 
LeBron James PPG 25.4 RPG 8.20 APG 8.2 EFF + 25.50
PF 
Ben Wallace PPG 3.4 RPG 7.00 APG 1.4 EFF + 10.40
C 
Zydrunas Ilgauskas PPG 14.9 RPG 7.60 APG 2.0 EFF + 17.80
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
The matchup of point guards is still one of the keys to this series. In Boston, Rondo dominated West but on the road, Delonte returned the favor and out played Rondo. Hopefully this series will continue to follow form and Rondo will come through with a big game in Boston. Doc needs to play Rondo more and Sam less.
vs
Ray Allen vs Wally Szczerbiak
Ray still hasn't found his shot in the series yet. He seemed to wake up in the third quarter of game 4, but then went back to his slump in the 4th quarter. He also hasn't been able to stop Wally who has burned the Celtics in both games in Cleveland. Ray must find his shot and play better defense on Wally.
Honorable MentionKevin Garnett vs Ben Wallace
KG needs to be more aggressive on both ends of the court. He has to look for his shot. 0-2 in the 4th quarter as he did in game 4 just won't get it done. KG needs to set the tone on defense but he also has to look for his shot more.
Keys to the GameDefense The Celtics defense that was best in the NBA during the regular season was nowhere to be found in Cleveland. They allowed the Cavs to shoot 54% in game 3 and 46% in game 4. The Celtics must get back to that swarming team defense that they played during the regular season and at home in the playoffs. Defense wins championships. Without it, the Celtics will be going fishing.
Go to the Hoop The Celtics have not been aggressive in taking the ball to the basket. They have settled for quick jumpers and outside shots and have not tried to drive. They have to drive and either get a high percentage shot or draw the foul. Teams live by the 3 and die by the 3 and the Celtics have been dying by it.
Play 48 Minutes The Celtics have been playing good in spurts and then letting up and allowing the Cavs to get past them. In particular, their 4th quarters have been terrible with no one willing to take over the game and no one asserting themselves on either end.
Doc Doc's rotations at times have been head scratching. Eddie House helped the Celtics win 66 games and now Doc is not playing him. Sam played terrible in the last two games and yet Doc left him in. And the biggest head scratcher was when Big Baby started the 4th quarter after not playing in the game before that and Leon got only 6 minutes after coming up big in previous games.
X-Factor
Home Court Although the Celtics are winless on the road, they are perfect at home. They need to use their home court advantage to get them pumped up with the crowd behind them in this must win game. Hopefully they will also get some home court calls from the refs because they weren't getting them on the road.
Topic: 2nd Round Game 5 Cavs at Celtics 5/14 8:00 PM TNT (Read 80712 times)