LeBron and Cavaliers didn't lose series; Celtics won it

[misha]

Most of the words written from the TD Garden on Thursday night will be about LeBron James, his performance in this series, his health, and his future. A full contingent of New York media made their way up to Boston for this game, and they got the story they came for: James, the free-agent-to-be, falling well short of a championship

And you know what? The Boston Celtics don't care.

They don't care if James' elbow was bothering him. They don't care if he's frustrated with his teammates, head coach or front office. And they don't care if he's played his last game as a Cav.

From the start of this conference semifinals series to the finish, the Celtics knew that if they just took care of their own business, played hard and played together, they'd be in good shape.

In the end, the Cavs didn't lose this series. The Celtics won it.

"I thought our guys' effort, our focus was phenomenal," coach Doc Rivers said. "Everybody was on the same page."

This was a team that looked mediocre at best throughout the second half of the season, a team that lost to the Nets and Wizards at home after the All-Star break. But when the postseason began, they became the team that won a championship two seasons ago, or at least a close facsimile.

"Playoffs come around, it's time to step it up another notch," Kevin Garnett said.

Along with improved mental focus came the improved health of Garnett. It was as if his right knee knew it was the playoffs too. Though Rajon Rondo put up huge numbers at times in this series, he knew that it was Garnett who the Celtics had to run their offense through early and often.

"Every time something went down [Rondo] looked at me and you know our punch play -- kept throwing the fist for that play," Rivers said. "Everyone knew, everyone knew what they had to do in that way. Get him space, get him room."

When Garnett wasn't hitting jumpers over Antawn Jamison (or Shaquille O'Neal at the start of Game 6), he was finding open shooters or hitting cutters to the basket.

It didn't matter who took the shots, because every Celtic player had confidence in the next guy. And why not? They all contributed (Rasheed Wallace included) with big shots at one point or another in this series.

"That's what makes us so strong," Paul Pierce said. "When you do your scouting report on us, you have to worry about four, five, six different guys, night in and night out.
"When we move the ball and we have so many people we can rely on."

Still, as it has always been since this group came together three years ago, it was Boston's defense, anchored by the now-healthy Garnett, that was the difference. Though the Cavs had somewhat-respectable offensive numbers overall in this series, they were skewed by their huge win in Game 3.

The Celtics held the Cavs to under a point per possession in each of their four wins. Game 6 was Boston's best defensive game of the series, allowing Cleveland to score just 85 points in a fast-paced, 95-possession game. Though it was a two-point game at halftime and the Celtics weren't all that efficient after the break, they won this game with defense, allowing the Cavs to score on just 17 of their 44 second-half possessions.

"We just never got a rhythm in this series," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "We had a rhythm in Game 3, but after that we never could catch rhythm against this team, and they had something to do with it."

The Celtics' defense was focused on James all series, forcing him to shoot from the perimeter. Pierce, Ray Allen and Tony Allen all took their turns guarding the two-time MVP, and always had help from the other defenders on the floor. LeBron got much of the defense's attention, but the Celtics also never let any of his teammates get comfortable, either.

As much criticism as James has received over the last few days, he's still the best player in the world. But it's never been more clear that great players can not win championships by themselves.

"All we talked about throughout the series was individually we're not going to beat them," Rivers said. "We can't. But team-wise, together, if we're all on the same page ... running the formula, then we had a chance. And I thought overall we stayed in that, and that's why we won the series."

The Celtics head into the East finals against Orlando looking stronger than they did when they entered the East semifinals and much stronger than they did when the postseason began.
Though they laid an egg in Game 3, the Celtics have played four great games in a row. Their regular-season inconsistency is a thing of the past and Rivers is confident he'll get Boston's best effort and focus from here on out.

"Honestly, they believe more," he said. "I know I believe, but sometimes you don't know if everybody believes if you can do what the coach is saying or what other guys are saying. But I think they all do now."

From the results of this series, that much is clear.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/john_schuhmann/05/14/cavs.celtics.game6/index.html

Nice article by John Schuhmann. No lack of credit there.