Cavs (44-14) at Celtics (36-19) 2/25

[MaxwellSmart86]

Rondo starts this game on FIRE...Attacking the Cavs at every angle---Probably figuring he can expend so much energy cause OF COURSE, Doc will let him rest a bit---Since we got Nate Robinson and all---- but NOPE, Doc plays him the ENTIRE 1st half---Rondo starts the 2nd half by PACING himself...Why wouldn't he?

Cleveland now takes over and CRUSHES us.

[gar]

Lester Hudson would have helped!

[Tai]

So they give Varejao the tech and not Perk, because Var pushed Perk and Perk didn't respond knowing if he did he would also have gotten a tech, possibly a fine and short suspension.

In a perfect world two techs should go to Perk and his coach says "If you're just gonna let guys push you and not do anything about it I think I can find a girl at UConn who could do your job."

Modern sports.....I just don't get it sometimes...so different from real life

I'd deduce two TPs for this post.

[fanofgreen]

Why is it taking up til now for many people to realize Rondo has been playing way too many minutes?
I've been saying that since the near the start of January

I'm not surprised Rondo played 45 minutes

Doc just finally started to get Ray Allen's minutes down, since the All-star break.(no coincidence he's played better since then) some say its because of the trade deadline passed, but i think it is because his minutes are back down, more so than the trade deadline.

This is why i felt like we needed to make multiple moves to get some bench depth, and not just go after 1 kinda big name type of player.

I'm sorry, I still dont see the purpose of Big Baby on this team.
I just have a hard to acknowledging the fact that our "POWER FORWARD" is taking charges, and being ok with it. I want my big men to be big men. alter shots! block shots! contest shots! dont make taking charges your only option! guards and sm.fwrds are the ones who should be taking charges on big men, not another big man...that just frustrates me.

Doc staying with a Rondo-Robinson-TA-Baby-Sheed lineup just blew my mind.

I mean. having Rondo and TA in at the same time, i never like seeing that personally. (if i was a coach, i would never put 2 perimeter players in a game together who cant hit wide-open jumpshots, just doesn't make sense if you think about it).
Thats why sheed couldnt get it going down in the post in the 2nd half, the few times they tried to go to him.

one of our big man/ power forwards cant finish above the rim!

I could rant for hours, but I'd be wasting my time, repeating the same exact stuff since christmas back when everyone was saying i was crazy. So I'm done, I will just enjoy the fact that Leon Powe is back and playing again!

[jdpapa3]

Lester Hudson would have helped!

Nate would've helped...if he actually PLAYED! Guy gets hot and doesn't get the ball for another hour and a half. I'm baffled.

[Mike-Dub]

Lester Hudson would have helped!

Nate would've helped...if he actually PLAYED! Guy gets hot and doesn't get the ball for another hour and a half. I'm baffled.

That is why I loved the acquisition of Nate for these scoring droughts that we get in, but it makes no difference if he doesn't get in...

I was really hoping for a big game from him, but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

[More Banners]

Doc staying with a Rondo-Robinson-TA-Baby-Sheed lineup just blew my mind.

Amen.  With a Rondo/Nate/TA threesome, one might expect lots of running and attacking the hoop.  Wallace can't really run, but might be a Raef-like trailing-3pt threat...but BBD makes no sense there, and a worn-out Rondo makes no sense there, either-screws up the whole idea.

I'm waiting for Doc to say he ran Rondo to the ground so Nate could play on the wing, where we were...ahem...'short'.  But he took the punch away from that lineup with non-runners.  Scal would've been better than BBD there (shooting and mobility).

[Q_FBE]

Going back to the lead post of the thread and reviewing the keys to the game that FL gave us:

 
 

Keys to the Game
1 Defense, Defense, Defense -Defense wins games and it wins championships.  The Cavs are tied with the Lakers for the biggest point differential (+6.6).  But, the Celtics are lead the league in points allowed (93. while the Cavs are tied with the Heat at 3rd (95.0).   The team that plays the stingiest defense will take home the win. 

 2. Take care of the basketball -  The Celtics have been going through periods in games recently where they have a flurry of turnovers.  They have to keep their focus and avoid turning the ball over. 
 
3. Play 48 Minutes -  This goes along with the second key.  The Celtics have to be focused from the tip off until the end of the game.  They can't afford to come out flat or lose their focus for any period against a team like the Cavs or they will take full advantage of it to put the Celtics away. 

4.  Rebound - The Celtics have to improve their rebounding.  When opponents get offensive rebounds, the Celtics give up second chance points and Shaq, Lebron and Varejao are all very good at getting tip ins and put backs.   When opponents get defensive rebounds it keys their fast break for easy baskets at the other end.  The Celtics have got to box out and to fight for rebounds and not allow the Cavs to beat them to them. 

Emotional X Factor
Leon Powe's return to the court for the first time this season. 

Answer to KEY 1  - Cleveland played better defense.
Boston went to Legals Seafood and pigged out on chowder in the second half.

Answer to KEY 2 - Boston simply turned it over and over in the 2nd half. Rondo not coming out of the game hurt us in the long run and cost us in the 4th qtr. Bad coaching decision Doc.

Laughing at Key 3 - as usual it simply did not happen. AND That will certainly cost us down the road.

Answer to KEY 4 - Uh Uh not happening  

Celtics get an F. Doc Rivers called them out for playing flat in the fourth and Cleveland simply had more energy and deserved to win and that is that. Do is right but his players simply did not respond at all. That is the most disappointing thing tonights horrible experience.

[fanofgreen]

Lester Hudson would have helped!

Nate would've helped...if he actually PLAYED! Guy gets hot and doesn't get the ball for another hour and a half. I'm baffled.

yeah,

Nate shoulda been running the point. he shouldn't be a 2 guard out there.

IF Doc is going to utilize Nate like that, then this trade was a downgrade.
we would be better off with eddie, if this is the way Doc is going to use Nate.

[LarBrd33]

theres only a couple things you can come away from this game thinking.

#1 - Cavs coasted until the 4th and then stepped on our throats.   We stand no chance against that team.

#2 - What's with Rondo not once getting any rest?  Seriously.  What was that about?   This team desperately needs a backup point guard who is tall enough to ride roller coasters.   Activate Tyrone Lue or something.

[lon3lytoaster]

32 points in the 2nd half?.....done, finished, over, kaput...on to the draft....and I'd forgotten all about nbadraft.net

I haven't! I've been all over that website today. I'm thinking Patrick Patterson falls, see Leon Powe and DeJuan Blair. He'd be a huge upgrade over Glen Davis.

Paul George is another interesting propect, if we go for a small forward. Decent three point shooter, can run and jump real well, has potential to be a good defender, as well.

Solomon Alabi is a fairly mobile 7'1 center, had the chance to catch him on ESPN a few days ago.. He can shoot the midrange shot a little bit, not a great post game, good shot blocker, and he's more mobile than just about every other dude over seven feet.

Also, if Hassan Whiteside is ever available to us, we need to grab that kid. He's a stud.

[Celticsbloke]

Well, the good news is we are still right there with the Cavs, even with Pierce out.

The bad news is that KG can only play so many minutes and when he sits for Rasheed, our defence doesn't get consistent stops, so our transition game dries up. We then compound the problem by either making poor offensive decisions in the half-court or having a confidence crisis and blowing shots we would normally make (Davis, Rondo & Wallace all missed key shots in the 4th).

Rondo played too many minutes tonight as well and it cost us late in the game:

1) I think his fatigue caused him to let Nate take point on offence a few times late and that should never happen. Nate has all the PG smarts of Tony Allen (Let me paraphrase Forrest Gump: life is like a box of Nate's n Tony's...YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GONNA GET!!!)

2) Rondo was nowhere to be seen with Mo draining the game breaker from the corner (not talking about Mo's first three when Rondo was flatted on the screen, rather the next three he got).

3) West was able to go over Rondo to grab an offensive board late in the game because Rondo was too gassed to get up and grab it.

4) Rondo airballed a three and started leaving layups just a little short.

All those are signs of a guy who needed a few minutes rest. Unfortunately, he's not going to get that until we can get more good minutes out of Nate.

All in all, it was frustrating to watch another fade out, but I can see good signs with KG being pretty solid in the last few games and Ray Allen showing he is still a star. If we can get Pierce back and have him fully fit for the playoffs, we will win games like this.  

[Mike-Dub]

At let we got an easy one Saturday.. I  guess that is a bright spot... 

[GreenFaith1819]

I may be laughed out of celticsblog for saying this but i'm fully confident that the celtics, if 90% healthy will have no problems with this Cleveland team in the playoffs.

I like that....Pierce will make Lebron work on defense..

[gar]

Nate
TA
Landry/Scal
Shelden
Wallace

No BBD
No Rondo for 48