I'm Encouraged, Despite the Loss

[Bahku]

Yeah, call it another one of my "blind optimism" statements if you want to, but Rondo and KG were really the only two guys who showed up for this game, yet we still could have won.

Whatever you think about the officiating, (and I think it was terrible), you have to admit that the balance was in favor of the Cavs, (31 FT's to our 25, LeBron only one foul!), and yet we still could have won.

We had a ton of sloppy plays, missed passes, missed lay-ups, no-calls, and a lack of consistent attack in the second half, yet we still could have won.

We just plain had most everything going the way of the Cavaliers tonight, played this game in the "house" of one of the best home teams in the NBA, had a lack-luster performance by two of our "super stars", and the animosity of the officials, yet we still could have won.

Before this game was played I was running mostly on that "blind optimism" I mentioned earlier, but now that I've seen the match-ups, and seen how we can perform, (despite mistakes and poor decisions and being in a hostile environment), I am more encouraged than ever that we have what it takes to win this series, and do so convincingly!

Go Celtics!

[celticinorlando]

i am tired of being encouraged after blowing big leads. they were up on the cavs big in boston only to get blown out in the 4th. until they change that..i feel we will suffer more of these oh so close loses that really should be wins

[CelticSooner]

i am tired of being encouraged after blowing big leads. they were up on the cavs big in boston only to get blown out in the 4th. until they change that..i feel we will suffer more of these oh so close loses that really should be wins

They didn't blow a big lead. A 11 point lead is nothing in the NBA.

[reggie35]

I'm not so encouraged. To me, Lebron and his elbow only played at about half speed today and they still won.

[Redz]

Still scratching my head on this one.  I liked just about everything they did.

[chief3233]

LeBron is a such a little drama queen..it makes me want to puke! 

[GreenFaith1819]

Bahku - don't call your posts "Blind Optimism." I call my Optimism "Looking at the Celtics History of Overcoming Great Odds."

Nice Post. Loss was frustrating, but as long as we have the 2008 KG Anything is Truly Possible. And there is no reason why Rondo cannot keep up this pace. CLE has no answer for him.

Our Bench was not great..TA played well, but that is it. I look for Glen to be more productive next game, too.

If Pierce would've hit a few more shots, we win this one. I can understand why he may have been tentative, but he must adjust his game when the calls aren't going his way.

I look for The Captain to come out Big next game.

We got this.

[LB3533]

I'm encouraged too, but I would have been more encouraged if we had pulled this win out.

It would have shown we learned something from the regular season. About how to fight back against our wilting 2nd half ways.

Alas, that didn't happen.

But if we are going to keep the gameplan to have Lebron get 30+....then we can't let another Cav hit 20.

If Lebron goes for 30 and another Cavs player goes for 20....it's a loss  99% of the time.

[FallGuy]

We're good enough to win two games I think. And be in every other game to the end.

[LB3533]

I'm not so encouraged. To me, Lebron and his elbow only played at about half speed today and they still won.

Well to be fair, he's not really hurt.

Brandon Roy and Kobe are really hurt. Lebron isn't.

[twinbree]

TP for the positive. I haven't watched the game yet so I can't add much. From what I can tell our coach's designated X-Factor stepped up to the plate and had a good game. And I hear KG looked great too. I'm just glad to see we had the sense of urgency to come out with a solid 1st half which half the battle for us these days. Start the game competitive. We just badly need to get out of this cycle of losing leads to the good teams in the 3rd quarter. Starting Monday night I hope.

[celticinorlando]

I'm not so encouraged. To me, Lebron and his elbow only played at about half speed today and they still won.

and there lies the rub...i thought the cavs played bad tonight...yet still found a way to win..i just don't like the feeling going into game 2...i am afraid we are going to get run off the rails....and games ones are always the easiest to steal. the cavs are fully awake now

[reggie35]

I'm not so encouraged. To me, Lebron and his elbow only played at about half speed today and they still won.

Well to be fair, he's not really hurt.

Brandon Roy and Kobe are really hurt. Lebron isn't.

How can you say that? Didn't TNT make it perfectly clear to you and the whole world just how tentative Lebron was because of his elbow... ;-)

[greenhead85]

Encouraging is the right term for this game which should be treated as a trial balloon. Next game should be their contingency plan and a real positive outcome is what we fans are expecting.

Doc, I guess, choked in the 3rd quarter. He forgot to bring in someone who could overturn Mo's shooting streak. He was hesitant to bring in Nate - for goodnessake it was just game 1 so he could have experimented early on. He was obviously walking through a thin line thinking that the game was almost in the bag and feared to capitalize the energy and talent from other guys like Nate, Shelden and Finley. The guys were so itching to play and contribute to succeed. PP too made a lot of errors like TO'ed some possessions vs Lebron, unable to knock down open shots and holding on to the ball too long. Rondo was our guy and if PP can't find a shot he should immediately throw the ball back to Rajon.

[RebusRankin]

In all honesty, we showed some good things. KG's play, Rondo's play, rebounding in the first half. We need Pierce, Ray and Perkins to step up and we need bench production. Maybe we need Sheldon and Nate?