Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy that the Celtics defeated the Cavs, 89-73, last night in game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, to take a 2-0 series lead.
Still, it really doesn't mean much. The home teams are now 10-0 in the semifinals. A wise man (maybe Hubie Brown?) once said that a NBA playoff series doesn't start until the home team loses.
In game 2, the storylines continued from game 1: Ray Allen couldn't get a point (scoreless in the first half) and LeBron James was ice cold. The Cavs jumped out to a 24-17 first quarter lead thanks to Zydrunas Ilgauskas' (19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks) 10 points in the frame.
Boston's trademark defense showed up especially in the second (12 Cavs points) and third (15 Cavs points).
It doesn't take a genius like Stephen A. Smith to surmise that if LeBron is off, the chances of Cleveland winning are slimmer than Nicole Richie.
If you think about it, no one on the Cavs-other than James or Ilgauskas-can be labeled an above-average NBA player. Wally is just a shooter, I love Delonte but he's a hustle guy and Varejo is an energy guy. The corpse of Ben Wallace that still plays is awful and he left yesterday in the first quarter after getting dizzy. He claimed it was allergies (inside?) but we all know he took too many gravity bong hits before the opening tip.
Nobody exploded offensively for Boston but that's a good thing. Pierce had 19 points and six rebounds, KG had 13 points and 12 boards while Allen woke up in the second half to finish with 16 points.
The real heroes though were the Boston subs: 11 points and seven rebounds from Leon Powe, nine points from Sam Cassell and seven points, six boards by James Posey. Even P.J. Brown had four points. The bench was productive at just the right time as the starers came out slow.
LeBron had 21 points, six assists and five rebounds (seven turnovers) but he shot 6 of 24, bringing his two-game total to 8 of 42. Wally notched 13 points but who cares?
Boston is now 6-0 at home in the playoffs. Things will start to get interesting in game 3 and 4 as they go to Cleveland. The C's had a 2-0 lead on Atlanta on the first round but that disappeared as fast as it takes one of the ATL's fine strippers to give you a lap dance.
If the Celts can win game 3, smell ya later Cleveland but if the Cavs can take game 3, it's a whole new ballgame.
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