I realize that's no excuse but there hasn't been anything in the last few weeks (months really) to get excited about from either of these painfully flawed squads. The Bruins can't score goals and didn't stand up for themselves when their best offensive player-Marc Savard-was knocked out with a cheap shot last weekend in Pittsburgh. The Celtics just can't beat good teams and sometimes they don't bother showing up against garbage like the Nets or Pistons.
The C's took on the Cavs in Cleveland yesterday and it played out exactly like you'd expect: Boston (41-24) hung around for a while before LeBron James (30 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals) and Cleveland (52-15) decided to start playing. End result: a 104-93 Cavs win.
For once, the Celtics' starting five wasn't too blame. Ray Allen had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists while Kevin Garnett (7 rebounds) and Paul Pierce each scored 18 points. Rajon Rondo added 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Boston's bench was weak sauce to the max with 15 total points. When you play the Cavs, particularly at home, you know LeBron will do his thing. The key is limiting the clowns surrounding him; yesterday Anderson Varejao had 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Antawn Jamison added 15 points and 12 rebounds while Mo Williams (14 points, 6 assists) and J.J. Hickson (12 points) played their roles to perfection.
The Cavs jumped out to a 24-18 lead after the first quarter and held serve at 54-48 for the first half. Boston made a run in the third quarter to tie it up but a long drought buried them. They can hardly comeback against the Wizards so doing that in Cleveland is impossible.
The Cavs took the third (26-24) and the fourth (24-21) as LeBron and his cronies danced non-stop.
Detroit comes to the Garden tonight. If we've learned anything this season, it's that the Pistons will hang around for way too long before the Celts will barely squeak it out. Who knows, maybe they'll lose?
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