Our economy is based on LeBron James

You can't blame the poor, miserable souls of Cleveland and their NBA team from overlooking last night's game against the Boston Celtics.

Naturally, with LeBron James' first return to town scheduled for Thursday night, you can understand why the locals are gathering the pitch forks and flaming torches.

Sure the Celtics (13-4) waxed the Cavaliers (7-10) 106-87 last night at Quicken Loans Arena but nobody cares about that. How will they react to LeBron, that's all anybody is talking about.

So it goes with a franchise that was kicked to the curb by its homegrown superstar. Even in the Eastern Conference, Cleveland will struggle to make the playoffs, they just don't have that much above average (if any) talent.

Rajon Rondo led the Celts with 23 points and 12 assists. Two other Cs had double-doubles: Glen Davis 17 points, 11 rebounds off the bench and Kevin Garnett 11 points, 10 rebounds, who shook off a major scare when he stepped on Paul Pierce's foot and twisted his right ankle.

Marquis Daniels had his best game of the season with 16 points, Ray Allen added 12 points and Pierce had 11 points.

Anderson Varejao, Sideshow Bob's bastard son, led the Cavs with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Daniel Gibson (16 points) and Ramon Sessions (14 points) had big games off the bench for Cleveland which is now strictly a jump shooting team, always a recipe for mediocrity. Mo Williams and Anthony Parker both notched 13 points.

Things started out well for the Cavs as they jumped out to a 12-4 lead but Boston immediately responded and only trailed 23-21 after one quarter. At halftime, the Green were up 56-45 so you knew which way this one was going.

Cleveland is so bad that they couldn't even take advantage of the Celtics in the second half like most other teams. Boston won the third quarter (24-20) and fourth quarter (26-22), drive home safely Cavs fans.

Boston shot 50.6% to Cleveland's 39.0%. The Cavs made five more free throws (18-13) but the Celts had four more rebounds (49-45) and most importantly 10 more assists (29-19). Would you believe me if I told you that Boston outscored Cleveland 60-26 in the paint? True story.

The Celts return to Boston tonight to host the Portland Trailblazers at the TD Garden, who lost last night in Philly so they'll be smarting from losing to such a terrible team.

The J.J. Hickson/Byron Scott era truly begins in Cleveland

After Tuesday's spectacle vs. the Heat on Opening Night, the Celtics predictably succumbed to the trap game in Cleveland last night.

At Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavs (1-0) began the post-LeBron era with a nice comeback win over the Celts (1-1). Over the course of the season, one of the biggest story lines to focus on for Boston will be how they hold up over back-to-back nights (a ubiquitous part of NBA life).

Mo Williams was out with a groin injury and Antawn Jamison was coming off the bench so I guess the newest marketable star in Cleveland is J.J. Hickson? He did play well, with a game-high 21 points.

Daniel Gibson (haha Boobie) added 16 points off the bench, Ramon Sessions had 14 points while Jamario Moon, Anthony Parker and Ryan Hollins all had 10 points.

Rajon Rondo led the C's with 18 points (never a good sign) while Glen Davis had 14 points off the bench. Looks like the few younger guys on Boston were less fatigued as Paul Pierce (13 points), Ray Allen (12 points) and Kevin Garnett (9 points, 15 rebounds) were not as sharp as they played against Miami.

Boston was up 23-21 after the first quarter and 47-46 at the half. With a decent third quarter (26-22), the C's looked poised to go 2-0 but they had a meltdown in the fourth quarter (27-14).

Even without Rasheed Wallace, odds are the Celtics will be the clubhouse leader in the NBA for technical fouls. They got off to a rousing start last night with two in crunch time (fourth quarter) by Shaq (7 points) and Nate Robinson (8 points). It all started because Robinson kneed Hollins in the balls and Shaq argued the call after Nate picked up a technical foul. Refs are quicker to pull the trigger now on technicals and the Celts will have to adjust somehow since they love to run their mouth after every play/call.

Boston comes home tomorrow night to face the New York Knicks. A team that they've owned in the last couple years but they'll get their first look at Amare Stoudemire.

Paul Pierce and LeBron James in a Duel for the Ages

Paul Pierce picked a good time to have the best game in his NBA career yesterday. Without every one of his points, the Celtics would have been done for the season while the Cavs moved on to face the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Celts beat the Cavaliers, 97-92, in game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at the TD Banknorth Garden. Boston led from start to finish but it never really felt like the Cavs were dead since LeBron James had a sublime performance.

Pierce had 41 points, five assists and four rebounds while James had a game-high 45 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Playing without its best 3-point shooter (Daniel Gibson), King James finally went off in a big way but he simply didn't get enough help from the guys around him. It's no coincidence that James had his highest point total in a game that his team lost. Cleveland is at its best when the role players are hitting their shots and making plays. Nobody for the Cavs besides James and Delonte West (15 points) bothered showing up.

Outside of Pierce, Kevin Garnett (13 points, 13 rebounds) and P.J. Brown (10 points, 6 rebounds) were the other Celtics in double figures. Rajon Rondo had eight points, eight rebounds and eight assists while Kendrick Perkins added eight points.

The Celtics also wouldn't have prevailed without the unexpected contributions from Brown and Eddie House (4 points, steal, assist, block in 15 minutes).

Brown hit the game's biggest shot, putting the Celts up 91-88 with 1:21 left in the fourth after an 18-foot jumper. He also had a putback off a Rondo airball and he forced James into a desperation shot (airball) that the Celts corralled.

House had the hustle play of the game in the first half when he outran Wally Szczerbiak to a loose ball in the Cleveland backcourt, dove and tipped it to James Posey (5 points, 6 rebounds), who was fouled. Eddie was all kinds of fired up after sitting so much in the playoffs. He fought with West for another loose ball and fed Brown for the clinching shot.

On the other end of the spectrum is Ray Allen, who is currently decaying before our very eyes. In 30 minutes, Ray had four points (1 of 6 shooting). It got so bad that stubborn Doc Rivers was forced to sit him in the fourth and give minutes to the much more effective House and Brown.

Fittingly, Pierce put the game out of reach when he made both free-throws (11 of 12) to give Boston the final margin. A great free-throw shooter percentage-wise but not someone that could be labeled clutch at the line, Pierce saw the first shot bounce high off the back rim before falling through.

James and Pierce came out shooting in the first quarter and neither ever slowed down. The C's led 18-13 after the first quarter and 50-40 at the half.

Cleveland came out with much more energy than Boston to start the second half and cut the lead to five (73-68) going into the fourth. James' steal of Pierce and fast-break dunk cut the Celts lead to one (89-88) late in the fourth but the C's settled down and made the key plays when they had to.

Most of the team statistics were in the same range but Boston (39-29) had the rebounding edge with seven more assists (20-13).

The Pistons await the Celtics and they haven't played a game since closing out Orlando last Tuesday. Detroit comes to Boston tomorrow night for game 1. The experience edge obviously goes to the Pistons, who have been to six straight Eastern Conference Finals. The Celts will need to win a road game since the Pistons are such a good road team and it's likely that they'll take one at the Garden (most likely tomorrow).

It's certainly not the path the Celtics would have chosen (14 games in the first two rounds) but they've made the Eastern Conference Finals. Chauncey Billups missed the last two games of the Magic series with a strained hamstring so we'll have to see how healthy he is. If he's not 100%, the Celts should be favored. Otherwise, it's going six or seven and you'd have to pick the rested, veteran Pistons.

Why Even Bother Showing Up?

Last night's 88-77 win by the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Boston Celtics was the type of depressing outcome that tears a fan up.

The Eastern Conference semifinal series is now tied at two and bigger picture, which will happen first: a Celtics win on the road (0-5) or loss at home (6-0)? The writing on the wall is loud and clear, they're not going anywhere playing like this. You can only take so many seven-game sets before eventually losing. The Pistons are up 3-1 on the Magic and look poised to get to the Eastern Conference finals once again. The Celtics, not so much.

Another aspect that made this loss so frustrating was that unlike Saturday, it was right there for the C's in the fourth quarter but they predictably disappeared (with a playoff-low 12 point frame).

LeBron James still hasn't had a big game yet his team has won two out of four. King James had a game-high 21 points, 13 assists, six boards, three steals and two blocks. And he did a nice job of calming his mom Gloria down (she must not have gotten what she wanted for Mother's Day) after she got in Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett's face after they fouled her son hard. Really.

Once again, the Cavs got plenty of scoring from a bunch of average players: 14 from Wally Szczerbiak, 14 (6 boards, 4 assists) from Daniel Gibson and 12 (6 boards) from bozo/flop artist/Sideshow Bob wannabe Anderson Varejao.

Kevin Garnett had 15 points, 10 boards and four assists but was held to two points and two rebounds in the second half. How is that possible? Ray Allen (15 points, 6 rebounds) and Rajon Rondo (15 points, 4 assists) put up decent numbers but it didn't matter since no one could put the ball in the ocean in the fourth. Paul Pierce managed 13 points and P.J. Brown had eight points, six rebounds and two blocks off the bench.

It was tight until the very end. The Cavs were up two (23-21) after one and at the half (45-43). Cleveland had one more in the third (23-22) and then were able to hit a few more shots than Boston in the fourth (20-12). That was the ironic part; Boston played fine defense since Cleveland bricked plenty of shots. The difference was when the Cavs needed a hoop, LeBron (huge 3 and a sick dunk over KG) and Gibson (3-pointer) provided it down the stretch.

Cleveland shot 45.5% from the floor to Boston's 38.6%. The C's were a woeful 3 of 14 from three-point land. Boston got to the line more (20-26) to Cleveland's 12-18 which was a good sign but the Cavs (cough LeBron) had eight more assists (24-18).

Game 5 is tomorrow night back at the Garden and suffice it to say, it's a must-win. The C's can't go back to Cleveland down 3-2.

Many are bashing Doc Rivers for his questionable rotations and the minutes he gives players but right now I place this debacle on the players. They are a better team than Cleveland and it's about time they started playing like it before it's too late.