As the final seconds of Game 2 ticked down in Boston, LeBron James stood up on the Cavs bench. He turned and told the coaching staff to get up, then went down the bench, one by one, slapping hands with all his teammates. When the game ended, James did not turn and leave the court as most NBA players do. He went on the court and shook hands with every one of his teammates. He wanted to get a message across: The series is not over. "I’ve got to let them know that I’m not frustrated and I’m not getting down on this series," James said. "Being down 0-2, that’s a tough hole to dig yourself out of it, but we’re going to have to do it if we want to move on. So, me being the leader I can’t look like I’m down on the series or down on my play or down on my team’s play." OK then.

That's all well and good, but things are not looking good at all right now. They usually don't after a blowout. But the Cavs have not shown they are able to cope with Boston's defense. Their offense that was so fluid in Game 6 against Washington has disappeared. I think it starts with James' offensive struggles. It's not fair to put it all on him, but as he goes so go the Cavs. There is no other standout player to turn to if he struggles. And in Game 2 the Cavs didn't even turn to the guy who played a standout game. Zyrdunas Ilguaskas made his first six shots in the first quarter. He took six shots the rest of the game. That's not smart basketball, and it stands out because when Z was getting the ball early the Cavs were moving the ball. When they stopped moving the ball, he stopped getting it. The Cavs played well the first quarter, but let it all go away the second. They can't afford that kind of quarter against Boston. The Celtics are too good.

Lot of theories why James has had such a miserable offensive two games, why he's shooting 8-for-42, which is less than 20 percent. It seems to me that the Celtics throw some long-armed big guys at James, and that Kevin Garnett or whoever "spies" behind the defender. James might get by James Posey or Paul Pierce, but when he does Garnett or Kendrick Perkins or Leon Powe is waiting. James said it's because the Celtics have "athletic bigs," which is better than having athletic supporters obviously. Those athletic bigs do not let James beat the "second line of defense," he said. He's got a point, as he usually does. When he goes for some of these layups, a big guy is there, and James has really struggled getting the ball to the hoop, much less in the basket. I said it in Friday's Beacon Journal, and I say it here: If the Cavs do not find a way to get James going, the series is over.

What else are the Celtics doing? Let's let the players talk. Ray Allen: "We forced him into zones where we wanted him to score, where we thought it was best for our defense." Kendrick Perkins: "Just making sure he can't turn the corner. We want him taking contested twos." Zydrunas Ilgauskas: "When he gets past somebody they have bigs there and they're making it tough for him to shoot."

Z did a good job explaining the Cavs offense, which has scored 72 and 73 points, which is pretty brutal. "We're in the wrong spots," he said. Which is not good. "We are just in the wrong spots sometimes," he said. "We have bad shots sometimes. We have not been a very good offensive team." No argument here.

Boston took 38 free throws. Does that not seem like a huge number?

The Celtics being the Celtics, they pass out a sheet prior to game-time describing what has happened on this date in Celtics history. The first item the day of Game 2 read: "An Arizona newspaper reports that Dennis Johnson and Johnny High used cocaine when playing with the Phoenix Suns. Johnson denies the report at a press conference. Boston loses to Milwaukee 126-121 in OT, as a fan taunts McHale into a fight." Safe to say of the many things one expected to read from the long and storied history of the Boston Celtcis, that particular item was not one of them.

Just saw on ESPN that James' two-game shooting performance is the worst by a guy with at least 30 shots in two playoff games since 1948. Where do they come up with this stuff?

James has missed all 10 of this threes. Can this really continue?

At one point in his press conference, James said (and the wording comes right from the quotes sheets handed out post-interviews): "We tried to get (me the ball) in some DHL shakes … I don’t know if you know what that is." Of course every reporter in the room nodded knowingly as if he or she had actually designed the DHL shake.

Wally Szczerbiak said James is frustrated. "He's gotta be frustrated," Wally World said. "He's such a good player and he has so much on his shoulders that sometimes it's really tough on him." James said he's not frustrated. "I'm more frustrated with the turnovers I’ve had more than anything," he said. Those turnovers number 17. Hard to believe this will continue all series. But I repeat: If it does, series over and time to go fishing with Charles Barkely.

By the way, will the 10 folks who did not vote for LeBron James as first-team All-NBA declare themselves?

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