LeBron James ended his news conference with this statement: “A LeBron James team is never desperate.” It came when someone asked him after the game if the Cavs would be desperate in Game 6 having lost Game 5. It’s one of those silly questions the media asks that a guy can’t win by answering. “Yeah,” he said. “We feel hopeless now. We’ll really be desperate.” Would that work? Don’t think so. So James said a LeBron James team is never desperate. Don’t expect me to argue with him. He’ll tell me to sit my you-know-what down.

Hate to make LeBron angry, but Wally Szczerbiak did say the Cavs are now “desperate.” I’m sure he didn’t mean it.

I thought the Cavs really let the Celtics back in the game late in the first half and in the third quarter, but the more I think about it the more I think the Celtics went and took the game and the Cavs didn’t stand up to them until it was too late. Cleveland led 43-29, then saw Rajon “Bingo Smith” Rondo hit consecutive threes. This is not supposed to happen. Rondo made five threes the entire regular season, so you figure if the Cavs are going to let anyone shoot a three it would be Rondo. He did, and he made them, and that was a problem because it gave the Celtics momentum. Then Paul Pierce took a last-second shot in the first half that bounced up and down on the rim a few times before dropping. Momentum, Boston. Of course the Cavs helped by starting the second half in a daze. And at that point Boston attacked. As James said, “They turned up the pressure.” The Cavs did not answer … and by the time they did it was too late. So this loss was not just a case of the Cavs not doing things well, it was also a case of Boston taking the game.

I think the Celtics had a little discussion at halftime and it went this way: “Man we stunk for a while. … We were losing bad to these guys. … Hey, if we lose we’re down 3-2 … Really? … Yep … Heck with that.” They started the second half like they were storming the Bastille.

Could the Cavs have won? Sure they could have won. But when you’re on the road against the top seed in the East you can’t do silly things like turn the ball over on three consecutive possessions and miss free throws and take a few minutes off. Pretty quick recipe for disaster there, and that’s what happened.

It was kind of amazing how LeBron James got to the rim in the first half. For whatever reason, Boston wasn’t cutting him off like it had in previous games. So he took advantage with some fantastic finishes – and 23 first-half points. The Celtics sure changed that in the second half. Every time James went to the rim he was cut off by a ravaging horde of Mongol warriors … err … Celtics. Evidently, they got their “rotations” correct. Had to be it. “Rotations.” Those things are important in basketball anymore. Rotations. R-o-t-a-t-i-o-n-s. Rotations.

Kevin Garnett had a pretty large game with 26 points and 16 rebounds. As did Rajon Rondo (20 points, 13 assists). A few folks – notably Kenny Smith on TNT – said after Game 4 that the Celtics were frontrunners, that they could win when ahead but did not have the ability or wherewithal to come back when behind. The Celtics did not disprove that statement because they pretty much were ahead in the second half. And in fact, they came kind of close to giving the game away.

Got on the Boston T after the game – that’s the subway system, the same one where fans were singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” after the ALCS in October and I had to listen to that celebration then and it’s still in my mind, or what there is of a mind – and sitting in the same car was former Celtics standout Cedric Maxwell. He’s now the Celtics radio analyst. For some reason it seemed comforting to be on the same subway as Cedric Maxwell after the game. A few kids referred to him as Mr. Maxwell, which would have made Bob Knight proud I’m sure.

Happened to be sitting in the press room when the Celtics cheerleaders walked out of their dressing room down the hall in their short shorts and tiny tops. Some might call this fortuitous, but that’s a topic for another blog. At one point, they all stood in a circle and the cheerleader coach or organizer or den mother or whatever she’s called told them: “Have a good game girls.” They did not put hands together, though, and chant one-two-three-win. Walked by the same coach at halftime doing an interview (interview?) and she was saying how her squad likes to dial it up for the playoffs just like the team. She didn’t use dial it up, but the point was the same. So glad to know the cheerleading squad was prepared.

Delonte West struggled guarding Rajon Rondo, but did have 21 points, four steals and four assists. Daniel Gibson left with a shoulder contusion. Be tough if he’s at all limited in Game 6.

Some postgame quotes:

Z: “I think (they were) more aggressive, forced the turnovers. Really got into our bodies, took us out of our offensive sets. We just couldn’t run anything. A couple times the shot clock went down and we threw up a couple prayers. Really, they were the aggressors.”

Garnett: “The beginning of the third, man, we started with a lot of defensive energy and that’s pretty much it, man. I thought we weren’t as aggressive as we should have been in the fourth, in the late fourth, but for the most part we had high energy to begin the half.”

Ray Allen: “Close out games are always the hardest. The team is going to fight, the building is going to be behind them. You just have to go in there doing the small things and the overall big thing of being aggressive with that defensive energy.”

Doc Rivers: “I just thought we were not playing very well. LeBron was playing great and I knew that at some point we would play well. Like I said, we will need to win a game when LeBron plays great. I don’t think he has been playing poorly to begin with.”

LeBron James: “Can’t get outscored by 12 on the road and turn the ball over like we did in the third quarter. As a team we didn’t turn the ball over a lot, but when we did they made us pay for it.”
Mike Brown: “We didn’t do the things necessary defensively and again we let their aggression bother us.”

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