To win a playoff series on the road, a team has to go take the game. Sort of like the old boxing analogy. The contender has to take it from the champion. The Boston Celtics didn’t do that. They had a second-quarter lead and they could have put their foot on the Cavs’ throats. They didn’t. They let the Cavs score the final 12 points of the first half, the last three on a Delonte West three just before the buzzer. Good shot, late shot, but it came off a Celtics turnover. The Celtics fell behind by 16 in the third quarter, came back, fell behind again, came back again but could not come all the way back. Championship teams win that game. Teams trying to be champions go to Game 7. So we go to Game 7.
I got the feeling the Celtics were plenty miffed about the way the game was officiated. Doc Rivers made a fleeting reference to it in his news conference, and Paul Pierce made another reference to it. Then the Associated Press story on the game had this paragraph: “'Tell the refs to do the interview. They were just as important,' an angry Rivers shouted at a team official as he walked back from the postgame news conference." … Kind of a little giveaway that he was not happy.
This is a time where the Cavs’ “no excuses” policy comes in handy. If the Celtics dwell on the refs prior to Game 7 it’s not a good thing. For them to spend so much time hinting or making reference to bad calls … well they’re looking for an excuse. As if to say it is not possible for them to lose to this team from Cleveland, there must be a reason. There’s plenty of bad calls to go around. Talking about refs makes for good copy and good blogiosity (is there such a word?), but it doesn’t help a team reach the East Finals.
The past two games, the Celtics have taken 36 free throws, the Cavs 66. That is a huge disparity. In Game 6 alone, LeBron James took two more free throws (15) than the entire Celtics team. With James, it seems that nothing is right. He takes the ball to the basket and reacts to getting hit in the face – “Nobody likes to get hit in the face,” one former player said – and he’s acting. He takes the ball to the basket and fouls are called and the team that fouls cries. The two games were in two venues with two different officiating crews. There is a reason for the disparity, and it’s not bad calls (though I do think the offensive foul on Paul Pierce in the final minute was a gift to the Cavs). The reason is the Cavs are getting to the hoop, especially James, who has taken 28 free throws the last two games. He’s made 24 of them. As for the Celtics being upset, it would seem that the No. 1 seed in the East, a team that won 66 games, would be above blaming the officiating. That they would just go out and win the game.
Go figure Wally Szczerbiak missing nine of his first 10 shots, then making a vitally important three-pointer late in the Cavs win. One thing about Szczerbiak – he’s going to keep shooting. … The Damon Jones experiment, which I advocated … didn’t go well. Jones missed two shots and watched Eddie House go right around him in his three minutes. I’m thinking we might not see him again unless a big shot is needed at crunch time. … Oh, there were times LeBron went into his dribble-dribble, hold-the-ball act. That can’t happen in Boston. The Cavs have to do better. Szczerbiak’s shot was a good one only because it went in.
This might have been the definition of an ugly game. The Cavs shot 32.9 percent, the Celtics 39.7 percent. In eight quarters of play (four for each team), the only time either team topped 20 points was the Cavs in the second quarter. Boston never scored more than 20 points in a quarter (18, 15, 17 and 19). But the Cavs are a defensive team and defensive teams don’t mind ugly games because they are forcing the other team to shoot poorly. At least that’s the theory.
The offensive foul on Pierce – bad call. Period.
The Cavs are not shooting well this series – 41.8 percent. But the Celtics are struggling too. Boston is shooting 42.1 percent. Really, they’ve only shot well in one quarter – the third in Game 5 when they went 12-for-16. Take away that quarter and the Celtics are worse than the Cavs at 40.6 percent.
Can the Cavs win Game 7 in Boston. Well we could list 28 reasons why they can’t, from the ghosts in the Garden to Larry Bird to Bill Russell to home-court (there is a reason it means something) to waking up at home to more familiarity with the lights to the hot dogs that are served. But there is one reason why the Cavs can win. That one reason is LeBron James. If I’m a Cavs fan, I’m not unhappy taking my chances with that.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
As for Lebron and the offensive woes. If we don't implement an offense like detroit's or la's(you never hear kobe having this problem), Lebron will leave and go to a team with any offensive philosophy that will better his game.
Pat mentioned a couple of times that he thought the charge against Pierce was a bad call. I don't agree. It may have been questionable and could have gone either way. But I can recall at least 2 very similar calls in this series where Pierce has received that call against Lebron. So it's been consistently called.