OK … there were computer problems. But I got a kick out of this comment on the previous post stating there were computer problems. “Computer problems??? That's the same silly excuse Windy uses whenever he's running late to meet his espn.com deadline.” Why is that funny? Because it was Brian Windhorst, my esteemed colleague, who had computer problems. Blew up his computer as he was waiting for LeBron James to appear after Game 7. Wasn’t a real good night. This made a computer trade necessary so he could file his stories, which led to computer trades at hotels in clandestine places in Boston. Suffice it to say it kept us both from our blog. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it. Write Windhorst if you have any problems.

I’m going to offer some comments here on Game 7, yet another disappointment for Cleveland fans in Boston. (I’m really getting tired of hearing those people celebrate; to teach them a lesson I’m not spending any of my hard-earned tourist money there for the foreseeable future. That’ll teach them, eh?) In thinking about the game, there really isn’t anyone to “blame” per se. The Cavs just lost. Some might say Boston is a better team; I’m not convinced. But they won, so they get to gloat. Me, I think once the Cavs got it to one they were looking right at the chance to win. But LeBron James missed a three, Delonte West missed a three and P.J. Brown got between James and the basket on a drive. And Brown made a 20-foot jumper. Sheesh. How do these things happen to Cleveland teams? Boston did enough late to win, which made the difference. Yes, a better start helps. But the Cavs still had things close late, and had a chance to win. They just didn’t get it finished.

A lot was made of the LeBron James-Paul Pierce duel, and it was special and James was outstanding. But I don’t think this was one of James’ greatest-ever games. That might sound nuts given he had 45 points, but he spent a lot of time dribbling and/or running high pick-and-rolls while the rest of the team stood and waited for him. I don’t know why sometimes there is opposition to moving the ball and running a motion offense. The NBA seems to think it won’t work. I don’t know why. But one of the things that has to be explained about this team – at least internally — is what stops the offense. Is it James who decides he’s going to win or lose on his own, or is it that the plays called are those isolations? I feel like it might be more of the former. James knows he’s the best player on the court, and at times he just waves folks away and points out the spot to set the pick. You can see the rest of the team just stop what they’re doing and go to their assigned places. I maintain James is the best player in the NBA right now, that no other player in the league could have gotten his team as far as James did. So I guess the question is would they be better if the offense moved the ball more, or would they have been worse because James would have played a lesser role? I think we know how LeBron feels. All this being said, short of making one last three I don’t know how much more anyone could have asked from James in this game, this postseason and this season. The guy is an amazing player and mature beyond his years.

In general, Mike Brown had a good game. I did raise my eyebrows at two moves he made. One was a one-minute stretch in the second quarter when both LeBron and Z went to the bench. In that time, Boston scored five unanswered points. Which turned out to be the margin of victory. The Cavs had Sasha Pavlovic and Ben Wallace on the floor at that time, and it was a lost lineup. That minute hurt, but I have to figure LeBron asked for a quick minute of rest. Doesn’t make sense otherwise. The other was playing Pavlovic so much. But then you realize that Wally Szczerbiak gave the Cavs next to nothing. Brown wasn’t going to play Devin Brown, for whatever reason, so the minutes went to Pavlovic, who looked rusty and lost on offense but did contribute on defense. I think that’s why he played almost 35 minutes. I think. I mean … it sure wasn't his offense.

Paul Pierce had not done much prior to Game 7, and the Boston writers were astute in pointing out that Pierce’s series would have been the story had Ray Allen not played so miserably. Pierce showed something in the last game, though, making some very tough shots over James, who actually played pretty good defense on him. It was Pierce’s night.

At one point in the third quarter, James took a three right in front of the Celtics bench. Eddie House stood up next to James and made a motion as if he was going to block the shot. House was not in the game at the time, and he was not the only one to stand. Two or three other Boston players did as well. A Boston writer next to me remarked that House shouldn’t be allowed to do that. James obviously didn’t think so either. He turned and had some words for the bench. The Celtics of my youth back in the mid 1880s stood for good, clean, hard basketball. Not for silly things like pretending you’re going to block a shot when you’re not in the game. This action was rather un-Celtic, I’d have to say.

LeBron James got away with some calls in Game 7 – especially when he grabbed Pierce’s jersey. At least he was in the game at the time and not reaching from the bench.

Wally Szczerbiak had a quote to the effect that Boston did not let him or the Cavs do what they wanted. This flashed me back to the first year Steve Spurrier was coach at Florida. A quarterback threw a corner route, and it appeared to be overthrown. But Spurrier said the receiver claimed he was held coming out of his break. Spurrier told him if he wanted to get the ball he wouldn’t have let the guy hold him. Seems like if Szczerbiak wanted to get in the offense, he wouldn’t have let himself be thrown off. The play when Eddie House caught up to him and outran him down the floor and set up a Szczerbiak foul kind of epitomized Wally’s game.

James walked off the court head high, but clearly upset. He did not take part in the traditional postgame handshake at midcourt, and when he was in the locker room he looked as down as many had ever seen him – especially those who have been around him a lot. I don’t know if he was just mad, if he was thinking “what more can I do” or if he was thinking the Cavs should have won. He was just upset, and you can’t really blame him.

A couple weeks back ESPN Magazine wrote this of the Cavs trades: “The fresh blood was welcomed, but trying to work so many guys into a nine-man rotation so late in the season would have been tough enough without all the injuries that disrupted chemistry.”That’s true. And given the difficulty of overhauling the roster in midseason, perhaps we should look at it that the Cavs did quite a job stretching the Celtics to the limit given everything they fought through. And given the Cavs were that close to winning. Disappointing, but it sure indicates how good James is, what playing defense means and that the disappointment of losing should not overshadow the things that were accomplished.

More on the Cavs and the offseason as the week goes on ….

I watched some of the talking-head shows on Boston TV Saturday night. You know the kind, when two guys who have no right at all to talk like experts about sports sit around and talk like experts about sports. Anyway, there was a lot of … “when the Celtics get to Detroit …” or “ … the Celtics won’t be able to do this against Detroit.” As if today’s Game 7 was a given. Boston types are quite enamored with these Celtics, and when the Celtics are good they act as if advancing is an entitlement. Boston may advance. They sure looked like the better team in Game 5. But I would still not count LeBron James and the Cavs out. In fact, acting as if Game 7 is a given when the opposing team has LeBron James seems pretty foolish.

James does not need to score 50 points tonight. In fact, if he scores 25 and controls the game the way he did in Game 6 in Washington, the Cavs have an excellent chance. That means passing the ball and moving the ball. No standing in one spot for five seconds and dribbling — unless it’s to set up a possible winning shot with the game tied. For this game, Mike Brown should be allowed to put a little buzzer on James’ belly, and every time he dribbles in one place for more than six seconds Brown should be able to gently zap the buzzer, prompting James to move the ball. This would simply be a precaution. In this game, I believe James will move the ball. He’s too smart a basketball player not to.

After watching another view of the Paul Pierce offensive foul call late in Game 6, I’m not sure that wasn’t the right call. Pierce barreled into LeBron James like it didn’t matter if James was there. The call wasn’t as bad as I first thought, nor was it obviously wrong. A charge is justified.

James had 19 of the Cavs 32 second-half points. That’s right, the Cavs scored 32 points in the second half. The Celtics scored 36. The NBA. Where 30-some-point halves happen.

It may mean nothing, but the last two games Paul Pierce has played 40 and 42 minutes. Kevin Garnett has played 42 and 41 minutes. Ray Allen has played 42 and 40 minutes. None of these guys are young in basketball years. Playing that many minutes in a few days time might show up in the fourth quarter today. Then again, it might not. We shall see.

What’s a key today? The Cavs need to get off to a fast start. And if the Celtics make a run, they need to take a deep breath and keep their composure. If the Celtics get out of the gate fast, that’s trouble for Cleveland. The Cavs need to keep it close. If the Cavs do get ahead, they should expect a Boston run. The Celtics didn’t win 66 games for no reason, after all. But if the Celtics make a run, so what. The Cavs just need to deal with it and keep on playing. Good start, no collapses and the game goes down to the fourth quarter with Cleveland having a legitimate chance to win. Want to bet against LeBron James at that point in time?

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.

People always ask where my seat is at these games. There's no doubt it's great to be there. It's exciting, intense and sometimes amazing. The new Boston Garden is surprisingly loud. They don't do as much during timeouts as the Cavs do — there are times they JUST PLAY MUSIC, which is shocking in this day and age. Anyway, my seat at the Garden is actually in the stands. Behind the baseline, but not very high. It's a very good seat. Here's a view of late in the game when the Cavs had a possession as they attempted a miracle comeback. Celtics fans were getting a little uneasy at this point in time:

That's right … that's what I saw of a Wally Szczerbiak three-point shot. In the corner of the picture is the corner of my computer screen. Then there's this view from the second quarter when the Celtics were starting their comeback:

Moral of the story: They're great seats until something … well … actually happens and all the Celtics fans decide to stand up. Thing is, the fans on the other side of the court did not stand up at these times. Makes a person wonder if there's some sort of conspiracy going on here.

Let’s not minimize the loss of Daniel Gibson. Boobie was the fifth best three-point shooter in the league this season (among guys who took at least 100 threes). He made 44 percent, a very high percentage. Now he sits with a separated shoulder. And it’s not good. LeBron James trusts Gibson – to the point that when Gibson returned from a sprained ankle coach Mike Brown refused to take him out of the rotation even though he was struggling late in the season. Gibson was a guy who played at the end of games, which says something about his value. Now someone must make threes, and for some reason I don’t have a lot of faith in Sasha Pavlovic. Not sure why he’s gotten the minutes off the bench in this series, but he has. I say (again) that it may be time to dust off Damon Jones. The guy can shoot, and there are times the Cavs simply need someone who can put the ball in the basket. He helped during the regular season. It may be time to see if he can help now.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas played 26 minutes in Game 5. That does not seem like enough, especially when Anderson Varejao was 1-for-3 from the field and 2-for-6 from the line. Varejao did have seven rebounds, but he was not nearly as effective on Kevin Garnett as he was in Game 4. At a certain point it seemed like the Cavs needed points, which might cry for Z and Jones (or someone other than Pavlovic). But there also is the argument that to get back in a game you have to stop the other team, and the Cavs got a few stops only to see long rebounds go to the Celtics. Brown is a defensive coach, so he's usually going to go with the defensive lineup. But there are times when the team needs to score. And now the Cavs will be without Gibson.

The Cavs just have to find some way, any way, to win. Blowout, one point … doesn’t matter. They have to win this game (that’s a ‘duh’ statement if ever there was one) and then take their chances in Game 7.

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.”

Before we get to LeBron’s dunk …

The more you think, the more it seems that all the pressure rests on the shoulders of the Boston Celtics right now. They are playing at home. They were supposed to win this series. They led 2-0. They are shooting terribly. They scored 12 points and disappeared in the fourth quarter of Game 4. They know that Detroit waltzed through their series against Orlando in five games. They know Orlando was seeded higher than Cleveland in the playoffs. And they know that the Cavs have LeBron James. Boy do they know it. The home crowd will give the Celtics a lift in Game 5. Of that there is no doubt. But the Cavs have proven they can win big games on the road late in series. Cleveland has won the last two Game 5s they’ve played on the road, both in Detroit. They’ve also won the last two Game 6s they’ve played on the road, over Washington twice and over New Jersey once. The last time they lost a late-series game on the road was Game 7 against Detroit two years ago. That was also the last playoff series the Cavs lost a playoff series in the Eastern Conference. Do not think for one second that the Cavs and coach Mike Brown (the guy everyone wants to run out of town after a loss) are not aware of this fact. It is a huge mental edge to the Cavs. Does it mean they will win? No, but it means they can enter Game 5 in the Garden with confidence. It’s anyone’s guess what attitude the Celtics bring to the game.

Right now the Celtics are not in sync offensively. The Cavs have something to do with that. Paul Pierce is shooting terribly. Ray Allen has taken fewer shots than Rajon Rondo and five more than Sam Casselll, and that’s all out of whack. Kevin Garnett had some hard things written about his MIA fourth quarter Monday night. Garnett has had a good overall series, but Charley Rosen of Foxsports.com wrote that Garnett posted up five times and took the ball to the basket once. “Garnett has exposed himself as being strictly a finesse player who leads the league in fakes-per-shot,” Rosen wrote. Boston’s fans seemed to start this series doing their best Bill and Hillary imitation – acting like they deserve to win merely because of who they are. The sense of entitlement was strong. The Celtics still may win, but they’re going to have to earn it.

Sometimes the words of athletes mean nothing, but Kevin Garnett’s response to Doc Rivers saying the team needs to play better under stress was interesting. “I wouldn’t say we’re lacking poise,” Garnett said. “In a situation like ours, we are trying to do everything that Doc wants us to do .He makes all the calls. He gives us direction. For the most part, we pretty much try to do what he wants.” Sounds like a man not pleased with the calls or direction – or perhaps not pleased that he and Ray Allen spent almost the first five minutes of the fourth quarter of Game 4 on the bench. That one was hard to understand. Here’s Paul Pierce’s comment on Rivers’ stress statement: “I don’t know what he means. I’m stressed every game. Stressed to get a win.” Maybe this book would help.

LeBron James often takes time to get the lay of the land. The Cavs’ overall record in Game 1s in the playoffs isn’t sterling, and part of it is because James takes time to find out how he’s being defended, what will work and what won’t. The Celtics threw an interesting zone defense behind the man playing him, and it took James a little bit of time to decipher that defense. There were signs in Game 4 that he was starting to feel a little more comfortable, that he was not rushing his drives, that he was taking his time;. That started in Game 3 actually, when he had some nice assists by being patient. Then he threw down that dunk at the end. I’ve been saying prior to every game that James was about to bust loose, and he hasn’t yet hit his outside shots. So it’s easy to say that James will have that bustout game tonight – I mean, it’s got to happen sometime, right? But if the signs are correct that he has started to decipher the defense … well that’s certainly a good thing for the Cavs.

Here’s some interesting tape of Doc Rivers talking to the Celtics during the game (persevere through the commercial).

Now for that dunk … for those who somehow have not yet seen it by now, we’ll get to that. But it was much written about the day after the game.

Ian Thomsen of SI.com wrote that James dunked “as if he had jumped down off a roof.”

Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com wrote an entire story about the dunk, saying it was ” one of the more vicious dunks that Kevin Garnett has ever been on the receiving end of.”

Here, NBA.com has Mike Brown and LeBron talking about the dunk.

And here listen to several broadcast voices describe it as NBA.com provides 10 angles.

If you don’t want to link, here’s the video … and I love the statement: “Ooooh … LeBron James with no regard for human life.”

Finally … couple interesting statements from out of town stories … Paul Pierce said “We’ll get the next one” in a Boston Globe story headlined “Celtics collapse … ”

And the Boston Herald started a column with: “The series is now best-of-three. One team has LeBron James and one does not. Who you gonna pick?”

Who’s the pressure on now? Is it on the Cavs, who must win on the road in Game 5 in Boston to maintain their momentum and keep from having to win a Game 7 in Boston? Or is on the Celtics, who seemed to tighten up in the fourth quarter in Game 4 in Cleveland and who now head back home hoping they can continue their home-court magic? I know this much – the Cavs have changed the momentum of this series, and ending the way they did – with LeBron James’ thunderous dunk – will only give them more momentum heading to Boston. It does not mean they will win there, but if I’m taking a guess (and that’s pretty much what I’m paid to do) I’m guessing the Celtics are feeling the heat a little more than the Cavs right now.

It’s getting to the point where I’m going start fawning over LeBron James. That is frowned on in our profession. But the guy is simply amazing. He has another “off” shooting night, gets 13 assists, a huge fourth-quarter three and then ends the game with a slam dunk for the highlight reels. I’m not sure if TV can convey the power and force that was present when James drove that ball through the hoop. To think he went by two Celtics defenders – two pretty good defenders – and slammed the ball in over Kevin Garnett … it was electrifying. The Q went bonkers, and the Celtics had to try to strategize during a timeout with that replays of that dunk playing over and over and over again on the Q’s big screen. Imagine sitting on their bench and glancing up and seeing that slam replayed again and again and again. Kind of takes the air out of a team.

Boston is averaging 81.5 points per game and shooting 40.5 percent in the series. Those are numbers that should make the Cavs defense proud, and those are numbers that are good enough to win a series.

I’ve been pretty hard on Anderson Varejao in these playoffs. Dr. V’s swooping drives to the basket had started to become maddening. But in Game 4 Varejao played an excellent, excellent game in defending Kevin Garnett. Garnett started strong, making his first four shots. He finished 6-of-13 and missed his only two shots in the fourth quarter. Varejao seems to play sometimes like one of those toys you got when you were a kid, where you press the bottom and the figure on top flails around, arms and legs going any which way. That’s Varejao. And it seemed to bother Garnett.

I don’t know why Garnett sat almost the first five minutes of the fourth quarter (along with Ray Allen). That one’s hard to explain. The Celtics lineup early in the fourth was Glen Davis (“Big Baby”), P.J. Brown, James Posey, Sam Cassell and Paul Pierce. It stayed that way until 7:26 remained in the game, when Garnett and Allen returned. Garnett wound up missing two shots in the fourth quarter, and Allen took one three and missed it. The “big three” in crunch time? Three-for-10. In Game 1 Doc Rivers and the Celtics bench lost track of the shot clock in a key situation, but skated because Boston won. In Game 4, that lineup started the fourth quarter.

Rivers did have a cogent quote on James following the game: “You think LeBron is struggling? He had 21 points, 13 assists, six rebounds. He probably forced 15 fouls. We don’t look at that as LeBron struggling. You only look at field goal percentage. We don’t. We look at the way he’s playing his total and he’s making plays. The Gibson threes and those threes don’t happen without LeBron James. We are forcing him to take tough shots, and having said that I think he’s playing terrific.”

Paul Pierce, meanwhile, continues to be a bit of an enigma when he’s on the court with LeBron. Pierce has a tough time scoring over James, and when James scores Pierce seems to feel the need to score. Pierce is now shooting 18-for-52, or 34.1 percent. Aside from a decent Game 2, he’s been outplayed by James. Quite frankly.

Pierce’s foul on James in the second quarter looked bad, but wasn’t. Even James admitted that. He said Pierce held him up, which helped protect him. It could have been called a “clear path” foul, but Pierce had the angle. That being said, it produced a comical sight when Gloria James, LeBron’s mother, got into things with LeBron, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. As Gloria yelled at Pierce, LeBron told her to sit her tush down. He didn’t use tush of course. As James said, “the commissioner doesn’t care if this is your mother. You can’t allow fans and players to get involved with each other. And I can’t afford for my mom not to be at every one of my games.” James said he should have chosen better words, adding: “Thank God it wasn’t Mother’s Day.”

Give credit to Joe Smith, who quietly plays like a true professional, which is what he is. It was painful to see him take the shot in the you-know-where in the fourth quarter from Sam Cassell (accidental), but Smith stayed in the game and came up with some key rebounds. Earlier he had come up with some key shots. Smith doesn’t get the mention of the acquired guys who now start, but he has been invaluable the last two games.

Watched Mike Brown when he signaled offensive plays in to the Cavs. It seemed like every time he did, the play resulted in a basket or open shot. During a timeout, Brown called the play that set up Daniel Gibson for a key three in the fourth quarter. There was one play the Cavs ran in the fourth quarter that saw Gibson run around some screens to try to get a three, but the Celtics cut him off and then cut off James, the next option. Sometimes the other team plays good defense. Point: Brown is not an offensive mastermind, but the Cavs do have an offense that can work when it’s run effectively. And Brown was very smart in the use of his timeouts. Most came at key times when he needed to settle his team down, or to remind it do things like … um … move the ball.

The maturity of James continues to amaze. Consider what he said in the huddle after his ferocious dunk with 1:45 left. “We need to get another stop.” Right after the play of the year, a play that will be talked about for years, he’s thinking what to do next.

Some quotes:
LeBron on his dunk: “Our fans deserved it. They were great. Our team deserved that type of play.”
Doc Rivers on the Celtics’ fourth quarter: “We have to play better under stress. I call them ‘hero’ shots and I thought we took a lot of those instead of just stressing what we do.”
Mike Brown; “To end up with seven turnovers, 35 baskets and 24 assists against these guys, in a game like this, is pretty good.”
Wally Szczerbiak: “We have got to take the positives that we got in Game 1 and Game 2. We could have gotten Game 1; we were right there. Game 2 we got off to a great start. I don’t think that there is any question that we can win, but have to play well for 48 minutes.”

What do the Cavs do to win Game 4? Just what they did in Game 3. Sounds simple, really, but that’s really it. Move the ball to find the man open for a shot, them make the shot. As Zydrunas Ilgauskas said: “The best way to attack this team is to move the ball and make them chase it.” The Celtics eventually are going to play good game on the road, but Cavs coach Mike Brown is more concerned with his team. “If we play our game we feel confident in or abilities no matter who we’re going up against,” he said, adding: “Our concern is going out to Game 4 no matter where it is and playing the right way, basketball wise.” When he said it, he had extra emphasis on the words “right way.” Which indicates the Cavs did not play their way, or the right way, in the first two games. Which is why to win Game 4 they need to remember how they won Game 3 and repeat it.

The Cavs were the first team to shoot 50 percent in the playoffs against Boston. Of course they’ve only played Atlanta and Cleveland.

They may be nothing. But there are some factors surrounding the Celtics that might have me concerned, were I inclined to root for the team from Boston. Start with the horrid shooting of Paul Pierce and Ray Allen (a combined 20-for-61). Continue through Rajon Rondo getting not a single assist in Game 3. Then think that the Celtics have shot lower than 50 percent in nine of their 10 playoff games. These are not encouraging signs. Time will tell if they’re just statistical blips or indicators of problems to come.

When Ben Wallace is on his game (emphasis on HIS game) he really helps, but let’s be real here … his taking part in Game 3 wasn’t exactly Willis Reed limping out of the tunnel dragging a bad hip.

I predict LeBron James makes more than half his shots in Game 4.

The four guys acquired in the midseason shakeup – Wallace, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and Joe Smith – scored 63 points in Game 3.For one night, the trades looked real good.

Here’s one more blogger who claims James “dives’’ when getting hit: “For someone who's built like an NFL tight end, LeBron sure has an aversion to contact – I think he dives more than all of the Montreal Canadiens combined.” Evidently when a guy gets hit in the throat going full throttle he’s supposed to shrug and skip to the line.

The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy had some nice things to say about Cleveland, the city.

By the way … how did he do this …

That’s the way a team is supposed to play, the way a team is supposed to run an offense. The Cavs claimed they did nothing different, but there had to be some new wrinkles in the Cavs' Game 3 win. The key thing they did different – especially early – was make shots and protect the ball. For some reason, all the Cavs followed their leader in Boston, so when LeBron James shot poorly everyone else did too. In Game 3, they made shots, shooting 65.5 percent the first half.

Lot of contributions to this win. Five guys were in double figures (LeBron, Z, Szczerbiak, Delonte West and Joe Smith). The Cavs had 29 assists, 11 in the first quarter when they grabbed the game by the throat. James had eight assists, West seven and Z six. That’s just good team basketball.

The Cavs now have succeeded in changing the psychology of the series. Boston was on a high coming off Game 2’s easy win, but now they have lost four in a row on the road in the playoffs and it has to be in their head a bit that they might not be able to win on the road. The Cavs, meanwhile, have to figure they can beat Boston in Boston because they had a chance to do just that in Game 1. As for Game 4, the Cavs have to like the fact they are at home and coming off a big win. It’s why a team always, always, always has to look at these games one at a time (to use a cliché) in these seven-game series.

Big credit to Ben Wallace in this win. Wallace wasn’t supposed to play due to an inner ear infection that was exaggerated by the air in Boston, which is tough for allergy sufferers. Wallace played very well early, with big rebounds, hustle plays, a steal, and baskets. Yes, baskets. He was a big factor in the fast start. He did shoot a free-throw air ball late in the game, but his contributions in the win should not be minimized.

Interesting that Mike Brown actually shortened his bench in this one. Sasha Pavlovic got no time until the final two minutes. The Cavs used three guards – Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and Daniel Gibson.

So much is made of LeBron James and his shooting struggles … perhaps it’s time to take a look at Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Pierce went 3-for-8 Saturday and now is 12-for-35 in the series (34.3 percent). Allen was 4-for-12 and is 8-for-26 (30.8 percent). Combined, two-thirds of the “big three” are 20-for-61 (32.8 percent). James? He shot 5-for-16 in Game 3 and is 13-for-58 (22.4 percent).

Games like that one make a person wonder if Delonte West might really be able to be a fulltime point guard. Like to see that kind of game game in and game out, though.

James was the victim of another hard foul, but it was properly called. James Posey actually looked like he reached out to grab James, but he got him in the throat instead. It was a hard foul, but it was not the same variety that Washington gave James – like when Brendan Haywood shoved him from behind after he was already in the air.

LeBron James on the first quarter: “You couldn’t ask any more out of a team in the first quarter. It was unbelievable.”