At last … a naysayer. Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com is not overly impressed with the Cavs front-court (or, in the present-day vernacular, the "bigs"). He loves LeBron James, but says the idea of the Cavs winning a championship is not realistic. In fact, he's downright insulting. He writes that the Cavs winning is "an insult to the champions who came before, none of which had a frontcourt as pathetic as Cleveland's. .. Try to find a team that was good enough to win an NBA title yet was bad enough to start players like Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao at center and power forward. You can't. Don't bother."

Respectfully, and obviously, I disagree. Z is routinely ripped by people — until they see him play regularly. Then his value is apparent. And Varejao has had an excellent season. Whether they're good enough to beat the Lakers (assuming it's the Lakers) if they make the Finals remains to be seen. Heck, they have to beat the Celtics or Magic first too. But the way the Cavs are playing, and the way James is playing, they have every chance to win the title.

I think I'll let Mo Williams sum up the Cavs win in Game 3: "I was 1-for-11 and Delonte (West) was 0-for-7 and we had eight turnovers between us And we win the game by 11 on the road. What more do you want me to say?"

Not much to add to that. If either or both plays a normal game Sunday, Game 4 won't be close.

The Cavs won Friday despite their worst offensive game in a long time. Their two guards were not very good. Their offense, to quote LeBron James, was "terrible" in the third quarter. And their coach spent much of the night being angry and/or exhorting his team from the sidelines.

Yet they won by 11.

They won because their defense again was excellent, and they won because LeBron James again was beyond excellent. His fourth quarter was as sterling an example of bring-your-team-up basketball as we've seen since James' last sterling example of bring-your-team-up basketball, which probably was the last time the Cavs played.

The Cavs won by 11, on the road, in a game when they didn't play well.

Charles Barkley was right.

This series is over.

Random thoughts …

—A win Sunday and the Cavs will have given themselves a nice long rest before the East semifinals. Miami and Atlanta could go six or seven games.

—I wonder what it feels like for James to almost single-handedly take down a franchise. Detroit's run in the East will be over when it loses this series, and what the Pistons look like next season is anyone's guess.

—Said Detroit coach Michael Curry of James: "Big-time players make plays, and that's what he did."

—My view in Detroit is from behind the basket. Three rows of fans sit in front of us, with an aisle separating us and the fans. When James took off in the fourth quarter, the fans stood and all I could see was Mo Williams on the right. Next thing I knew he lobbed the ball and appearing out of nowhere, above the standing fans, came James' hands to catch the lob and flush the dunk. It was kind of an interesting view, when you think about it.

—When the game started, a fan behind me said to his buddy: "Look how empty this place is … and I'd say half are Cleveland fans." Not sure if it was half, but an MVP chant did break out for James. Wonder how many Cavs fans will be present on Sunday.

—James was asked if he ever thought he'd hear an MVP chant in Detroit. He said : "No. Did I ever think I would play the Pistons without Chauncey Billups? I didn't think that would happen either." Somewhere, Joe Dumars looked around to wonder what in the heck had just buzzed by his head.

—I'll say this until the cows come home: James does not get near enough credit for his rebounding. He pursues missed shots, and when he goes after the ball nobody, but nobody, is going to take it from him. In the first quarter, Ben Wallace — a pretty strong guy — went up for a missed shot and could not control the rebound. Had that been James, he'd have swept the board clean.

—At one point during a timeout the Pistons trotted out a group of dancers called "The Spare Tires." They were a bunch of obsese men, who made a joke of their obesity by rolling their bellies and removing their shirts. The crowd howled. This seemed a bit disturbing, for some reason.

—Nice play by Z in the second quarter leading the break. He clearly didn't want the ball, but dribbled up the court and found LeBron for a layup. The bench loved it.

—Are times tough in Detroit or has this fan base lost interest? An ad during the game said tickets are available for Sunday's Game 4, some as low as $12.

—How the Cavs were tied after three quarters must be one of the great mysteries. They had 13 turnovers, were shooting terrible, were 1-for-15 from three-point range and scored nine points in the quarter. At that point, James was 5-for-13, and Williams, West and Daniel Gibons had combined to go 2-for-16.

—The Cavs scored 10 points the firs t 2:49 of the fourth quarter. That topped their entire third-quarter scoring.

—Free-throw disparity continues to favor Cleveland. The Cavs shot 30 free throws, Detroit 12.

—Where would the Cavs be without Joe Smith?

—Detroit thought it played pretty well against James, and he missed a triple-double by one assist.

Stating it clearly:

Curry: "It was tied going into the fourth and they just made a few more plays and we missed a couple of shots and then had a couple of turnovers. I thought we had played well enough to have a lead and not be tied." 

Brown: "It was a playoff game that was an ugly game. It was a soft game. I don't think either team though they played its best basketball. But somehow, some way, especially in the fourth quarter defensively, and it started with getting stops. Lebron — I thought in the fourth quarter his aggressiveness was terrific." 

Hamilton: "This is killing me. I can't even lie. It's killing me – just the simple fact that how great we were, being down 0-3, being the 8th seed and watching them celebrate shot after shot." 

Joe Smith: "To be on a team that's close to doing something special with what we have here, it's going to pay off. We have to continue to be hungry as a group and I've been around a while so I understand what it takes to win at this level right now."

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had some interesting things to say in his year-end get-together with the media, and I wrote about those in Friday’s paper. Of possible changes, Z offered that “we have a good team here” and “sometimes you got to be careful because the grass is not always greener on the other side.” His conclusion: “We had a good team to win it all this year.” Those are strong words, but he’s not a guy prone to making outrageous statements. The Cavs battled many injuries, and had to re-make their team following the trading deadline moves. Coach Mike Brown said he’d never been through a year like this one. Despite that, Ilgauskas said the Cavs had “a good team to win it all.” A good team to win it all. One can dismiss this statement as kool-aid drinking poppycock, or one could take a step back and ponder it. Me, I think after watching how close the Cavs came that I’m going to look at the glass as half full and say that Z was correct – with one caveat. The Cavs were close to winning the East. I don’t think they could beaten the Lakers or the Spurs, but I do think they could have defeated Boston and Detroit. And I think they’d have given the Pistons a much harder time than Orlando did. Thing is, if they’d have gotten through the Celtics and Pistons, they’d have been much more confident and they’d have had LeBron James and … well … this is all dreaming. It’s just interesting, to me at least, when a guy like Z makes such a strong statement. Perhaps it should be given some credence.

One last point … all the tumult the team went through during the season – injuries, trades — in my mind only reinforces the fact that the Cavs have a good coach. I know that when a season ends with Cleveland sports teams that “coach season” starts as well. That’s the time everyone tries to put the coach in the crosshairs and get him fired. Two years ago many people were ready to get rid of Romeo Crennel. Now he has a contract extension. He’s the same coach he was two years ago, but if he loses this year folks will probably want to fire him again. Eric Wedge couldn’t manage. Until he came within a game of the World Series and won Manager of the Year. Brown seems to perpetually be in the crosshairs. People want him out, even though they have no viable or credible replacement at the ready. In one sense Brown is in a great position, getting to coach a team with LeBron James. But because he has James he will never get credit for winning – that will go to James – but he will always get the blame for losing. That’s just a reality that Brown must live with. But try to find any coach in the league who could have had his team as ready for the playoffs as this one was just a few weeks after the roster was re-configured. Mike Brown will admit his mistakes, and will give credit to others when they deserve it (I heard some people criticize Brown for crediting Eric Snow for suggesting a play that worked against Washington and wondered how the guy is supposed to win when he merely told the truth.) Brown emphasizes defense and rebounding. It’s his style. We just have to accept that fact. The offense needs work, but I wonder who exactly is responsible when the offense stagnates, and I wrote about that for Sunday’s Beacon Journal. Too, there isn’t a single game played when questions cannot be asked about a decision here or a decision there. Brown is big enough to admit what he needs to work on, and big enough to work on it. His focus on defense has placed the Cavs in a pretty good position the last two years. The NBA is about the postseason, and Brown has won 26-of-42 playoff games against the East (that’s 61.9 percent) and 5-of-8 playoff series in his conference. He has his team ready for the postseason, and he does well in the postseason. James likes and respects him. The coach is fine. Just fine.

For a voice from outside the area about Brown, here's a post I agree with.

This gentleman thinks the Cavs and James would benefit if he would post up more (he prefers to work outside, folks) and play in more of a fast-breaking offense. That idea sounds great, but he also points out the Cavs do not have the personnel to run a lot.

Check Sunday’s Beacon-Journal for some thoughts I have on the team’s offense

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.

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.”

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?

I got a few e-mails and comments from folks saying (again) that Mike Brown was at fault for the Game 1 loss, that his lack of offensive coaching and his offensive (no pun intended) system were the reason LeBron James struggled.

Brown was asked what he saw from his team's offense when he watched the tape of the 76-72 loss (Note: Diagram to right for artistic purposes only and is NOT from Cavs playbook). His response: "I thought we did a decent job pushing the ball and throwing ahead. We had 17 fastbreak points and it's tough to get that against this team on the road. But beyond that when we're talking about going against their set defense, one of the things is we have to get the ball from one side of the floor to the other. Sometimes multiple times on the same possession. We didn't do a good job of that. Second thing we have to do is we have to space the floor better and use our spacing rules. Too many times the ball came to a standstill when we know if the ball gets swung here a basket cut should be made here followed by pick-and-roll. Or if the ball gets swung here a pin-down should happen on the back side, or if the swing is denied he should go back door and the next guy comes up. We have some basic rules and concepts that we've given our guys when you just have to play. Then the last thing we have to make sure us that we're aggressive driving the ball."

That's some basketball-ese, but it means moving the ball, don't stand around, and move without the ball. Spacing is important in the NBA. There must be room to maneuver, and to pass. If spacing is screwed up, all the plays are out of kilter. Sort of like a typewriter (remember those) with wrong spacing. All the words would squish into a big old mish-mosh that nobody could read (sort of like this blog).

Clearly, there is an offensive system in there. No, Brown's forte is not offense. It's defense. But the Cavs do have an offense. It's just not always run with the highest efficiency.

The second thing people wrote was to ask why the Cavs don't post up LeBron James more. It's a good question. It's something they did some early in the year, but they've gotten away from it. One reason is James doesn't always take to posting up. So if the play is called, he might decide to post up 15 feet from the basket and immediately turn and face the basket. The other problem is that it's easier to double-team James in the post, and if, for example, the Celtics double with Kevin Garnett that leaves Ben Wallace open and Wallace is not an offensive threat. I agree that James would be a weapon in the low post, but it does not seem to be something he's comfortable with right now. At least that's my guess, which in the long run might suffer from some more "bad spacing," except in this case it would be the spacing between my ears.

Bottom line: 30.7 percent shooting will make any offense look bad.

A lot of folks are having a lot of fun with James' reactions to getting hit. I wrote a little for Thursday's Beacon Journal about the fact that James was cut inside his upper lip on the flagrant foul Sam Cassell received. The Boston Garden crowd bellowed like James was faking it, and columnist Dan Shaugnessy of the Boston Globe said James' head snaps back like he's Kosmo Cramer when he drives to the hoop. "James gets more calls than any 23-year-old in the history of basketball," Shaugnessy wrote.

Now Shaughnessy and I share a college alma mater, so I'm not going to get on him. But let's get real — James is too good to act. Yes, he tends to be dramatic, but he's not making this stuff up. He gets hit. Check out the picture on the right from today's Boston Globe. I believe on this play that James reacted and had to re-adjust his headband. No call was made, and the crowd howled at James as if he was making things up. It doesn't look like he made this up — and it happened 25 feet from the basket. Cassell hit James, he deserved the flagrant foul. James gets hit other times too. This game was not officiated poorly. The guys with the whistles were not hacks. The calls James got he earned. And late in the game, he was played physically on a late drive to the basket and had to throw the ball up falling down. It didn't go in. I did not think a foul should have been called; it wasn't. Mike Brown thought James might have been fouled on his last attempt to tie the game; I didn't. It wasn't called. The game was well officiated.

That being said, Zyrdrunas Ilgauskas might have been treated a little differently if he had kneed Sam Cassell in the head early in the game as opposed to late in a close game. That one (left) had to hurt.

Just a guess, but it does not seem that Red Auerbach would be happy with fireworks, cheerleaders and dancing girls at Celtics games.

Bob Ryan concluded his story in the Boston Globe this way: "Let's get serious. When LeBron goes 2 for 18, you'd damn well better win the game. Or not lose it. The Kid will not be playing like this again."

I found compelling this argument that Chris Paul deserved to be the league's MVP.

Gilbert Arenas finally weighed in on his blog on NBA.com, and said this about the first-round series against the Cavs: "It was an entertaining series. The hype and drama behind it was bigger than I expected (but, I didn’t expect DeShawn to call LeBron “overrated,” either). To each his own. That’s how he felt and we had to stand by him. They had their own little problems off the court I guess, so he had to do what he had to do and we had to stand by him as a team and get him as comfortable as possible and help him. I think we could have helped him a little bit more. We could have trapped LeBron a little bit more than we did to get the ball out of this hand and let everybody else beat us the whole series, but we played him straight up and he straight up killed us, like he did during the regular season. But, it was entertaining. On the days I wasn’t playing, I enjoyed the hype. I know a lot of critics and sports analysts were killing us, I heard the Charles Barkley thing (called Washington the dumbest team ever, or something like that), but at the end of the day, they were watching. And at the end of the day, that’s all you want for your series are the viewers." For those into this kind of thing, in February it was reported that Stevenson was dating LeToya Luckett, formerly of Destiny's Child. Beyonce also was in Destiny's Child. Beyonce is married to Jay Z, who is LeBron's good friend. Evidently Luckett and Beyonce had a falling out at some point, which led to a lawsuit being filed and blah blah blah. This is just a guess, but perhaps somewhere in this web is the reason for those "little problems" off the court.

Here's a couple more excerpts from Gilbert's blog: "You had entertainers showing up, and you had entertainers making diss tapes. I’ve been in this league, I’ve been around the league, I’ve been watching the league for as long as I can remember, and I’ve never seen anything this wild in a series in my life." And: "It was amazing though, the whole city of Cleveland was into it. A couple of us were in the mall in Cleveland and a guy came up to us and was like, 'I know somewhere you guys haven’t been before …' And it caught us off guard. We were thinking he was going to be like, 'The Gap!' So we just were like, 'Where?' And he goes, 'The Second Round!' And he just took off running. We were like, what is this? This is crazy. But that is really a Cavaliers town. I love cities like that. They support their team, they’re not the bandwagon jumpers. Some of my Halo players showed up at the game wearing my jerseys and they got peanuts, cans, beers thrown at them. They needed an escort out of the arena because they had my jerseys on! But I like stuff like that. It shows that you’re down for your team."

This little video has nothing to do with the Celtics series, but it's entertaining, no?

Weird opening game. That’s the kind of probing analysis you pay for and expect, eh?

Who knows? Maybe LeBron James was reading the Boston Globe all day and pondering how great he is. Nah. His shots just did not go in. That happens sometimes. It doesn’t happen often like this with LeBron (2-for-18, 10 turnovers), but it happened this Tuesday night in Boston. And it’s the reason the Cavs lost.

Even with that, the Cavs had a chance to win. They just didn’t. In normal circumstances the thinking would be that the Cavs had their chance to steal a game in Boston and missed it. Now they’ll never steal Game 2. Except normal thinking goes out the window with James. He never – well hardly ever – has consecutive bad games. He could drop 40 with 12 assists on the Celtics on Thursday night.

But as bad as James played, he was matched by Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Those two combined to shoot 2-for-18 with 10 turnovers, just like LeBron. That won’t happen again. Just like it won’t happen again that James will struggle like he did. So who knows how this comes out in the wash (more of that probing analysis, eh?).

Still, even with all the problems, the Cavs had a lead late, had the ball down two late and had James at the rim with a chance to tie. He missed. As he said, it was that kind of night. The reason Boston won and the Cavs lost was that Kevin Garnett made his shot in the final minute, and James missed. Through all the troubles and struggles and ugliness prior – and it was an ugly game — it still came down to those two shots.

Not sure if this was a hard-nosed defensive game, or just an ugly game. Perhaps both. You have to think both teams will play with more skill, and play better, as the series continues. As Boston coach Doc Rivers said, it was like he was back in the old Heat-Knicks playoff series. Said Mike Brown: “The whole series could be filled with us grinding it out.”

There was a knock on Kevin Garnett, that he does not want to take the big shot at crunch time. Well he sure wanted to take it in Game 1. He did and made two. “That is why he is called ‘the big ticket,’” Boston’s Kendrick Perkins said. If this continues, folks will point to this series as the time Garnett took charge. And it would come at the expense of the Cavs.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who played a very good game (again), summed things up well when he said: “We were right there, up two points. That’s where you want to be at on the road with a minute left. They just made a couple more shots than we did at the end. They made their shots and we missed some shots. Sometimes it goes that way. You know, you have to like being up by two with a minute left on the road with a hostile crowd.”

The more I watch Z, the more I wonder why in the world anyone wants to get rid of him, or doesn’t like him. The guy is a very, very, very good player, who does a lot of things to help his team win.

James spoke of his game and Paul Pierce’s: “If you combine our numbers – 4-for-32, between me and Paul Pierce, with 16 turnovers, 0-for-9 from the three point line … I could keep going I guess. Not all-star numbers right there.”

James had a tough night. But I think we can officially state that Pierce is freaked out playing against James. He shot 37.7 percent against Cleveland during the regular season, now drops a 2-for-14 night on the parquet (the word has to appear at least once, right?). Pierce tries too hard against his rival, or at least he has to this point. He could break out of it any point, but to this point the thought of facing James is in his head. Either that or James' defense is too good.

Said Rivers: “If you’re Cleveland you are thinking that they almost won with LeBron playing like that. If you’re us, we’re thinking we won with Paul and Ray not scoring. So it’s probably a wash.”

Two-for-18 was the worst percentage shooting night of James’ career.

Interesting that Sasha Pavlovic replaced Devin Brown in the rotation. And surprising, given the many ways Brown has contributed to the team. Brown did not get a minute after playing in 78 games in the regular season.

Perspective remains amazing. Had James made that last layup and the Cavs won in overtime we’d all be talking about how he overcame the tough night. It wasn’t a bad night, because he wasn’t out of control and launching garbage. He simply didn’t make his shots.

The play goes unnoticed, but late in the game the Celtics missed a shot, then got the ball out of bounds after a scramble. Doc Rivers called timeout to diagram a play, and had the ball thrown in to Garnett 18 feet from the basket. Thing is, the original shot never hit the rim, and there was only one second on the shot clock. When the ref signaled a violation, Rivers put his hands out as if to ask what was going on. Same with Garnett. Clearly, nobody on the Celtics or on the bench was aware of the shot clock – and Boston discussed things during a timeout. Rivers skates because the Celtics won. I can only imagine the outcry if the same thing happened with Mike Brown.

Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said this after Game 5: "I think we are going to play great on Friday. I'm not predicting a win but I think we are going to play great on Friday and then bring it back here. … I guess I am predicting a win if I say we are coming back here for a seventh game. I'm not boldly predicting a win, but I think we will play very well on Friday." Hardly Joe Namath guaranteeing victory. Which is probably why the Cavs shrugged it off. "That's an easy guarantee, in my opinion," Brown said. "Or an easy thing to say." Brown, though, said he would not make a statement like that. "I don't know if I'd make a statement like that at a news conference," Brown said, "but it doesn't make it bad."

Put it another way: Jordan's statements are clearly no more inflammatory than James saying "No" when asked if the Wizards could get back in the series after Cleveland had won Game 4.

On the replay it sure looked like LeBron James was fouled on his attempted game-winner in Game 5. But on second review it appears Darius Songaila was pushed into James by Zydrunas Ilguaskas. This is done in the NBA; it's what happened late in the season in Philadelphia when the referees put time back on the clock. Z pushed Samuel Dalembert into Devin Brown, and that's a loose ball foul. Wednesday night, the officials rightly ruled no call.

Washington's two leaders, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, stood up for proper play and lack of trash talk after Game 5. Said Butler: "Don't judge this team by comments. LeBron made a statement: 'these guys are talkers' but unless you hear something from the captains, which would be myself and Antawn, don't label that as the team. I'm the voice of this team and Antawn is the spiritual and emotional leader so unless you hear it from one of us, keep it moving." Said Jamison:"All the talk, all the silliness had gotten so much attention, it was time to just play ball. We were down 3-1, on the brink of elimination, I just told them that all this talking was not making them look bad, it was making us look bad. We're a veteran team and it was time for us to start acting like it." Jamison admitted he was annoyed with DeShawn Stevenson and Gilbert Arenas. "We've got a lot of personalities on our team. Sometimes you can tame them, sometimes you can't. But this was out of hand. I told them: 'You can't get your point across through the media. You have to get your point across on the court.' That's what they were doing. They've been just staying quiet and playing. For Caron and myself, it was just difficult. Don't get me wrong, I love D-Steve and I love Gil, and I'll strap it up with them anytime. You have to have your teammates' backs, but what was going on was just nonsense. It had nothing to do with getting respect, because you can only do that by playing well and demonstrating professionalism. You make your noise that way."

Butler and Jamison are pros, and extremely good players. What they said does not a surprise. And the fact that they've returned the series to basketball is a good thing.

Songaila said when his arm hit James in the first half of Game 5 that it was "an accident." He said: "We got tangled up, my arm got caught inside of his and when he tried to free himself it was just an accident. He lifted my arm and it hit him right in the face. It was caused by him. It wasn't intentional or anything like that. If anything, it was just an accident." Eddie Jordan added: "And LeBron's a terrific actor; we've seen some of his commercials."

Wally Szczerbiak is shooting 36 percent (14-for-39). Ugh. This might mean the Cavs go to Sasha Pavlovic, who may be healthy. Said Mike Brown: "It's hard for me to say if Sasha is going to be ready for a playoff ready atmosphere like this, with the way the speed of the game is. Having said that, yeah, I might throw him in there. But right now it’s not at the top of my list."

As for shooting, Anderson Varejao is 7-for-24 (29 percent). This is brutal, especially given most of Varejoa's shots come from close range and that Varejao has started to act like he's Julius Erving. Someone needs to put a choke collar on him and yank it every time he starts one of these ridiculous drives or spinning moves.

Some more quotes from practice:

Z on the Cavs late offense: "We should have driven to the basket, made them foul us. … We made it easy on them. Especially with Haywood being out of the game."

Brown on the late offense: "We got to get LeBron moving, and we have to get him on the backside of some action. We didn’t do that. Having said that, going back and watching the tape, we got to the rim, we got in the paint. Joe had a wide open two footer, Gib had a wide open shot off the drive and kick. In the last few possessions we had some good shots. But in the same breath I agree, we do have to get him off the back side and that starts with me."

Daniel Gibson on the not going to Z late: "We definitely could have gone to Z in a couple different situations. But at the same time, when you have No. 23 out there on the floor … "

Mike Brown: "A playoff series is a season in itself." Amen to that one, especially after this series.