It wasn’t as close as the score seems. The Celtics were up by 16 (the biggest lead of the game) with 5:11 left and 14 with 2:49 remaining.
The not-quite-as-new-look Celtics beat the new look Cavaliers and seemed to be getting back on track as they did it. The Celtics had 27 assists on 34 baskets, harkening back to some early season games.
Cleveland was playing just their 3rd game with 4 new players (Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, and Joe Smith) acquired in an 11 player trade.
Delonte West had a strong game with 20 points on 8-13 with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Szczerbiak couldn’t find the range, finishing 3-13 for 12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 TOs. Joe Smith provided 9 points in 14 minutes on 4-5 shooting. Ben Wallace went for 6 rebounds and 6 points in 26 minutes.
The talk around the boards and in the media is mixed on this trade to get Lebron some help for this year’s play-offs. Kenny Smith has said that he’s not sure the trade makes the team better. Doc Rivers thinks it does. I tend to agree. Time will tell as they try to meld things together this next month or so.
The Celtics won despite being out rebounded by 44-37 and 12-5 on the offensive boards. That is after starting the game off strong with a 12-5 rebounding edge after one quarter. The Cavs out rebounded the Celtics 39-25 the rest of the way.
The Cavs took 16 more shots on basket (81-65). Both teams had some success with points in the paint, running 38-36 (Celtics). The Men in Green shot a sharp .523 for the game while holding the Cavs to .383.
Lebron James had his 2nd worse shooting game of the year, going 7-24 according to the Cavs announcers. A large part of that might be due to the fact that James went down with a twisted ankle in the first half. He returned to play 39 minutes total, but didn’t look the same when he came back. James Posey also did a nice defensive job on James for the time he played him.
Kevin Garnett looked sharp as he was hitting his outside shot, playing very good defense and had a good all around game with 18 points on 8-14, 11 rebounds (0 offensive), 5 assists, and 4 steals.
Ray Allen continued to look smooth offensively and he led the Cs with 22 points on 7-10 and 3-5 from downtown. Rondo had a strong Rondo-esque game with 8 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 TOs, and went 0-3 from the foul line.
Kendrick Perkins had trouble with the large 7′ 3″ Zydrunas Ilguaskas again. Z had 9 points and 12 boards (6 offensive) in only 28 minutes of play. After the last time they played, Kendrick said that he should be playing Ilguaskas better. Kendrick logged 8 points on 4-4 shooting last night, but he had only 1 rebound for 25 minutes.
Paul Pierce had a tough night with only 12 points on 4-14, with 5 assists, 2 rebounds, and a steal. He also had 6 TOs.
Yet, the Celtic defense looked coordinated and the shots were falling for most
everyone else.
The bench gave a solid performance with Glen Davis going for 9 points and 4 boards in almost 24 minutes. Leon Powe had a very productive 13 points in 13 minutes. While Posey concentrated on ‘D-ing up on Lebron, he added 5 rebounds and an assist in 20 minutes. Eddie House had 5 assists, 2 boards and a steal in 14 minutes. He also had the best plus/minus on the team at +6 for the game.
The Celtics are now 44-12 and have won three straight.
PJ Brown a Celtic
They signed semi-retired, 6′ 10″ PF PJ Brown before the game. That gives them a solid big man with play-off experience heading down the stretch. Brent Barry and Sam Cassell are still possibilities for shoring up the depth at guard.
Next up: Boston goes to Charlotte on Friday night.
