Here we go. Game four. We know that each of these teams are capable of blowing out the other one. Cavs can’t wait to attack in this game — like they did in game three, they have to come out of the locker room aggressive. They should also be ready for Boston to do the same.
Continue to play off of Rondo, give token full-court pressure, and pack the paint on him. Hope Paul Pierce doesn’t return to the land of the living. Chase Ray Allen wherever he goes.
If LeBron has it going from outside early and Shaq is working in the post, that’s great. If not, the Cavs have to be patient and not allow themselves to get discouraged. As we all know, no lead is secure in this series — every single possession counts.
Alright, it’s gametime. Check back here for the recap later.
I expect them to maintain during the first half and go for the win in the second half. This may or may not work. Stay tuned.
Rondo: 5 rebounds, 6″1′
Cavaliers, 6 rebounds, 99″ (yes I added up their combined heights.)
Is LeBron playing as poorly as the box score suggests? a game low -10.
For all the complaining these Boston fans do, they need to understand that KG is the absolute master of moving on screens and not getting called for it.
@Rich: No, he just played the whole first quarter and sat out the beginning of the second, when the cavs happened to decide to hit some shots.
I know Kevin, Boston fans are whining up a storm…but Garnett seriouslydoes a foul a TON. Moving screens every single time.
The box score looks awful. Continuing to allow Rondo to just totally obliterate us. Again, he is the best player on the court it appears, and Boston is winning because of it.
Shaq…2 rebounds in 19 minutes
West…0-5 in 11 minutes
Lebron…3 turnovers
Bench…0 pts
Mo…1-4
None of these things will happen in the second half, so Cavs win.
Nathan, I will now hold you personally responsible if they lose.
: )
I can’t stand national sports coverage. These clowns are rooting for the Celtics to win and hardly mention our Cleveland Cavaliers! ESPN abc coverage is so darn biased it’s time to shut off the sound and turn on the radio!
Was ABOUT to turn the game on..looks lik the 3rd quarter is turning around. I will keep myself from giving in. BTW, even though I’m not watching, the flow and type of game seems to be like yesterday LA UTAH game. Utah looked good, but LA just hung around and eventually won.
Rich just watch the damn game. I ABSOLUTELY guarantee you will not affect the outcome in any way whatsoever. And I feel strangely sorry for you following live blogs and the box score.
I think his temptation to not watch the game is commendable. I’d be pulling my hair out watching just the box score.
Are you not following the same bog? Just saying.
I meant, exclusively. And I’m being affectionate, btw. No offense meant.
They’re just running a layup line now. This is pathetic. When Big Gaping Anus and Tony Allen are the best players on the court, you have some problems.
LeBron with 7 turnovers. Excellent.
LeBron has some serious mental issues. The guy plays like the destroyer of worlds one game, then sleepwalks through the next. This is all mental, folks. Oh, and JJ is terrible at defense. HORRIBLE.
Yea Hickson is -4 in all of 5 miuntes of play. That pretty much sums up his defensive shortcomings right there.
My bad, -5 in 4 minutes of play.
Rondo having 15 rebounds is partially a credit to his hustle (have to give that to him) but it’s also indicative of some serious lapses for the Cavs.
glad to see the refs doing everything they can to make sure the celtics win…it’s like the chicago game all over again.
Just no two ways to say it. Twice in this series LeBron has not been the best player on the court. Twice Rondo has. Both times the cavs lose.
Anyone who thinks the NBA is going to let all four series go out early is living in a dream world. This series goes 7 games.
Love with the game on the line..LeBron passes to Andrson Varejao with the clock runningdown for him to take a 15-17ft jumper. Seriously?
Refs did not lose this game. Lebron deciding to play passive lost this game. Ditto our bench deciding to take the game off. Regardless, even if we win this series we are delaying the inevitable. A beat down by Orlando.
When do the Browns games start up again?
Lebron had a pretty terrible game (by Lebron standards, maybe even poor compared to the average player). Despite the fact that coming out aggressive won them game 3, he apparently decided to float along through the entire game. Rondo dominated again. Rondo getting almost 20 rebounds? Yikes. Very frustrating game to watch.
You dont when we you miss open 3 pointers…no wins if you let the smallest guy get 18 rebounds…no wins if you let the same guy dictate the flow of the game the SAME way each game…dont win if you let bench warmers look like all-stars in the 4th quarter…
this Cavs team confuses me…i thought they turned a corner last game and knew they had to play hard the whole game to get a solid win…apparently they didnt get the memo and thus lose a game they couldve/shouldve won…
First time Im nervous about this team at home…can they win..can they pull it off…it could go 7 with their current state…
MO has to step up
Parker has to…I dont know…never be on the court….or guard Pierce since that cant be that hard.
Lebron just does not care anymore. I will be sporting my Ilgauskas jersey proudly.
I don’t know if it’s that Lebron doesn’t care, but mentally he just looks all out of sorts. It’s just frustrating after seeing Game 3 that he didn’t come out and try to establish in the same way. I understand you can’t always be that white hot, but he could have pressed a little and found out. Still two wins away.
Yeah, don’t put this on the refs, and don’t say the NBA has any control over the length of the series’. Not true. The Cavs could have won this game today, but it was their careless mistakes in the 4th quarter, and their lack of transition defense that kept that from happening. It was not because of the refs.
I was really hoping game 5 wouldn’t be a must win, but that’s not happening now.
There’s really no one else on the Cavs (who can create their own shot) that stepped up…Jamison did okay but MO didnt do anything Parker killed us big time and Delonte went 0-fer…thats what really killed us and Lebron did everything he could but Boston made him pass to other guys who didnt bring it today…again this team confuses me…only contender really struggling in the postseason…
I think it’s about time we brought into question the mental toughness of our Cavs. All year they have exclaimed time and again that they are a better team than last year. That may be the case. However, it seems that they come out listless every other game or so. They were able to win that way in the regular season because of the diluted competition, but in the post season it has been killing them. I do not disagree that the Cavs can play amazingly when they decide to, but the mental toughness is just not there this year. It seems that they are content just to KNOW they are better and do not bother themselves with actually BEING better.
Contrast this with Orlando putting forth max effort on both ends in every game so far this post season. If we make it through this round (and I fully expect us to), there is a steamroller waiting for us on the other side. You cannot take possessions off against the Magic, let alone whole games like we are now.
@Lance:
I hate to say this because I’ve been a big supporter of his, but maybe that goes on Mike Brown? I would say the Magic take on the personality of Stan, always trying to play better than the game before. On the other hand, Mike Brown is more of a laid back guy. I don’t know, just thinking out loud here.
The Cavs HAVE to hit open threes. My biggest concern is that our shooters, who were mostly solid in the regular season, don’t handle the playoff pressure, and fail in the postseason. Parker is the only guy I trust (somewhat) to hit an open three lately but he seems to fumble half the passes to him, or stand out of bounds or whatever. Much of Lebron’s impact is lost if we don’t hit the open shots that he creates. We can’t win if we don’t knock down shots. When we hit open shots, we roll. When we don’t, it seems like we panic and it goes downhill from there. We are not going to beat anyone hitting 4-21 on threes. Neither would Orlando. I’m not sure what the answer is. We have shooters, they just have to convert. If they aren’t up to it, we are going to lose.
And agreed, the refs had nothing to do with this loss. I am sure Celtics fans are saying they won despite the refs and they would have an argument. There were questionable and straight up bad calls on both sides. That is just the nature of NBA officiating. You have to play well enough that it doesn’t matter.
I don’t understand Lebron’s mindset here. He comes out aggressive early in game 3 and they destroy the Cs. Why come out passive in this game? He could’ve taken over at any point, and yet he didn’t. Is he trying to create adversity and push the series to 6-7 games? What’s the deal?
This isn’t the Lebron we know. Lebron sometimes decides to play off the ball more or be highly passive, but in the past 9 games, Lebron just hasn’t shown up for 3 of them. He doesn’t need to score 35+, but he needs to put in the effort for the full game, not just the last 5 minutes.
It all begins and ends with LeBron. I don’t know why but it looks like he doesn’t wanna win every game. We have to stop saying our role players didn’t step up, don’t step up, well guess what, that’s why they are called role players. Do you see Derek Fisher, Matt Barnes or even Vince Carter rollin every game? The attitude of winning, caring, and sense of urgency are all contagious and it’s LeBron who has to start everything. I remember Booby hittin those threes against Detroit when LeBron was himself on fire and played each and every game to “win”. If Cavs keep on playing with such a low energy, they either will be eliminated (although it is not that possible) by Boston or Orlando will walk over them, in which case we are going to have to reconsider the “competitiveness” and “killer instinct” of our mighty LeBron King James.
Loving the Windhorst tweets.
“LeBron said he was “inconsistent coming off pick-and-rolls.” But he thought the Cavs played aggressive. I respectfully disagree.”
“LeBron wears a Yankees cap into press conference.”
“Terry Pluto and I keep asking Mike Brown how the Cavs could play with such lack of fire and he basically keeps saying ‘I don’t know.’ “
It’s pretty simple, if LeBron is going to be the second best player on the court, and best player on the court is Rondo BY A WIDE MARGIN, the cavs are going to lose. Twice Rondo hasn’t just barely, but clearly been the best player out there.
And Colin, to say the Magic always play under Van Gundy is to simply dismiss the Magic from years past. Were they always getting better when they lost twice to the 6ers in the playoffs last year? The other way, were the Cavs playing extra hard under Mike Brown last year when they swept through the first two rounds?
I’m not super worried over this game. After all, the cavs were on the road and Rondo had an insane game, LeBron played poorly, and the Cavs were right there. Put this game in Cleveland, and CLeveland wins going away because role players don’t take their game with them. Tony Allen is out of sight and Delonte West doesn’t go 7 for whatever. But, you HAVE to be concerned with LeBron being the 2nd best player 2 out o 4 games. There is something seriously wrong with that, and on the road it simply can’t happen. Kobe Bryant was the best player on the court last night, and his team won by a point. LeBron was not eve nclose to being the best player on the court….no team can expect to win the in the playoffs if that teams stud player doesn’t take his game with him.
The other reason I’m kind of angry is because we wasted Shaqs best game of the post season. He dominated Kendrick Perkins and it was all for not. However, I pretty much have little doubt that the Cavs will win game 5 and probably game 6. I am, and always have been, more concerned about the next round opponent. If LeBron is the 2nd best player 2 times in 4 games against the Magic, then the Cavs might have just gotten swept. Your superstars have to play like superstars, period.
Reason I’m really upset but at the same time not that upset: Rondo just had one of the great games ever by a Celtic and LeBron was below average. Cavs still should have won, IN BOSTON.
However, LeBron was below average for the 2nd time in 4 games. If he just plays solid, but not great, the cavs win this game. For instance, if he doesn’t score another point, grab another rebound, or pass another assist, but just simply cuts his turnovers from 7 to 3..the Cavs probably win this game with LeBron having an average game.
I feel like they were content to have taken one in Boston and are planning on a 6/7 game series. They probably destroy Boston at home Tuesday and then I don’t know which team we’ll get on Thursday.
They are obviously not playing with a sense of urgency. I don’t know if that is a good thing or bad thing yet. If they go on and beat the Magic (assuming they get past Boston eventually), we can attribute this to poise, staying calm in the face of adversity and taking care of business when you need to. If they look the same against Orlando, focused one game, staring at butterflies the next, then I’m officially worried. Hopefully while we seem to struggle, ORL is gaining a false sense of security.
This post is mostly intended to try to convince myself not to get stressed out and keep my hair from turning prematurely gray.
Also, I think it’s worth remembering that game against Orlando last year where LeBron’s legs just died on him. Is he slacking off in games he views as non-vital to make sure he’s got his legs underneath him for a slugfest against Orlando?
Again, trying to find reasons to stay positive.
Ben Tej, some good points but I find it hard to believe Lebron would just take the game off to conserve energy when this series is still in so much doubt. From the opening tip today Lebron clearly did not have the mindset he had Friday and it rubbed off on the entire team. They had their foot on the Celtics throat and instead of throttling them, let up and paid for it. Maybe Lebron is really hurt because I’ve never seen him play so passive in the playoffs in a series as he has thus far. Take away his game three brilliance and Lebron has not been good.
And the numbers really point to a poor..not average, but poor game by LeBron. Hard to blame this on the supporting cast. He had the worst +/- of any cav starter today.
LeBron’s lack of focus worries me. What is he so distracted about? This is Boston in the freaking PLAYOFFS!! It worries me because the reason can only be bad: Either he is truly injured which will be a huge hurdle for the Cavs throughout the playoffs, or he has already mentally checked out of C-town. Sorry to be so negative, but I can’t think of any other explanation for his apparent lack of urgency. He should be playing like he wants to pound the Celtics into submission every night. I’m not seeing that. Even today, the game was still up for grabs late into the fourth, and not a hint of a LeBron takeover. These are games he used to win for us in the recent past. Something has changed/affected his mindset.
Maybe…and this is out there, but maybe he just doesn’t care about winning every game in this series. Maybe he feels very confident that the Cavs will beat the Celts, even if to goes to a game 7. Maybe he is passing the ball in the 4th to try and get other players confidence for next round. Eh, a stab, but who knows, right?
Windhorst reporting on a minor rift between SHaq and the coaches, and I don’t blame him. He should have aboslutely been back in in the 4th with the way Varejao was playing (or not playing). He has a gripe.
Still, the biggest problem is very easy to see, two out of four games LeBron James hasn’t felt the need to be aggressive at all.
Don’t like tone of Windhorst piece. He always reports with utter veracity- has the team tuned out? That’s his implication.
I’m definitely with Rich. I don’t think it’s time to turn on the Lebron is Leaving sirens. That’s just crazy, there’s no way he’s mentally checked out. I also think he’s made it clear that he’s not that injured (or is at least able to play through whatever ails him when he wants to).
I honestly think it’s some sort of weird strategy rooted in his utter confidence that he can pick the Celtics apart when he wants/needs to.
Obviously for my own sanity and a sense of competitive integrity I’d prefer he came out killing them for four games, proving he’s really taking the Celtics seriously and getting the team rest for Orlando.
So unless you’re going to posit that he’s taking these games off because he’s just not as good as we all think he is, I think we have to assume he’s conserving his hell fire for those times when it seems most appropriate. I suspect we’ll get it Tuesday and all remember why Bethlehem Shoals christened him LeBron “Slaying of the First Born” James in an article earlier this year.