Here we go. First game of the regular season. Some things to watch out for:
-The way the Celtics played last night, they look like a terrible matchup for this team. Miami tried to play the kind of swarming defense you have to imagine the undersized Cavaliers will be playing, and Boston calmly picked it apart with ball movement, Rondo diving into the lane when he had space, and quality three-point shooting. They’re an extremely patient team offensively — 78 of their 88 points came from the paint, the three-point line, or the free-throw line on Tuesday.
- Defensively, the Celtics are just scary. The more the Cavaliers can push the break instead of facing their half-court defense, the better. Hey, maybe the Cavs can run Shaq off the floor.
- If Shaq beats up Andy inside, doesn’t settle for hooks, and makes a major impact on the game, I will throw something.
- Gotta find Pierce on the break, gotta keep Rondo from grabbing long rebounds and stopping the break, can’t lose Ray Allen in the half-court.
- This is J.J.’s first game as a key piece — I can’t shake the feeling Kevin Garnett is not the guy he wants to see.
Alright, open thread. Let’s start this season off with a bang. I won’t be doing the Daily Dime Live because of class, but check back here later tonight for the recap. It’s time.
Well, on the bright side, this is the perfect setup for a let-down game from the Celtics. Also, are the Celtics even going to play Shaq on the second night of back-to-backs?
run run run run run dont know how this is gonna turn out against celts but we are about to find out.
bit of luck parker might be able to slow rondo down abit.
The C’s will not have the same mentality tonight. Honestly I think they’re going to mail it in like they did for much of last season. They proved a point against the Heat last night and I’m thankful for it. Paul Pierce’s lower back is probably not feeling so great after that charge from Lebron.
This is a great opportunity for the Cavs to run full speed.
If the Cavs can run and not play in the halfcourt they have a chance. our bigs Andy, JJ, Jamison can run the court with Shaq, KG, and J.Oneal guarding. Thats the only way they have a chance cuz in the halfcourt Andy and JJ aint scoring on KG and Shaq leaving two HUGE liabilities on offense. But I suspect the Cavs will play at a high tempo all season so hopefully that has no effect.
Alittle sidebar: Question all TRUE Cav fans. If the Cavs sneak into the playoffs as a #8 seed, Miami as #1 seed. And the Cavs somehow, someway find a way to upset the Heat in the first round of the playoffs, would that be better than winning a championship?
I say NO a title would be a 2-3 year long party in Cleveland. My friend said it would be better because that would be the BIGGEST upset and best story in NBA history, MVP leaves team and then they beat him in the first round.
run run run right back home to their wives. Thanks a lot Krolik for ruining any excitement I had for this game.
@ Kevin. Were you really excited for seeing the cavs go against one of the best teams in the league? No one plays d like them and they have a very good offense. lets go over these match-ups:
Mo-Rondo
Sessions-Allen
Moon-Pierce
JJ-KG
Andy-Shaq
Tell me that any of these look like a positive. please. Mo will not be able to stop rondo (as we learned last season) and With Allen not having to worry about a dominant offensive player like Kobe or D-wade, he will crush us from the outside. KG is going to BAPTISE JJ. Its not even going to be ugly. He is going to get incredibly banged up. Our only hope is to get out on the break when their more athletic teams are out. Namely, if NateRob and Baby are in for Pierce and Shaq….we have issues. Big Ones.
I predict: Cavs lose 115-95
Allen: 20 pts
KG: Double Double
Rondo: ASSISTS
Mo: 10-15 pts
Boobie:10-15 pts
Sessions: 5 assists
JJ: 2-9 shooting
NVM I just saw that Mo isnt playing. He is a terrible matchup against Boston and sitting him is probably a good idea considering his health. That said, Put Boobie in the starting spot and you have him agains either rondo or Allen. He did halfway decent on Rondo when he played against him (albeit limited) so lets see what he can do. Against allen….who knows. Allen has a 3-4 inch hight difference so we can see how that goes.
Either way
Go Cavs….
It’s been a loooong time since a meaningful Cavs preview from Krolik. It’s about time!
As of the 2nd quarter, we are every bit in this game. JJ has looked solid, and I’m really loving Sessions too.
Let’s go Cavs!
AC needs to cut the guys some slack. It’s the first game, new system, new coach, etc. He sounds like a drunk.
5pts ahead, under 3 mins to go. Go on Cavs!
@ justin well well eh? better than ecpected?
Ryan Hollins. Not the most talented player, but that dude has passion and energy. He’s like a taller, darker Varejao.
impressive first victory for the Cavs….the ended the game strong and finished off the Celtics…very impressed by this team and if anything they will play with heart and intensity to match or overtake the lack of talent….JJ does look very good and Sessions is a solid dude…i think the fans will like this team better just because its a bunch of role guys playing all out to win without any superstar to bail them out….
Justin im glad you were wrong with your predictio lol.
Cavs looked good and played hard. There is plenty of work to do still but it seems like a the players know they gotta give it their best.
Great win for the Cavs and and a better way to start the season.
I hate posting off of my iPhone…
I’m very excited. This was an awesome game, a great way to start the season. That crowd was going crazy.
All the young guys made big plays. And they did it without Mo Williams, who they definitely need.
the cavs already did something the heat could not do, beat the “ex” eastern conference champs.
Great start for the Cavs, loved the “Thanks for last night, Boston” sign, funny how these two teams have a common bond through Lebron now. Recently did a podcast with my buddy on the Eastern Conference, we both like the Cavs better than most people, no expert analysis just some fun basketball chat, kill an hour if you got the time: http://usershare.net/7z9hxnw6edcy
THANK GOD MIKE BROWN DIDNT PLAY HICKSON IN THE PLAYOFFS AGAINST GARNETT..AMIRITE??!?!?!
I think caps were necessary for that.
First off gotta say that I loved to see the Cavs get a W in the first game. J.J. was solid and his outside shot was looking good enough to be a threat. Moon had the outside shot working for him most of the game which was nice to see. And Ryan Hollins was a nice surprise. On the other hand there were some bad things.
I don’t wanna be a downer because this was a great win to start the season but I saw some problems tonight and to be honest I have no idea how we won that game. Boobie’s outside shot was not good and Rondo was able to do what he wanted against him. Also, I see a lot of people are high on Sessions, I am not one of those people. He did have 14 points but it came off of a 40% shooting night and he had more turnovers than assists which is a big negative for the starting point guard. Another negative sign was Jamison looked a little out of it. His poor pre-season may be carrying over to the regular season. On last point, Celtics looked like they mailed it in.
I’m sounding negative right now but I’m as happy as you could be after the first game of the regular season. The Cavs showed they have heart and the crowd was a huge motivator tonight. I hope we see that kind of effort from both the team and the crowd every night this season.
Go Cavs
Lol I wasnt as wrong as everyone thought. I predicted a Double Double for KG (one point away) alot of assists for Rondo (9) the cavs @ 95 points (95) and Boobie to get 10-15 (16). I just thought the Cs wouldnt have mailed in the season after one win. Nut I guess they did. Have fun with a 5 seed.
Right now though: Heat record: 1-1 Cavs record: 1-0
Justice? Karma? something. All I know is that I LOVE it
You are so right, Rich. Haha!
Whatever our record or playoff seed ends up being (if any)… I’d rather see this team than the Miami team I saw lose to Boston. LeBron was selfish and needs to step back (like he did tonight) and accept his role.
As for the Cavs, keep up the intensity and the desire. Shock the world, take no prisoners.
All together now.