Playoffs Live Thread, ECF Game 1: Cavs @ Celtics
2018-05-13
Happy Mothers Day, and Welcome to the Eastern Conference Finals, Cavs fans. The Cavaliers travel to the TD Garden this afternoon, to take on the Celtics and their hungry cast of young players. The last time the Cavs took on this squad in the playoffs, Boston was without NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas, who’d been shut down because of a lingering hip issue, and the Celtics had new life because they’d won game three without him. The Cavs won game four comfortably and then stepped into game five in the Garden and dropped a 135-102 beatdown on Beantown that made us all laugh at NBA Analytics.
This time, the Celtics are better, though. Replacing Avery Bradley is Terry Rozier who’s averaging 18/5.5/5.8 in 37 minutes a night. Replacing Jae Crowder is rookie Jason Tatum who isn’t a rookie anymore and is dropping 18.8/4.5/3.8. Al Horford is having possibly his best year as a pro, and definitely his best playoffs while Jaylen Brown is chipping in a 58 TS%. The Clovers have those four guys averaging 17 or more a night, and six averaging at least double digits when you add the Marcus brothers, Smart and Morris, to the mix. Rounding out the top eight is bruiser, Aaron Byanes.
Thankfully the Celtics are without backup point guard Shane Larkin, who is out with a shoulder strain and likely out for the “entire series.” Normally, the, diminutive point guard’s absence would be a fairly nominal event, but the 14-minutes per game he plays are as Boston’s lone backup point guard. This leaves Marcus Smart as the backup one for the Celtics. Depth at guard is going to be an issue for the Celtics, and Tatum and Brown will likely play a good bit of time there.
The Celtics have certainly have had their share of injuries this year, having lost Hayward, Irving, and Daniel Theis for the season, and now Larkin for the series. But expect no sympathy from the Cavs and their fans. There’s little love lost for Irving even though the events of last summer and the trade that sent Crowder and Thomas packing from the Cavs both seem like a lifetime ago.
Tactics: I’m the Cavs, I’m giving help off Tatum, who is shooting just 31% from three this playoffs. I’m also going after Rozier defensively to get him into foul trouble as often as possible. For Cleveland, pressing their advantages over Horford (Tristan Thompson), Baynes (speed), and Rozier (lack of depth), and keeping Boston off the o-boards will be key, as will limiting turnovers that get the crowd and their young guns into transition and into the game.
Prediction: holiday afternoon games seem to favor the road team to me, as distractions are greater at home, and the road team is more irritated. Cleveland wins the war and wins semi comfortably 112-104.
If the cavs get blown out again in game 2, the Celtics are taking this in five. My prediction based on nothing but feel. LBJ has to be by far the best player on the floor every night for the cavs to even have a chance at winning any game. Hopefully tonight was less the Celtics d and more him being in a funk.
I don’t agree with this. Other than the first minute of the 4th quarter, the Celtics really didn’t do anything amazing. Their defense was good but nowhere near Indy. I blame the Cavs for losing more than I give the Celtics credit for winning.
It was quite clear in the first quarter that Cleveland had no momentum coming in. They played lethargic and missed plenty of open looks. If those had gone in it would had been a different game altogether.
Hopefully game two is much better for the Cavs.
+1
I apologise for my lack of reading comprehension. I see you mentioned if the same thing happens in game 2, which I must agree with.
I just don’t see how it could happen. Hoping I’m not wrong 🙄
Yeah, my prediction is based off a repeat happening. If that happens it means the C’s are doing something to shut the Cavs down. Based off the fact the Cavs couldn’t even get it to within 10, the C’s were just a more dominant team tonight. Wasn’t as close as Indy game 1. But I missed the first thru 3rd.
LeBron does have to be way way way better than anyone on the celtics though for any shot to win any game. That much is not in doubt.
Bron 5-16 with 7 TOs and 0-5 from deep for a team worst -32. No other Cav was worse than -17 (JR).
That much of a stinker is shocking after the rest they had. Lue has no clue.
Lue values athleticism over smarts. See Shumpert, TT, Clarkson, Hood.
Which is weird considering the kind of player he was, and coaches usually over value the kind of player they themselves were.
Kjjsksks
Zizic is solid
Fourth basket or shooting foul cedi’s action has led to so far.
Of course two absolute brick Js.
I just would like to see Lue go… even if Bron leaves… i can’t stand watching Lue at work…
It would be hilarious if they replaced Lue with Duane Casey. I can only assume the Cavs would collapse upon themselves and create a black hole.
Cedi best Cav on the floor right now.
you got it down to 14 and then start of 4th.. what kind of junk lineup was that Lue?
It was the ‘Pestak Lineup’, as Lue refers to it. He knows exactly what he’s going to get with it.
horrific start, but Celtics set the tone and energy much like the Pacers, Cavs couldn’t hit shots and of course had bad defense…Lebron wasn’t doing much either to help things, probably his worst game of playoffs for sure….this reminded me of Pacers game 1 and 6 where nothing really went right…wasn’t sure we would get bombed like this, but also think it was a bad combo of Celtics hitting everything and Cavs not getting consistent makes all game….if they had another 3rd quarter scoring it would be closer game to make things happen…just move on and get ready for Game… Read more »
Agreed, won’t get bent outta shape about this.
why is Clarkson playing so much? why Lue believes in this kid over Calderon? i don’t get it.. Clarkson is god awful on D and makes mistake after mistake on O… yes, he occasionally scores, but Calderon is overall better
Jose unplayable defensively, while Clarkson is just unplayable
Probably because he’s had some of his better games against the Celtics, which doesn’t mean much to me. A ‘good’ Clarkson game is one where he takes a bunch of lousy shots, is a black hole on offense otherwise, and makes half of his bad shots. A bad Clarkson game is when he does the same thing and makes 30% of his shots. Bad happens way more often than good.
Cedi comes in and immediately contributes to two buckets.
Can I change my pick to Celtics in 4?
They are such a better TEAM. They all play smart, hard, and together. And to their strenghts.
We play so much iso. LeIso. Love on the post iso. Clarkson iso. JR step back iso. Hood iso. A lot of it without even trying to run offense first. Force a switch. Move ball & bodies side to side. We just take iso shots with 16 on the clock.
Old school. Worked for one ship. Too bad we aren’t the same team. Celtics/warriors are the new wave of offense.
Wave>>>>style.
Jeezzzz, you’re comparing the Celtics to the Warriors???
The Warriors have two HOF players in their prime, that’s their “new offense”.
There’s nothing new about the Celtics. They just happen to have you guys talent who’s not affraid of the moment and a smart coach.
No. Not in effectiveness. In style. The Cavs had two hall of famers in their primes last year and a third all star and the year before and the Cavs played nothing like the warriors on offense. Zero nada, no similarly in styles. Your point is reductive and completely misses the point. The Celtics have a system that creates shots from nothing. So do the warriors. It doesn’t require a “dominant” playmaker. Much of the easy buckets the warriors always generate are not off of Herculean type efforts a la James but because guys constantly move in their system for… Read more »
I don’t think the Celtics are anything like the Warriors. I also think the “new style” you mentioned has been going on for years – Spurs come to mind, along with the mid ’00’s Pistons and for a bit the Howard Magics. The only thing the Warriors have, again, are two HOF in their prime and two other All Stars, which make their “new style” win a lot more games. And another thing, Curry must be the absolute best 3pt shooter/creator/maker in the history of the game, so that along makes it incredibly difficult for teams to go against them.… Read more »
You are right on the Spurs and Pistons. However, their were really not many teams running motion like them. Feel like their are more now like the warriors that run read and react offenses incorporating a whole slew of different styles like the triangle, motion, and some Princeton principles. As for Curry and Durant, sure. But they did win 73 games without Durant and it took some major good fortune for us to come back in 2016. Curry definitely unlocks a fair amount of what they do, but that team ran a way way way different and simpler offense under… Read more »
there, blah autocorrect
overreact much, we lost by 20 at home to Pacers in 1st round and figured it out, nothing complex about this
No. It’s a seven game series for a reason.
Hopefully at least a five.
Oof. Cavs might as well concede. Be interesting to see how bad this gets in terms of team history.
Time to fire lue now in middle of the playoffs this team was nowhere near prepared for this
This is the coaching equivalent of being depantsed.
Sheesh. Time to pull James.
I’d rather watch IT play offense than watch Clarkson. Wish I was joking. Why the hell did the Lakers give him that ridiculous contract?
I’m calling it now. Switching over to Netflix. What a waste.
Jordan Clarkson is the answer to a question you never want to have to ask.
All right, I’ve had enough for this afternoon
6 TOs for the not GOAT.
For instance, Bron stood & watched Smart hit that 3 when he could have smothered him in the corner.
President Stevens with a brilliant “LeBron doesn’t guard anyone at the three point line” out of timeout play leads to a a ridiculously easy Marcus Smart triple from the right corner.
You cannot play in spurts, be it in terms of playing hard, or smart, vs a team that does it all the time & expect to win.
I’m anticipating a couple of hero ball three attempts by LeBron to see if he’s feeling it
Not even watching the game and I know exactly the lineup everybody’s talking about: LBJ, Green, TT, Clarkson, Hood…. the crappy shooter lineup.
Well lebron is ready for game 2 haha
James trying to lose the game for us no energy
TT and Clarkson is a recipe for success…in Hell…
Lol. The devil wouldn’t take them without getting at least a first and second in return.
This 4 th quarter lineup Lue trots out is just garbage again
2 o boards for 5 pts right out of the gate for 5 pts. Travel on that last one.
Walk by Tatum.
Took one minute of an idiotic lineup for this game to be over
God I hate Jordan clarkson
So awful
Man, absolutely NOT the lineup I wanted to see to start the 4th
Ok! Jeff Green gives the Cavs a shot! Tristan Thompson’s activity leads to a “Look what I found” jumper by Green as the third expires, cutting Boston’s lead to 14.
Well let’s see what happens now.
Green at the buzzer! Lead cut in half…
Wow what a giant shot by Green to finish the 3rd
Cavs got lucky on a very dumb double by JR.
The worst part of that thumb i jury? Kev can’t use left hand on left block.
Credit to the Celtics for realising LeBron doesn’t guard anyone and Marcus Morris is gonna be open.
Unfortunately
Lots of switching.
Lol. Tatum.
I think Lue needs to play Love at the 4 and put TT in to cover Horford
Who has been on James most of the game? No way to watch right now.
morris
http://90mingoal.com/m/report?i=295
See that’s why you let Kyle shoot that tech. So when he does get a look, he has a feel for the ball.
The amount of ball handling by JR Smith this game can be described as “too much”
Cavs need to go on another run before the end of this quarter
Gotta shoot, Bron.
FINALLY a three second call.
Korver getting abused.
Lebitching gets the Celtics a layup
Kev gets one to go.
LeBron needed to open the game this way obviously. So puzzling how the Cavs showed up in the first half
Not puzzling. These guys suck in afternoon games.
That is on coaching. How does that happen in the eastern conference finals? At what point do these guys act like professionals for a whole series? Afternoon games….ridiculous excuse.
Dude. This is that time between bingo and the early bird special at the diner.
Ok this made me laugh really hard.
Multiple stops in a row there, that’s a start.
Ok. Hopefully the real Cavs have finally shown up.
James fully engaged now. Had some 5-Hour Energy Drink at halftime.
Need TT in to guard Horford
Boston is better without Kyrie. Better defensively, better offensively. Ball moves, everyone gets a touch, everyone is more energized on defense. No one on the court with tunnel vision. Tatum has had the room to develop into a star.
I don’t believe that. maybe for three quarters, but Kyrie is a fantastic closer.
Don’t need a great closer if you’re up 25 going into the fourth.
Gotta ball fake and reverse on that post pass Celtics are over playing everything so hard.
Celtics so far up, screens should get Cavs layups.
Someone needs to hit an f’ing shot.
Hills lack of a three ball starting to hurt.
Smart energy guys with good skills could help a lot. Enter Cedi & Nance.
This Cavs team is hard to root for.
This is gonna be rough. Series will probably start (or end) in game 3.
Giving up 61 in a half to this Celtics team, sans Irving and Hayward, is incredulous.
Sounds like they are getting punted by a more physical team. Toronto was tissue paper soft. Boston sounds like the opposite. Cavs better adjust because Boston>Indy.
Punked