Celtics - Cavaliers: Garnett Dominates, LeBron Lets One Slip Away in Boston

I’ve decided that the normal, beat-writer type game recaps are, frankly, boring.

It’s not that everyone on Bleacher Report isn’t doing a fantastic job, because they are.  And to tell you the truth, I’m far more likely to read a playoff game recap on Bleacher Report than anywhere else. 

It’s just that I, personally, suck at writing them. 

I bore myself, and my goal is certainly not to fall asleep while writing my own articles. 

If I want to fall asleep while sitting at my computer, I’ll read Peter King.

That said, I still want to win this contest.  I’m insanely competitive and desperately want a shiny new Rajon Rondo jersey.

So I’ve decided that rather than trying to emulate a boring Boston Globe beat writer, I'm just going to write whatever the heck it is that I'm thinking after the game. 

I might not even wait until I sober up.

Hopefully this will end up being a more enjoyable style of playoff recap. 

If not, please read them anyway.  My Mel Kiper Jr. picture and I are broke.

Game 1:  Celtics 76, Cavaliers 72

Some people saw this game as a sign that the Celtics are vulnerable, I see it as a sign that they’re unbeatable in this series.

Winning Tuesday night’s game was a knockout punch.  Not quite the 230,000 vote win in North Carolina type knockout blow, but it wasn’t that far off either.

The Cavs need to win a game in Boston to take the series.  They will never have a better chance than they had Tuesday night.

The Cavs were well rested and ready, coming off a physical but never in doubt series against Washington.

The Celtics were tired and just coming down off their emotional game seven victory over the surprising Hawks.

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen combined for four points.  The Celtics had two different stretches of four or more minutes where they didn’t score a single point.  The Cavs HAD to win Tuesday’s game. 

But they didn’t.

I’m not a sky-is-falling and LeBron-can’t-hit-clutch-shots moron like some of the ESPN personalities, but I will say that as an NBA fan I’m extremely disappointed that he was unable to take advantage of the worst offensive output by Ray Allen and Paul Pierce all season.

He needed to take over that game, especially late, and steal a game from the Celtics to make this a series.  He didn’t, and because of that the Celtics feel like they’re unbeatable again.

Bad as they were in the regular season, the Hawks would have won that game last night. 

I’m not going to go Cedric Maxwell and predict the Celtics in five, but I can’t see them losing a game at home this series.  I can’t see Pierce and Allen combining for four points again.  And while I can’t see LeBron having another two-for-eighteen night, I’m not sure LeBron being LeBron can beat the Celtics in Boston when they’re firing on all cylinders.

I told everyone who would listen not to panic when the Celtics lost game one against the Cavs.  They were certainly going to lose, they had everything except the building going against them. 

Now that they’ve won, I’m telling everyone who will listen in Cleveland that it’s time to panic.

The Cavs don’t have the athleticism that the Hawks had, so they lack the ability to make the Celtics look old.  They only have one consistent, viable option on offense and no answer for Garnett on defense. 

They can’t run with the Celtics, and they can’t beat them in a half court game. 

As bad of a matchup for the Celtics as the Hawks ended up being, the Cavs are a perfect matchup. 

Their only hope is Doc Rivers—if they can convince him to use the Celtics’ second unit more often, their bench is vastly superior in playoff style basketball.  The more they play, the more likely we are to see more four minute scoring droughts from the Celtics.

I’m only 60% convinced that this won’t happen.

Of course, the Cavs could make me look like a fool and steal Thursday’s game.  We’ll have to wait and see.

Sean Crowe is a Senior Writer at Bleacher Report. You can email him at [e-mail].  His archive can be found here. You can find everything he writes, including articles for other publications, here.