That’ll teach me to question the Celtics’ bench.
All season long the “experts” have pointed to the Celtics’ bench, calling it their biggest weakness.
It was supposed to be the thing that was going to prevent them from winning a championship (well, the other thing…but they can’t question the point guard position anymore).
Once again, the Celtics’ bench proved everyone (including me) wrong.
They not only were better than the Cavs’ bench on Thursday, but they were better than the Cavs' starters.
The victory for the Celtics began with the bench taking over the game towards the end of the first quarter. They brought an energy into the game that was, for whatever reason, missing at the start as the Celtics fell behind by twelve points early.
The Cavs struggles, meanwhile, begin and end with LeBron James.
LeBron James just cannot figure out James Posey. Posey’s long arms and extremely active and energetic defensive style has given him fits.
LeBron hasn’t just been human in the first two games, he’s been awful. Historically awful.
King James is a whopping eight for forty-two in the first two games of the series.
I’m no math major, but I consulted one, and he said that was a pretty abysmal shooting percentage.
Look, I’m a LeBron James fan.
He’s the best combination of size, strength, athleticism and talent that I’ve ever seen on a basketball floor.
But he’s not the best player in the NBA. He can’t hold Kobe’s jock right now.
Anyone who thinks LeBron is a better player than Kobe is delusional on a level known only by Hillary Clinton and her supporters.
He may very well end up being better than Kobe.
He may end up being one of the best ever.
But he’s not right now.
Put it this way, if the Celtics dare Kobe to shoot the ball from the outside and triple team him when he drives, he’ll simply kill them from the outside. LeBron just starts throwing up bad shots, turning the ball over, and playing all around bad basketball.
His jump-shot is a gaping hole in his game. He won't be the best until he learns to drain his jump-shot consistently.
I heard someone on Sports Center (not sure who, I was only half paying attention) say that the Big Three stepped up, but the Big One didn’t.
That pretty much sums up the first two games for the Cavs in Boston.
It was bad. It was really bad.
The scores don’t come close to reflecting exactly how bad it was.
As a matter of fact, if it weren’t for Zydrunas Ilgauskas getting hot, the Cavs would have lost game two by forty.
I’m starting to buy into the Cedric Maxwell theory that this series doesn’t go past game five.
But, then again, I didn’t think the Hawks’ series would go past game five either…and we all know how that one turned out.
Sean Crowe is a Senior Writer at Bleacher Report. You can email him at scrowe@gmail.com. His archive can be found here. You can find everything he writes, including articles for other publications, here.
Comments (6) Add a comment »
from 7 days ago
in order for this series to not go past game five the celtics will have to do something they have not done during this playoff run to this point. that is win on the road.
from 7 days ago
brilliant comment, tim. real good insight. i am no math major, but i thought if the c's did not win on the road, the series would go 7 games. maybe it is just me.
great game two, going to be tough down in cleveland. we saw "mercy officiatiing" in the first series in 6 of the 7 games, hopefully this series will continue to be officiated equally (i have given up on the nba being officiated well, just give us even).
great to see cassell and allen step up in the third quarter...those guys are going to be needed.
cassell, pj brown, powe, posey all were great on thursday.....looking forward to the games in cleveland
from 4 days ago
the celts got BLOWN OUT!!!! this is the best team in the east?? never mind all the hype, get down to the brass tacks of the matter, play some defense!!! the cavs bench did the celtics in on saturday. lebron was still a non factor. the celtics should be worried.
from 7 days ago
Cavs might be done. Neither Mike Brown nor LeBron James can figure out the Celts tall, long defenders. The Spurs did the same thing last year in the Finals. Celts look to have some of their swagger back.
from 7 days ago
This is still a series. Remember, it isnt a series until you lose a home game. Last time I checked the Cavs were better at home than the Hawks, the Boston still didnt win a road game. LeBron really needs to have a great game now, but this series is far from over, and Im sure Boston knows that. They have the tapes of LeBron in last years ECF against Detroit.
from 6 days ago
You're right. Lebron isn't playing at a level approaching Kobe yet. He'll need to keep working things out, get better year after year. He's got the time to do it, but there may ultimately be prove to be a ceiling to his abilities. Right now, he looks to have the potential to figure into the all time best twenty or so (Kobe too), but it will take a LOT of advancement for him to ever break the top ten, or become "the best ever".
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