2010 NBA Playoffs: An Eyewitness Account of Cavs-Celts Game One

Despite living in Baltimore, I’m a big LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers fan.

My wife and I decided to splurge and get tickets for game one on Saturday between the Cavs and the Celtics so I figured I’d share my thoughts and observations with the B/R community.

Cleveland is a very easy city to drive right in to the downtown area. Parts of the city do look a little derelict, but there’s a lot of life around the Q.

Our hotel, the Holiday Inn, is an old Cleveland hotel, with high ceilings, a great view of the city from the 12th floor.  It was basically at one end of 4th Street, and the Q is at the other end.

4th Street is blocked off to cars, and there are restaurants and bars on both sides of the street, with crowds milling about all over the place, and bands playing, so there’s a real carnival feel to it (Joakim Noah doesn’t know what he’s talking about!).

For those who are familiar with Baltimore, it reminds me a bit of the Inner Harbor area. 

I’ve honestly never been to a basketball game with that kind of almost unrestrained energy.  It was very loud and raucous—Cavs fans really love their team.  I heard a lot of intelligent commentary all around me about the progress of the game, the strengths of the Celtics that needed to be addressed, the ins and outs of Mike Brown’s substitutions, etc. 

I did not see a lot of rude or overly drunk behavior (stuff I’m not crazy about).  There were a few Celtics fans in full gear there, and while they were razzed, it was in a friendly manner, and no one seemed to cross the line and become threatening the way you sometimes see with football crowds.

The folks at the Q do a great job of creating a total show.  As with most NBA arenas now, there are performers at every timeout (music, dancers, and contests), plus fan shots on the jumbotron above, to keep the energy up and the crowd having a good time. 

There were a few points during the game when I looked up and the whole crowd of 28,000 fans were on their feet, yelling their heads off and waving their white towels.  It was pretty awesome!

We were in about the 12th row in the corner, on the other side from the team benches, and with the Cavs on offense at our end in the second half.  It’s great to watch the players close up after seeing 98 per cent of my NBA action on my TV screen. 

In terms of their size, speed, strength, and skill level, they are like supermen to me.  That’s part of why I’m such a fan of the NBA—for all the fan enthusiasm for the college game, these guys are the best players in the world. 

Does anyone remember how dominant Michael Beasley was his freshman year at K-State?  Now it looks like he’s never going to be much more than a role player in the NBA.

As a LeBron fan, I noticed one other interesting thing.  All of the other players pretty much look like there is an invisible wall between them and the fans.  For the most part, they don’t look at the crowds. 

But in the fourth quarter, when the game was on the line, LeBron repeatedly looked directly at his screaming fans (seemingly right at me and my wife a couple of times, though I know that’s a bit of an illusion).  He seems to soak in the energy at the Q, just as he is about to turn it up a notch as he so often does in the fourth quarter.

I wonder how many great players so directly draw energy from the physical proximity of the crowd.

You couldn’t have written a better script for two Cavs fans making the journey from Baltimore.  The Cavs were down 11 at halftime, and then they did what they do—tourniquet defense, with their stars making big plays at the offensive end. 

LeBron of course, especially, was spectacular at the end.  The Celtics have some great athletes, but clearly they have no one who can hope to stop LeBron when he puts his head down and turns up the intensity. 

The second best player on the court on Saturday was Rajon Rondo.  He was absolutely killing the Cavs in the first half.  What seemed to slow him down a bit was a couple of really hard “playoff fouls” in which he got knocked on his butt and was slow getting up.  I hate to think that’s what it takes to stop the guy.  What a talent.

The Celtics “big three” looked much better in the first half than in the second.  They really faded late in the game—was that an age issue? 

The Cavs come at you in waves—they have so many guys who can do something to help the team.  Delonte West made some big baskets in the middle of the game with his beautiful post moves; Andy Varejao ripped a couple of vicious offensive rebounds right out of the hands of a Celtic player who ought to have secured the ball; Shaq, after looking pretty inept in the first half, made a couple of nifty moves in the paint; Mo Williams dunked on Paul Pierce! 

And of course LeBron…well, what can you say?  It was a great game for Cavs fans and great fun for me and my wife.  I hope to do it again next year!