Despite Win, Celtics Struggle Against Lebron-less Cavs

The Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday 80-70 in Beantown.

The Cavs star LeBron James sat out for a second straight game with a sprained finger.

The C's were able to get their revenge for the loss earlier this week against the Cavs, although James watched from the bench in street clothes.

The game was a Sunday afternoon event that showed little energy from the crowd.

Two of the big three struggled in this game.  Ray Allen led the way with 20, while Garnett and Pierce were a combined 4 of 19.

Garnett had nine, and for the second time in three games failed to score double figures.  Pierce only had seven points in 29 minutes.  Allen and Rondo were the only Celtics to score in double figures.

Without the league's leading scorer, the Cavs were no better.  Drew Gooden, Sasha Pavlovic, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas led the way with 10, 11, and 12 points.

The Celtics now have the best record in the league at 14-2.

This game could have made a statement had LeBron played, but the way they struggled, it's a good thing he didn't.

The Celts shot 37 percent from the field, and Cleveland was even worse, shooting 32 percent.

Not much of a entertaining game this afternoon, so if you missed it you didn't miss much.

The Celtics have been busy as of late, playing back-to-back games Thursday and Friday and then again Sunday.  In their defense, their bodies could have taken a beating the last few days due to the busy schedule.

Boston's next game isn't until Friday Dec.7, while the Cavs play Tuesday against New Jersey.

Note: LeBron is still day-to-day with the sprained finger.