Getting Over The Hump: C’s-Cavs Analysis
Posted by Brian Robb on Apr 4, 2010
ESPN • Cavs The Blog • Fear The Sword
Say what you want about this Boston Celtics team. This was just one game. They are still an inherently flawed team. They gave up 113 points and blew a 22 point second half lead. You’d be right on all accounts. Make no mistake though, the Celtics NEEDED to win one of these games.
They had to have a W against an elite team at home. They had to get one against one of their Eastern Conference rivals, something that hadn’t happened since Christmas, and only twice all year long. It wasn’t easy, but this team got over the mental hump, overcoming another 2nd half offensive dry spell to hold off a valiant comeback by the visiting Cavs, with a 117-113 victory.
It’s tough to know where to begin with this game. Let’s just cut to the chase though and get to where most of the focus will be placed in this contest, the near 4th quarter collapse by the C’s and eventual recovery from The Green.
A quick look at the numbers, make you wonder exactly how the C’s overcame their offensive draught in the final frame. C’s fans have seen this team pull this act all year, generally in the 3rd quarter.Â
With this squad putting up 98 points, while shooting 53 percent over the first 36 minutes, against the 6th best defense in the league, you couldn’t help but think maybe, just maybe, these guys had gotten the proverbial monkey off their back.
Nothing has been easy for this team this year however, and naturally the inevitable collapse arrived with a thud in the final frame.
Through the first ten minutes of the fourth quarter, the C’s scoried a whopping 5 POINTS. Let that resonate for a bit. In a game the home team scored 117 points, they had 113 of those in 38 minutes and survived that shortfall in the fourth quarter. I don’t know which part of that comparison is more impressive.
So what went wrong in those ten minutes you ask? It was a classic pu pu platter of inefficient Celtic offense, with poor shooting leading the way along with some untimely turnovers mixed in. the C’s went a whopping 1 of 13 from the field with 4 turnovers mixed in over this time span.
KG and Pierce were responsible for the drought, combining for 1 of 11 of those shots, while going away from the team best offensive player (Ray Allen) for the entire 10 minutes span. I’ll be breaking these possessions down in greater depth tomorrow, but watching those two guys try to shoot the C’s out of this game with midrange jumpers was painful to watch. Needless to say, it was a classic 2nd half performance from this team this year.
A funny thing happened though as the Cavs concluded their 23-5 run with 2 minutes left, giving them a narrow one point lead with 2:58 left. The Boston Celtics didn’t fold. Adversity has not been a friend of this team, this year. The Green have blown 17 2nd half leads, 8 at home. They have made a habit of crawling into the fetal position when any opponent makes a run on them.
Today, was a different, more resilient Celtic team when it mattered most. They nearly tripled their fourth quarter scoring output in the final two minutes, putting up 14 points and dodging multiple bullets and an untimely TA goaltending call to keep the Cavs hanging around.
The C’s executed when they needed to for a change, (minus Perk’s missed free throws) and perhaps most importantly, shared the ball in the final 2 minutes that enabled a couple layups by unlikely crunch contributors in TA and Rondo along with a dagger three for Ray Allen that gave the C’s enough of a cushion to hold off the Cavs.
Before we get to bullets, a quick word on Lebron’s decision to shoot a 3 on the break, down 2 with 7 seconds left. If I were a Cavs fan, I would have hated the decision. I know he’s the guy that got you there, but with the C’s on their heels and a streaking Antwan Jamison available for would have been an easy 2 under the hoop, James deserves some criticism.
I know this game didn’t mean much on paper to the Cavs, and that in theory, down 2, you go for the three on the road, if you have it in the closing moments.  The problem is, Lebron was 0 for 7 shooting from deep on the day. So what? Shooters keep shooting right? Well there’s just one problem. Lebron is a lot of things, but a shooter he is not. He is 34 percent shooter from deep, 33 over the course of his career. It’s easily the weakest part of his game.
LBJ wanted his hero moment, a shot that might have put the clamps on the C’s season and psyche for good. I’ll tell you one thing though. A win for the Cavs in OT would have been just as demoralizing for the C’s and their fan base as James hitting that shot at the end of regulation. If The King goes to the hoop there, worst case scenario he’s going to the line for two. If he makes the pass, it’s a tie game. Instead, he got selfish and cost his team the W, while potentially resuscitating the C’s psyche.
Quick Bullets
* Tony Allen played 18 terrific minutes off the bench, while being his usual maddening self. There was plenty of great defense and timely scoring to go along with some boneheaded mistakes, (fouling a 3 point shooter, goaltending the 3 by Anthony Parker).
The point is, he worked his ass off and hurt more than he helped when he was out there, especially in crunch time hitting the eventual game winning layup. He’s a flawed player but he’s patiently waited his turn and he’s the most consistent player off the pine right now at the 2/3 spot
* Re: New Playoff Rotation. Doc announced after this contest that the nine man rotation we saw out there (TA, Sheed, Finley and Davis off the bench) would be the team’s playoff rotation. I can’t say I disagree with it and am glad Doc is trying to build some continuity after going 12 deep against Houston Friday night.
The clock has run out on Nate Robinson and Marquis Daniels’ passive offensive play for the time being (as well as Nate’s untimely defensive lapses). I wouldn’t rule out seeing these guys down the road, since it’s not beyond TA to play himself back out of the rotation, but for now, the four guys Doc is going with gives this team the best shot to win games.   Â
* Can’t say enough about the C’s back court today. Ray Allen was the hero with 33 points, despite barely having the chance to touch the ball in the final quarter until late. Allen was on fire from deep (6-9) and mixed up his offensive play well, attacking the basket to keep the Cavs on their heels. Just a turn back the clock effort in 42 minutes.
Meanwhile, Rajon Rondo had a tremendous performance as well, going for 16 points and 14 assists with perhaps most importantly just one turnover. Guy did it all
* Haven’t talked much about the C’s defense. Zach will have a lot on that tomorrow. Needless to say, after a solid 1st half, 64 2nd half point for Cavs can’t happen. A win is a win, but there’s a lot of work to do on this end.
* Cavs supporting case was 7 of 8 from deep. Lebron had 9 assists, all in the 1st half. This was probably one day when he should have trusted his teammates more.
*Sheed’s T was pathetic. Kudos to Doc forbenching him for showing him up out there.
*I don’t know if it’s Pierce’s conditioning or his injuries, but he really seems to run out of gas late in games now, front rimming his shots. It was very good to see him willing to give up the ball down the stretch, along with KG down the stretch. They just need to do it earlier next time, when they go cold all quarter and stop attacking the basket.
I probably missed a ton, but we will have much more on this one tomorrow. C’s still one back of the Hawks and with Bogut going down, likely for the year, the battle for 1st round positioning just got a whole lot more interesting. For now though, big confidence boost for the C’s in taking this one down.
The Ticker