Boston Celtics Blog – Page 109 – NBA Blog

Cavaliers GM says LeBron elbow needed rest

The AP reports:

Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry says the elbow injury that bothered LeBron James during the NBA playoffs was bad enough that the team would have rested him during the regular season.

Ferry revealed for the first time that the league’s MVP complained about his elbow before an April 8 game in Chicago. He was a late scratch from the starting lineup that night and sat out Cleveland’s final four regular-season games.

InsideHoops.com Says: It was obvious that LeBron’s right elbow was bothering him more than he let on in the second round series vs the Boston Celtics. He used his left hand way more than it made sense to. He was barely even dribbling with his right for huge stretches. It was strange that even after the series was over, he still seemed very reluctant to admit the extent of his injury.

Kobe says little about early LeBron elimination

The AP reports:

If Kobe Bryant was even slightly disappointed to learn that LeBron James won’t be showing up for a possible career-defining showdown, the Los Angeles Lakers star isn’t letting on.

Bryant had almost nothing to say Friday about the Cleveland Cavaliers’ playoff elimination, which ruined the best chance yet for a finals meeting with James.

“I don’t know,” Bryant said when asked what he thought of Boston’s Game 6 victory, before an awkward silence with the phalanx of television cameras and digital recorders pointed at him in a back corner of the Lakers’ training complex.

Surely Bryant realizes the anticipation was extra-high this spring, after the superstars’ teams finished atop their respective conferences with two of the NBA’s top three records. Nike certainly spent many months hoping for the showcase of two top clients, building that unusual advertising campaign around their puppet replicas.

But while James begins his offseason, Bryant is still standing — albeit on a gimpy ankle — after persevering through an injury-riddled year. The veteran star won’t slow down for the Western Conference finals just because King James isn’t waiting on the other side.

InsideHoops.com Says: I hope reporters ask Bryant about this until he gives a real response. I assume he’ll eventually say that he thought the Cavs would go further, but the Celtics are a very good team. That’s the boring, politically correct response, at least. But hopefully he gives something more interesting than that.

Uncertainty for LeBron begins

William C. Rhoden of the New York Times writes:

What distinguishes this loss from the others is that LeBron James lost more than a series: his crown lost some of its luster. A pair of uninspired performances at home against Boston left a bitter taste in the mouths of many loyal Cleveland fans. Was it his injured elbow, or did James simply lose interest? His performance in Game 5 was so detached and uninspired that there was speculation that he wanted to purposely anger Cavaliers fans to make his departure easier. Fans booed after his 15-point performance. On Friday Celtics fans improvised a derisive, “New York Knicks, New York Knicks “ chant when James went to the free throw line.

The crucial question for James right now is not where but why.

Why have things come to this?

“The only thing I can think about right now is the season being over,” James said. “You have expectations going into the postseason and you never can predict the future, but at the same time, you hope for things much brighter than what is going on right now.”

Game 6: Celtics eliminate LeBron, Cavs

The AP reports:

Kevin Garnett scored 22 points and added 12 rebounds, and Rajon Rondo had 21 points and 12 assists to beat Cleveland 94-85 in Game 6 on Thursday night and advance to the Eastern Conference finals. Boston will play the Orlando Magic, who are undefeated in the playoffs…

Despite his sixth career playoff triple-double, James is headed for another early offseason after winning a second MVP award and leading the Cavs to an NBA-best 61 wins and a home-court advantage they never got to use…

James scored 27 points with 10 assists, and his 19 rebounds matched a career-high and were the most he’s ever had in a playoff game. But he also had nine turnovers, and he may have been hobbled by an elbow injury that limited him to dunks and short jumpers, going 8 for 21 from the floor overall…

Mo Williams scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half for the Cavaliers.

Boston’s Paul Pierce scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half after playing just nine minutes—and shooting 1-for-5—in the first with foul trouble…

Antawn Jamison, acquired at the trade deadline from Washington, had just five points…

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

The Cavs go into an off-season full of fear and loathing. At the final buzzer, James’ three-year, $42 million contract officially ended.

Attempting to shake off a wave of national criticism about his spiritless play two nights before, James ran a backdoor cut and threw down a two-handed dunk on the Cavs’ first offensive possession to attempt to set a tone. He played with that sort of vigor for the rest of the game, legs pumping, eyes darting and a desire for the ball…

When it wasn’t Garnett in the half court, it was guard Rajon Rondo in the open court. The Cavs tried half a dozen defenders on him, including James, in the series, too. None of them really worked.

It got to the point where the crowd at TD Garden would rise to its feet whenever Rondo got the ball on a fast break, just knowing he was going to do something special. He got plenty of chances in Game 6 — the Cavs turned the ball over a miserable 24 times, costing them 27 points.

The Celtics had 19 fast-break points and Rondo was in charge of them all, scoring 21 points with 12 assists to finish as the best player in the series.

To add insult to the situation, the Celtics’ bench dominated the Cavs’ bench as Tony Allen and Rasheed Wallace combined for 23 points.

The Boston Herald reports:

The Celtics’ physical approach continued to work. The Cavs, stripped of their flow, shot 38.4 percent overall from the field, 29.4 percent from 3-point range and just 70.6 percent from the line.

The Celtics were even worse from the stripe (63.6 percent), but their best work came at the other end.

“We just never got into a rhythm against this team, and they had something to do with it,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. “We were trying to get on the floor for loose balls and rebounds, but we just never had a rhythm for the game.

“We made runs, and we even took the lead a couple of times. But it was hard to find the rhythm. They’ve always been a great defensive team. The regular season is a lot different from the postseason. We knew they would be a different team.”

Jack Ramsey tosses doubt at Mike Brown

Marc Berman of the New York Post reports (via the Post blog):

Jack Ramsey, former legendary coach and ESPN Radio’s color man for this second-round series, blames coach Mike Brown for the Cavaliers’ dire predicament, not LeBron James.

Ramsey believes Brown hasn’t made any strategic adjustments to get James better looks against the Celtics’ swarming help defense, feels the coach should push the pace and get Antawn Jamison more involved.

Speaking at the morning shootaround, Ramsey told The Post, “I think the pieces are there. But you got to use the pieces you have. Coaches have to make adjustments to what the other team is doing and find ways to beat that.”

Brown said this morning he planned to give Boston “a different look” and there’s rumors he’s considering playing James at point guard tonight.

Boston man who threatens Juwan Howard locked up

The Boston Herald reports:

A “psychotic” Boston man is accused of threatening to kill NBA star Juwan Howard and his family as well as attempting to extort $1 million from the Portland Trail Blazers forward, prosecutors and police said.

“He has been doing this for years, and he’s never actually spoken to my husband, he’s never even met him, but he’s obsessed with him,” said Jenine Howard in a phone interview after the arrest of Rahmal W. Stinson, 30, of Dorchester. “He’s showed up at games, and mailed gifts and leaves obscene messages. We’ve gotten additional security and we feel pretty safe. But he makes me nervous.”

Stinson, who was arrested Tuesday, was determined to be psychotic and is locked up in Bridgewater State Hospital, where he is undergoing a 20-day evaluation, according to Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley’s office.

Stinson’s 12-year-old child is the daughter of Jenine Howard’s sister and occasionally stays at the Howards’ Houston home, according to the family. Stinson frequently calls the home, and on March 20 allegedly threatened to kill the entire household, police said.

LeBron James playing passively in playoff losses to Celtics

LeBron James playing passively in Cavs playoff losses to Celtics

The basketball world has noticed that LeBron James isn’t playing with his usual fire in the second round NBA playoffs series between the Cavaliers and Celtics.

Especially in the Cavs losses.

LeBron’s squad is now down 3 games to 2 in the best-of-7 series.

Is his right elbow more of an issue than previously thought? Or:

Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, writing at LeBron James, reports:

How can you allow your team to lose 120-88 on your home court as you did to Boston in Tuesday’s Game 5? Certainly, you couldn’t win it yourself. But early in the game, you seemed resigned to the worst, taking only 14 shots and being outplayed and outhustled by Paul Pierce.

In the Cavs’ three losses, you have attempted only 18, 15 and 14 shots.

Where is the LeBron James who went down firing in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, averaging 38 points in this six games against Orlando?

Or the LeBron James who fired up 20-25-23-24 shots in the last four games of the 2008 series against the Celtics. Or the LeBron James who scored 45 in that Game 7 loss in Boston?

Or how about the LeBron James who had a miserable ordeal in the four-game sweep by San Antonio in 2007, but still put up 16-21-23-30 shots? In 2006 when the Cavs were eliminated 79-61 in a Game 7 at Detroit, you were 11-of-24 from the field for 27 points.

LeBron, you have always gone out with fire in your eyes, your finger on the trigger. You have been willing to take the criticism, even when you know that the Cavs had not supplied you with much support.

The world will tune in Thursday night for Game 6 in Boston.

Game 5: Celtics shock Cavs with 32-point win

The AP reports:

Ray Allen scored 25 points, Rajon Rondo scored all of his 16 in the second half and the Celtics, once thought too old to challenge for another title, beat James and the Cavs 120-88 in Game 5 on Tuesday night to move within one win of knocking the league’s top team from the playoffs.

Paul Pierce added 21 and Kevin Garnett 18 for the Celtics, who handed the Cavs their worst home playoff loss in history and can end Cleveland’s season with a win in Game 6 on Thursday night…

LeBron James, on the verge of an expected trip into free agency on July 1, had an atrocious game. He scored 15 points on 3-of-14 shooting, a startling outing for the 25-year-old who has been playing with a sprained elbow. He refused to use his injury as an excuse…

Rondo, coming off a 29-point, 18-rebound, 13-assist performance in Game 4, was held without a point in the first half as the Cavs concentrated their defense on stopping the point guard from penetrating into the paint. He finally got loose in the third, scoring 12 as the Celtics opened a 21-point lead…

James missed his first seven shots before he got loose on a leak-out dunk with 6:15 left in the third.

The Cavs led 29-21 when, with Rondo on the bench, Boston’s Big Three of Allen, Garnett and Pierce did all the scoring in a 16-0 run that put the Celtics ahead by eight.

George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal reports:

The Cavs trailed just 50-44 at halftime, but that changed at the onset of the third quarter. Allen came out and made two consecutive 3-point shots to quickly double the lead to 12 points.

With Allen heating up, Brown sent guard Anthony Parker out on him and put Mo Williams back on Rondo. Rondo went directly at Williams to the tune of eight quick points before Brown called a timeout. After the timeout, Williams disappeared for the remainder of the third quarter, along with the Cavs’ hopes for winning the game.

”We have to do a better job with our team defense,” Brown said. ”Mo had gotten beaten a couple times, but there were a couple of times when we didn’t play the right defense behind him.”

The blame is not solely on Williams; there’s plenty to go around. After Tuesday’s game, there has to be a question about James’ health. After enduring a miserable Game 4, if he were true to form, he would return to inflict damage on the Celtics in Game 5. That wasn’t the case.

Should LeBron guard Rondo?

Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal reports:

It’s time for LeBron James to guard Rajon Rondo.

It will go against every fiber of Cavs coach Mike Brown’s defense-is-everything being, especially with the possible fallout of who is left to match up against Paul Pierce.

But Rondo, the Celtics’ fourth-year point guard, is having his way with the Cavs in the Eastern Conference semifinals, while Pierce has been mired in mediocrity. How much the latter has to do with James is up to debate.

So it’s time for drastic measures.

Tied 2-2, the series has turned into a best-of-three heading into Game 5 on Tuesday night at Quicken Loans Arena. And while both teams have been subject to wild swings in consistency and intensity, the one constant has been Rondo.

Game 4: Rondo unleashes monster triple-double, Celtics beat Cavaliers

The AP reports:

The Boston point guard [Rajon Rondo] had 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists, and the Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 97-87 on Sunday to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series at two games apiece…

Rondo became the third player in playoff history to have at least 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Oscar Robertson had 32 points, 19 rebounds and 13 assists in 1963, and Wilt Chamberlain had 29 points, 36 rebounds and 13 assists in 1967.

Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett scored 18 apiece for the Celtics, who rebounded from the worst home playoff loss in franchise history and ensured they’ll get at least one more game at home…

LeBron James scored 22 points—only one more than he had in the first quarter of Game 3—and seemed frustrated during a seven-turnover performance. Shaquille O’Neal added 17 points, his high for this postseason, but was on the bench when the Celtics blew by the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter.

InsideHoops.com notes:

Tony Allen had a monster game for Boston off the bench, shooting 6-of-7 for 15 points and five rebounds in almost 26 minutes.

Paul Pierce continued his struggles in this series, shooting 3-of-8 for nine points and little else. He’s looked lost.

Both teams were miserable from three-point range: Cavs 4-of-21, Celtics 1-of-14.

Delonte West came off the Cavs bench to shoot 0-of-7 for three points in 20 minutes.

While Rondo was a hero for Boston, Cleveland’s point guard, Mo Williams, shot 3-of-9 for 13 points and not too much else.

Live fan discussion of the game took place in this forum topic.