Different arena?
Different result?
It's only halftime but the Celtics are down 17 points and trailed by as many as 26 in the first half. Cleveland is shooting 65.5 percent from the field and only LeBron James is shooting under .500 on the team.
He's missed four shots. The rest of the Cavaliers have missed a combined six shots. The 32 points Cleveland scored in the first quarter is the highest scoring total for either team in a quarter in the series..
You got Wally Szczerbiak with 14 first-half points, hitting two threes. He came into this game averaging just 13.0 points in the series. That's huge for Cleveland. The Cavaliers only have four fast break points, but they are being more aggressive as a team and that's why they're winning.
Let me back up.
Boston is playing terrible.
The Celtics don't even look like the same team that took a 2-0 lead in the series.
They're shooting 40.5 percent, which isn't great, but it's not horrible. The eight turnovers aren't bad either, but Cleveland has scored 15 points off the turnovers. What's bad is their defense.
They are leaving people wide open for shots. Don't matter if it is Ben Wallace. If he's open in the paint, he's going to make it.
I have to question Doc Rivers for not calling a timeout when Cleveland went on a run early in the first quarter. The Cavaliers went on a 14-0 run to take a 14-4 lead. When Cleveland scored 10 unanswered, you call the timeout then. Not later.
Just a couple more tid bits.
Cleveland forward Anderson Varejao is questionable for the second half with a knee injury.
James Posey and Varejao got double technicals, but Posey is the target of Cleveland fans after getting called for a flagrant foul when grabbing James around the neck as James drove to the basket.
With James, he is so big and strong and fast, the defender doesn't have time to figure out how to foul so you grab what you can. Now I'm not saying what Posey did was right, but James puts the pressure on you to do something.
Maybe he should take a page from Paul Pierce's book. He's taken three charges from James.
Let me get back to the game.
See you at the buzzer.
- Duane Rankin