What ya’ll think out there?
Can the Cavaliers win a Game 7 on the road against the team with the best record in the NBA when they travel to Boston for Game 7 against Celtics on Sunday?
Boston is 7-0 at home in the playoffs and have already won a Game 7 this year when they splattered the Atlanta Hawks all over the place.
The difference is the Atlanta Hawks don’t have LeBron James.
He’s still hasn’t shot 50 percent in any of the six games in this series, but he’s scored 35 and 32 points, respectively in his last two games.
So something is building here. James is not going to suddenly go back to shooting 19 percent from the field as he did in the first two games of the series. If anything, he’s capable of having one of those high-percentage shooting nights.
As I said when this series started, Boston doesn’t want to put itself in a position where the game is close in the fourth quarter. If that happens, James can will his team to victory.
The question is this.
Can the Big 3 of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen or Paul Pierce do that for the Celtics? Allen, the guy KG and Pierce both say they want to take the big shot, once again faltered for Boston on Friday night.
Check this.
Allen goes 3-for-8 from the field, doesn’t make a 3-pointer in three attempts and finishing with just nine points.
As for Pierce, he had 16 points, but turned the ball over six times. He also was called for a big offensive foul when colliding into James with the Celtics trailing, 72-67, with 56.6 seconds left.
Now to me, it looked like a block by James. Of course Boston felt so as coach Doc Rivers was almost speechless when talking about it after the game.
OK. Let me rephrase that.
With his forehead glistening with sweat, Rivers wanted to say something really bad, but elected to say to the media, “well, you guys take it from there.”
As for Pierce, he had just finished his interview in the visiting locker room, but no one had asked him about the call.
So as most of the reporters were leaving his area, I asked Pierce about the call.
After pausing a couple of times, Pierce rose up and said, “Good call by the ref.”
Come on Paul.
Tell us how you really feel, but I give him credit. He showed some restraint, but let them lose Sunday and a call like that goes against him in Boston.
You know his answer will be different. Hell, even he knows it.
On the flip side, Cleveland of course was all smiles afterward. One thing I will say is both teams have put each other through the meat grinder in this series.
No easy buckets. It’s kind of hard to watch, but it’s playoff basketball, I guess.
I just remember the Los Angeles Lakers and whomever they played just running up and down the floor and the games reaching the 110-120 point area.
Boston and Cleveland need two games to get those numbers.
Speaking of the Lakers, the public opinion is the NBA wants the Celtics and Lakers to make it to the NBA Finals to relive the glory days of the 1960s with Bill Russell and Jerry West and Elgin Baylor and the 1980s with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
You have people in Cleveland believing that wholeheartedly. It’s so interesting to hear folks talk about it like there is a conspiracy set up for Boston and L.A.
With the Lakers closing out its semifinal series against Utah early Saturday morning, now it’s to Boston to keep that story alive.
For me, I think the league would like it, but this is not by design.
I shouldn’t even have to say that, but just to make sure you understand. The NBA doesn’t steer teams to get into the NBA Finals. Now I think a few people would like to see Cleveland and Detroit go at it again for a third consecutive season.
Kind of like a rubber match. Detroit beat Cleveland in seven games in the semifinals two years ago. Cleveland won in six in the conference finals last year with James pulling off that 48-point effort in the overtime win in Game 5.
So as much as it’s perceived the NBA wants Boston and L.A. to duel it out, if there is anyone who can disrupt this, it’s James.
Game 7 is here.
Can’t wait.
Can you?
- Duane Rankin