GAME THREAD: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

NBA: BOSTON at CLEVELAND

<div class="pre">BOSTON (104)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
P Pierce 44:53 5-15 5-6 0-6 5 4 16
K Garnett 43:50 8-14 3-4 2-5 5 5 19
K Perkins 31:36 3-6 5-8 1-5 0 3 11
R Allen 49:09 10-25 4-6 2-7 5 1 29
R Rondo 43:33 1-9 1-2 3-7 6 1 3
J Posey 20:40 4-8 0-1 0-6 0 3 11
E House 15:33 1-3 0-0 0-0 4 1 3
B Scalabrine 4:52 1-1 0-0 0-1 1 1 2
S Pollard 4:53 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 3 2
G Davis 6:01 3-3 2-2 2-2 0 0 8
L Powe DNP - COACH'S DECISION
G Pruitt DNP - COACH'S DECISION

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TOTALS 265:00 37-86 20-29 10-40 26 22 104
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Percentages: FG-.430, FT-.690. 3-Point Goals:
10-25, .400 (P Pierce 1-6, R Allen 5-12, J
Posey 3-5, E House 1-2). Team Rebounds: 10.
Blocked Shots:7 (K Garnett 3, K Perkins 3, B
Scalabrine). Turnovers:12 (P Pierce 4, R
Allen 3, K Garnett 2, J Posey, E House, K
Perkins). Steals: 8 (R Allen 2, K Perkins 2,
K Garnett, R Rondo, J Posey, P Pierce).


CLEVELAND (109)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
L James 45:46 11-25 14-15 0-4 13 2 38
D Gooden 42:36 11-15 2-4 3-13 0 4 24
Z Ilgauskas 44:30 6-9 3-3 2-14 5 4 15
S Pavlovic 44:04 6-13 2-4 1-5 3 5 16
D Gibson 46:31 3-11 1-2 1-4 3 2 8
I Newble 16:38 0-1 2-2 0-4 0 1 2
D Brown 14:02 1-2 4-6 1-2 0 1 6
Da Jones 8:53 0-3 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Dw Jones 1:19 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
E Snow 0:41 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
D Nichols DNP - COACH'S DECISION
S Brown DNP - COACH'S DECISION

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 265:00 38-79 28-36 8-47 24 19 109
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.481, FT-.778. 3-Point Goals:
5-20, .250 (L James 2-8, S Pavlovic 2-4, D
Gibson 1-5, D Brown 0-1, Da Jones 0-2). Team
Rebounds: 10. Blocked Shots:7 (Z Ilgauskas 4,
L James 2, D Gooden). Turnovers:12 (Z
Ilgauskas 3, L James 3, D Gooden 2, D Gibson
2, S Pavlovic 2). Steals: 5 (S Pavlovic 3, L
James 2).

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BOSTON 20 29 23 20 12 - 104
CLEVELAND 26 20 28 18 17 - 109
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Technical fouls: Boston - 3 (Defensive Three,
2:55 2nd; Defensive Three, 5:41 2nd;
Defensive Three, 9:46 4th). Cleveland - 1 (D
Brown, 0:01 2nd).
Flagrant fouls: None. A: 20,562. T: 2:40.
Officials: Bennett Salvatore, Derrick
Collins, Mark Lindsey.</div>

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (David_Ortiz)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

Pierce 5-15 shooting, 1-6 from 3... his general shot selection is really irritating me lately. he's been hoisting up some dumb ones. he has teammates now, not sure if he's realized yet. oh and KG should have gotten the ball more.</p>

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Why does it seem like whenever the Celtics lose or almost lose, people have to blame Pierce? All Ray Allen had to do was hit one of two free throws with 23 seconds left, and the Celtics would have won. If anybody is to blame, it's him.</p>

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (44Thrilla)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (David_Ortiz)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

Pierce 5-15 shooting, 1-6 from 3... his general shot selection is really irritating me lately. he's been hoisting up some dumb ones. he has teammates now, not sure if he's realized yet. oh and KG should have gotten the ball more.</p>

</div></p>

Why does it seem like whenever the Celtics lose or almost lose, people have to blame Pierce? All Ray Allen had to do was hit one of two free throws with 23 seconds left, and the Celtics would have won. If anybody is to blame, it's him.</p>

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Because I feel at this point Pierce is in a way holding this team back. He's taking way too many bad shots (not just at the end of games either)when he should be passing the ball. That's not to say he shouldn't be attempting any FGs at allbut I am not liking his shot selection of late.</p>

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As for the game itself, this shouldn't have even gone to overtime. It's not all Pierce's fault, Allen should have hit at least one of those FTs. Better D could have been played all around. Almost everyone has a part in this. The Cavs basically pushed this game forward to us and we pushed it right back.</p>

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Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

I don't think it should be a matter of 'we pushed them to OT' b/c IMO we flew right by them in the title picture with the trades and pickups we made. I think we are the better team without a doubt, we just gave this one away.</p>

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

One freaking pass to KG the last five or so minutes. How can we not have had more than one play? Anyone?

 

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- LeBron James single-handedly trumped theBoston Celtics' superstar trio.


James collected 38 points and 13 assists as the ClevelandCavaliers clamped down defensively in the extra period en routeto their fourth straight win, an 109-104 overtime victory overthe Celtics on Tuesday night.


In clutch fashion, James netted 11 points in the overtime forthe Cavaliers, who outscored the Celtics, 17-12, during thatfive-minute span to secure the victory.


"We don't want any 'Big Three,'" James said. "We just go outthere and do our job. I think Drew (Gooden) and (ZydrunasIlgauskas) have done a great job controlling the interior thisyear. It's November and there are no statement wins inNovember."


James, who had notched triple-doubles in his last two gamesagainst Toronto and Indiana, had the crowd chanting "MVP" as hewas icing the game with free throws in the waning seconds ofovertime.


Still, James and the Cavaliers were lucky to be in the positionto win it in the extra period.


With the score tied at 92-92 with 23.1 seconds left inregulation, a dubious reach-in foul was called on Cavaliersswingman Sasha Pavlovic, who seemed to knock the dribble awayfrom Celtics sharpshooter Ray Allen.


But Allen - a career 89 percent foul shooter - misfired on bothfree throws and the Cavaliers corralled the rebound and called atimeout with 22 ticks left.


"I feel like I let the team down," Allen said. "I was sosurprised I missed the first one because it just hit, and itcaught me by (surprise) and I didn't let that go, and I took itinto the second one."


On the ensuing possession, James was guarded by Celtics swingmanPaul Pierce but chose to dribble the clock down to six secondsbefore starting his offensive move. He settled for a contestedjumper from the right elbow that was short with three secondsleft and time expired as the long rebound bounced away.

"(James) had a decent look from 15 feet and, with the way he'sbeen shooting the basketball, it's a good shot," Cleveland coachMike Brown said. "We're going to live and die with him becausehe's won many ballgames for us."


Gooden collected 24 points and 13 rebounds and Ilgauskas added15 and 14 for Cleveland, which outrebounded Boston, 47-40.

"There was a lot of trash-talking out there," Gooden said."But, it's fun. It was like an old streetball game, really."

"The Big Three" for the Celtics combined for 64 points,highlighted by Allen, who netted 29 on 10-of-25 shooting -including 5-of-12 on 3-pointers. Kevin Garnett added 19 pointsand Pierce had 16.


However, Boston coach Doc Rivers was not impressed with thehis star-studded squad.


"Execution was not very good on our part," Rivers said. "Didn'tget the ball where we were trying to get the ball. So, that wasthe disappointing part for me. Got a three-point lead, and gofor the gamble steal, which leads to a three and tied the score."

"We have to do a better job of going to Option B and Option C,and we didn't do that tonight," Pierce said. "We knew we hadour chance to win it in regulation and we let it slip away, andthey got us in overtime."


Allen's performance came three days after nailing abuzzer-beating shot from the arc to down the Charlotte Bobcatsfor Boston, which had its three-game winning streak snapped enroute to just its second loss of the season.


"We stole one the other day," Rivers said. "This one, we had achance to win it and we kind of gave it back."

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

coaching? lol</p>

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

You guys can check out my game recap by clicking this link.</p>

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

We won't win them all...however we could of had this one.</p>

Ray does not miss 2 FT's in a row. Ever. Crazy. Maybe it was karma since there was clearly no foul on the play.</p>

OT was ugly. 2 terrible shots by Rondo. Rondo has been great, but he's not the guy I want taking the shots in OT unless it's a layup.</p>

Forget about PP's #'s. It was that jump out of bounds, out of control - throw-away pass that killed me.</p>

Agreed that KG should have the ball more. I know we are 11-2 and that's not much to complain about - but both those losses could have been coached to W's.</p>

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Causeway)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

OT was ugly. 2 terrible shots by Rondo. Rondo has been great, but he's not the guy I want taking the shots in OT unless it's a layup.</p>

</div></p>

See, this is what gets me. Rondo's shots were not bad shots, they just didn't end with a good result. The first shot he took in OT was an open mid-range jumper - the same shot he has been knocking down all season long. I want him to take that shot, he should have taken that. If he had passed that up, I would have been unhappy with him and so would most Celtic fans. He missed the shot, it's too bad, but it was not a bad shot to take. The second one was a floater in the lane that he just released a little to hard. It wasn't a terrible shot, it was a nice drive. He just happened to miss both (pretty badly, heh).</p>

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Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

But it is a bad shot when you have Allen, Pierce, Garnett there to shoot it. (or house and posey)</p>

Its a mistake by both Rondo and the coach who couldn't come up with a plan. I would just give it to garnett in the OT and have him pound it to the basket.</p>

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticBalla32)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Causeway)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

OT was ugly. 2 terrible shots by Rondo. Rondo has been great, but he's not the guy I want taking the shots in OT unless it's a layup.</p>

</div></p>

See, this is what gets me. Rondo's shots were not bad shots, they just didn't end with a good result. The first shot he took in OT was an open mid-range jumper - the same shot he has been knocking down all season long. I want him to take that shot, he should have taken that. If he had passed that up, I would have been unhappy with him and so would most Celtic fans. He missed the shot, it's too bad, but it was not a bad shot to take. The second one was a floater in the lane that he just released a little to hard. It wasn't a terrible shot, it was a nice drive. He just happened to miss both (pretty badly, heh).</p>

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</p>

To clarify - I did not mean bad in that they were not open shots. I mean bad in that Rondo almost shattered the backboard on one, and bad in that we should be running plays that lead to shots for guys other than Rondo. He is much improved, but still not the guy I want shooting in OT. We should be able to come up with a better option.</p>

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Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CelticKing)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

But it is a bad shot when you have Allen, Pierce, Garnett there to shoot it. (or house and posey)</p>

Its a mistake by both Rondo and the coach who couldn't come up with a plan. I would just give it to garnett in the OT and have him pound it to the basket.</p>

</div></p>

So Ray makes a crosscourt pass to Rondo, who is wide open, and you'd rather he passed it up (you know, the thing everybody ragged on him for doing all last season) and passed it back out just because he's not a big time shooter? I disagree. If he has an open shot, I want him to take it. I don't care if it's the first quarter or triple OT. The last thing he needs is someone telling him "don't take that, give it back to Ray or Paul."</p>

I agree that we certainly need to run actual plays at the end of games. Doc throws guys out there for a free-for-all. I'm sick of it. Run a real offense, Doc.. if you do that, nothing can stop this team at the end of games. Nothing. Run Ray off picks, run pick n' rolls with KG, set a double-screen for Pierce and have him flash to the basket, drive-and-kick to hit Eddie House, etc. Do something other than "get it to Ray and see what he can do with it."</p>

</p>

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

Exactly CB32, during these games we're going to see if Doc is a good coach or not.</p>

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

And so far Doc's proven that he is garbage.</p>

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

I am not saying I want Rondo to pass up open shots. I actually am a Rondo fan and the more confident he gets, the better. But what I would like to see, especially in crunch time, is some coaching and plays that lead to currently better shooter and better scorers, taking the shots. I am not blaming Rondo here.</p>

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (David_Ortiz)</div><div class='quotemain'>

And so far Doc's proven that he is garbage.</p></div>

He's proven that back in the early 2000's when with the Magic. ;-)</p>

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

Doc has far exceeded expectations this year, and anybody who thinks another coach would be doing a better job with this team so far this year is kidding themselves.</p>

 

Re: NBA: BOSTON (11-1) at CLEVELAND (8-6)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (44Thrilla)</div><div class='quotemain'>

Doc has far exceeded expectations this year, and anybody who thinks another coach would be doing a better job with this team so far this year is kidding themselves.</p></div>

Haha. </p>