Boston Celtics at Cleveland Cavaliers
Talk the talk, walk the walk
After seeing his team lose two straight games, 86-84 at Milwaukee Tuesday and 111-91 at home against Memphis one day later, Boston head coach Doc Rivers came up with a bit of trickery for motivation.
Rivers read quotes from a newspaper about a team playing with a lack of focus, a lack of urgency and without the appearance of being able to make another trip to the NBA Finals. Quotes from the Celtics, themselves, right?
Wrong.
“Then I told them it was the LA Times and it was from Phil Jackson, Lamar Odom, Kobe Bryant –it was their comments,” Rivers told the Boston Herald. “They all laughed because they thought it was them. I even asked, ‘Do you guys remember saying that?’ and guys were saying, ‘Yeah, I said that.’ And it wasn’t them, it was actually somebody else.”
“Doc did the majority of the talking, but he opened up the floor to everybody to give their two cents and we just spoke freely,” Kevin Garnett said of the meeting prior to Friday night’s home game against Indiana. “It was the first time in a while that we’ve done that.”
It paid off in the form of a 122-103 blowout victory over the Pacers. Boston (41-23, 26-38 ATS) came out blazing, led by 20 points at halftime and cruised the rest of the way behind 20 points from Paul Pierce and 15 apiece from Nate Robinson and Michael Finley.
Return of the King
LeBron James returned Friday from missing two games with an ankle injury, leading the Cavaliers to a 100-95 win at Philadelphia. Although he was not at his very best, LeBron scored 23 points on 7-of-18 shooting while dishing out 10 assists and grabbing eight rebounds.
“I felt a little off rhythm,” James admitted to reporters. “My wind was a little off, but it felt great to get back on the court with the guys.”
It must feel great for the Cavaliers (51-15, 33-33 ATS) as well. They lost for the first time in seven games when James missed his first game of the season, 92-85 at Milwaukee last Saturday. Cleveland then squeaked past the Spurs 97-95 Monday.
While LeBron is back in action, not all is well in Cleveland.
Infirmary report
For the Cavs, Mo Williams (shoulder) and Delonte West (back) have also returned, but Shaquille O’Neal (thumb) is out for at least another month and Antawn Jamison is questionable with a knee injury. Jamison (17.0 points, 7.5 rebounds in 10 games with Cleveland), did not travel with the team to Philadelphia but signs point to him playing against Boston.
Boston’s injury woes have been significant at various times this season, but the team is enjoying its healthiest moment right now. The Celtics have no problems to report.
Prior engagements
The Celtics and Cavs have met twice this season and the road team has prevailed each time. Boston scored a season-opening 95-89 victory as a 5.5-point underdog in Cleveland on October 27. Playing without West, the Cavs got 38 points from James but saw the Celtics drain 9-of-19 (47 percent) shots from beyond the arc.
Cleveland returned the favour on February 25, going into Boston as a 2.5-point favourite and coming away with a 108-88 win. Behind a James 36-point performance, the Cavs outscored the Celtics 35-14 in the fourth quarter.