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boston will win the east. book it.
somehow, someway, they will win it. even though theyre playing inconsistantly
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ics/index.html
Fast Breaks: Cavaliers-Celtics
By Ian Thomsen
• To state the obvious: These Boston Celtics are not a championship team. It's a huge surprise after their dominance of the regular season, but under the defensive pressure of the playoffs their three stars have lost all feeling for how to play off one another. They are a numb offensive team that doesn't feed off strengths or mismatches, that doesn't develop a go-to scorer during the game and doesn't exhibit poise when mandatory. Over the closing minutes of tight games the Celtics look as if they have no idea where to go with the ball or which of them should take over. This is why no overhauled team has ever won a le in its first year together: It takes years for a championship team to learn to play together and barring some kind of heavenly revelation the No. 1 seed isn't going to achieve that unity this postseason. They still might win this series; but in the bigger picture, the superior Spurs, Pistons, Hornets, Lakers and Jazz have all been together longer and aren't facing the steep postseason learning curve that is exposing these Celtics. "I haven't said that all year, but goldarn it you're right," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers when asked about the team's lack of poise. "We have to play better under stress, there's no doubt about it. I call them 'hero shots' and I thought we took a lot of those, instead of just trusting what we do."
• The Celtics have blown a two-game lead and return to Boston for a crucial Game 5 Wednesday against the One-Man Cavs even though That Man has been shooting 25.6 percent (20 of 78). "You think LeBron [James]' struggling?" said Rivers. "He had 21 points, 13 assists, 6 rebounds. He probably forced 15 fouls. We don't look at that as LeBron struggling. You only look at field-goal percentage; we don't. we look at the way he's playing his total game and he's making plays."
• James (pictured) arrived three hours early for a serious pregame workout -- the first time he had done so since the conference finals last year when he led Cleveland to four straight wins over the Pistons. His jumper remained unreliable -- most of his 13 misses in 20 attempts were from the perimeter -- but the backstory of James' series had no bearing on his dominance of the final 3:13, starting with a startling three from the left side to open up a 79-73 lead. It was 82-75 after three Celtic defenders flew magnetically toward James in the left corner, including Rajon Rondo, who left Daniel Gibson (14 points off the bench) for an unconscionably open three. After Ray Allen had missed a three off a jump ball, James lost Paul Pierce off a Joe Smith screen and drive right from the keytop past to dunk high over Kevin Garnett as if he had jumped down off a roof. It was not only breathtaking but also revealing of the larger story. "I wanted to be aggressive," said James. "I hadn't had a play like that all series."
• Late in the first half, Pierce tried to wrap up James to prevent a breakaway dunk and the two of them spun into the expensive seats behind the basket, at which point James' mother, Gloria, jumped into the fray to give Pierce a piece of her mind. Even as Pierce's arms were wrapped around him, James was yelling at his mother to back away. "The commissioner doesn't care if it's your mother or your kids: You can't allow fans and players to get involved with each other," said James. "I told her to sit down in some language I shouldn't have used. Thank god today wasn't Mothers Day."
• "I haven't been through a shooting stretch like this since my rookie year,'' said James. As badly as he has been shooting, was he surprised to have turned this into a best-of-three series? "I'm not surprised," he said. "I'm not satisfied with my play, but I'm doing doing other things -- like I've done all year -- that need to be done for our team to win. I didn't shoot well, but it's not about me struggling from the field. It's about the team winning and that's what matters to me."
boston will win the east. book it.
somehow, someway, they will win it. even though theyre playing inconsistantly
LOL, no...no they wont.
i would say detroit but detroit doesnt match up as well with boston. its so evenly matched that it slightly favors boston due to thier better defense.
also chauncey might not be 100%.
and boston is almost impossible to beat at home
I thought Boston was the best team ever
It's still the East, so anything can happen, but I don't see how the Celtics would beat any of the four remaining WC teams.
Also, they're boring.
don't be fooled, they still are
Spurs vs Celtics baby, its gonna happen
Cavaliers vs. Hornets
or if the league decides to take over...
Celtics (MAYBE Cavaliers because of Lebron) vs. Lakers
It will be Celtics-Lakers, that was decided months ago. David Stern will find a way to make it happen.
Almost impossible?
They barely beat the Cavaliers by 4 points at home with LeBron going 2-for-18 from the field.
"The commissioner doesn't care if it's your mother or your kids: You can't allow fans and players to get involved with each other," said James. "I told her to sit down in some language I shouldn't have used. Thank god today wasn't Mothers Day."
well that was the exception. detroit lost to the freakin 76ers at home. thats pretty sad.
Why? Sixers played great in game 1, especially in the second half.
For as much as the Pistons were getting criticized early on in the playoffs, they are the only team in the second round to win a road game in the second round and are the only team in the second round with a 3-1 edge in their series.
Pretty happy.
i wouldnt compare the magic to the cavaliers who are a MUCH better defensive team and have better role players and lebron james. Dwight howard is good but hes not great. Lebron is great. and so is that teams defense. Pistons should beat magic in 5. the celtics will beat the cavaliers in 7.
I've just about had enough of this Eastern Conference:
LeBron is a fluke who shoots 26% from the floor, yet he's an All-NBA First Team player supposedly.
Dwight Howard is down 3-1, supposedly another All-NBA First Team player.
The Celtics got handed to them a 66-16 regular season record and are winless on the road in the playoffs.
Just eliminate those three junk teams and send Detroit to the Finals.
you shouldn't be too confident, you might as well be down 3-1 now. the ball just bounced your way.
It's not like you guys kicked anybody's ass, and you're not playing better than boston or cleveland
Detroit will win the east... or the Cavs...
Detroit is playing the best ball in the East right now. Not even close.
I love detroit but what you just said is simply not true at all. They could be down 3-1 in these series. They won a game when they were allowed a bucket that shouldn't have counted (in DET) and won by 1pt in the last one (in ORL). Both games could've went both ways.
Never said I was confident. I realize the Pistons got a break in game 2. And? All I'm saying is the Pistons were the most criticized at the beginning of the playoffs and now they are the only team sitting at 3-1 in the second round. That's not about confidence. That's stating fact.
And, you do know that the Pistons beat the Magic in game 4 at Orlando and without Chauncey Billups, don't you?
As I've been saying all along...the Pistons will win the East...book it...
why is it funny"
james showing no respect for his mother
admitting he should not use that kind of language talking to her
great class and great way to teach all the kids that look up to him to treat their mother
Oh shut up.
Lebron's mom is kinda "out there." Lebron was just "protecting" her in a way. He's an adult.
These "book it" references are very annoying......Who gives a if you "book it"...do you win something....
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