[Playoff Matchup Thread] Cleveland vs. Boston

[godfather]

 

[Marcus]

For those of you who attended either of the two games, is it just me or has the Q been surprisingly quiet?

I wnet to plenty of playoff games the first time around and the Q was rocking, but from my impression watching on TV it seemed pretty subdued. We had one of the best home crowds Pre 2010. I hope we haven't lost that. GS's crowd blows ours out of the water, judging from the TV broadcasts.

I was at the game last night. Crowd was into it in the beginning, until the refs (again) took us out of the game by calling a bunch of touch fouls and slowing the game to a crawl.

Place was rocking on the James and Love alley oops, and booed appropriately when Jae Crowder tried to engage in some extra curriculars with LeBron when play was dead.

The team has had two straight slow starts, of course they're going to sound subdued. They actually started cheering and trying to will this team back into it when they weren't able to get much going. When the Cavs made that run in the first quarter to erase the deficit the place was rocking.

And plus, it's the Celtics. I'd expect a much more charged atmosphere against the Bulls.

 

[theSTEREO.]

My god, the Cavs have looked like absolute world beaters in these playoffs compared to the tire fires that Atlanta and Chicago have been, and the utter toilet bowl that the Raptors have been.

 

[tristan+kyrie=$]

The crowd was good last night but like people touched on...the casual fans in the lower bowl just cant get into it when it is a conclusion that the cavs will win this series...now when Chicago starts running their mouth and cheap shots James and Irving and Noah bad mouths Cleveland then the place will be charged and electric

 

[enigmatic]

The crowd was good last night but like people touched on...the casual fans in the lower bowl just cant get into it when it is a conclusion that the cavs will win this series...now when Chicago starts running their mouth and cheap shots James and Irving and Noah bad mouths Cleveland then the place will be charged and electric

I expect the crowd at the Q to be much more into it w/ the Bulls for this reason. Cavs-Bulls hate each other and you know Noah is going to try to get a couple of cheaphots on LeBron/Kyrie/Love, which is exactly where Perk will be need to lay the wood on him in return.

Celtics are a great warm up in the first round because they play hard and have an up and coming coach and have nothing to lose. Cavs should sweep or close in 5, but that doesn't mean anything other than they have too much talent not to in the end.

If the Celtics were playing the Bulls or Atlanta instead, they would be right in those series, w/ a chance to take it to 7. I really believe that.

 

[enigmatic]

What I'm concerned about is shutting down Thomas and his ability to get the ball and score.
Even looking ahead if they face the Bulls, they'll have to shut down Rose and co.

Thomas is like a waterbug and nobody can get in front of him. Put him on the Cavs as the back-up PG and we win 70 games next year. But he's the only guy on the Celtics that can score so the Cavs will let him go off every game w/o worries.

 

[Frank Stallone]

This is rare air for Golden State. They were an insane crowd when they upsets the Mavericks some years back and, like the Cavs back then, it was due to not really having been there.

Every series was fresh, new and exciting. Since then, despite being decent last year, etc., this is the first time they're the favorites. I just think the mood in and out of the Q is that we've been here before. Time to get to the real shit. It mayve been 4 years ago, but it feels like just yesterday the Cavs were a 1 and 2 seed. This isn't new. When the heat and pressure ramps up, I trust the Q will as well.

 

[wizman23]

The problem with the Q is that all the Real Fans sit in the upper sections while the lower bowl is full of suits and "look at me" type people.

 

[Redzone]

The problem with the Q is that all the Real Fans sit in the upper sections while the lower bowl is full of suits and "look at me" type people.

Not true entirely. I sit in the first row of a center lower bowl section by the three point line and have had season tickets since before the LeBron lottery drawing. Most of those around me have had seats longer than I have. I would classify them as "Real Fans". I'm the one yelling at the refs whose voice can be heard across to the other side, leading fans to stand up with two minutes left in the game, waving towels, etc. I would call myself a fanatic.

Having said that, I think I'm in the minority thus far. There are a number of corporate types sitting around or those who bought seats on flash seats and are trying to impress their hot dates. But I think it picks up once we get to the second round or have a Thursday, Friday or Saturday evening game. Not a lot of drinking going on for the last two games--a Sunday afternoon game and an early Tuesday game.

It has been too quiet, but not just in the lower bowl. The whole arena at times has been quiet. However, when there is a highlight dunk or play or a run or it's close out time, the crowd does get loud. The loudest, however, has been for the introductions.

It will get better.

 

[Otsego Mar]

This team still has issues with the timing of passes going down to the block - and even when, for example, LeBron seals off his man and asks for the ball outside the arc.

 

[TitleTown]

The problem with the Q is that all the Real Fans sit in the upper sections while the lower bowl is full of suits and "look at me" type people.

How many NBA games have you been to? That's every NBA fanbase. The "loud" fans are always in the upper 2/3s of the arena.

 

[World B ThAreee]

The Celtics with a commanding 3-0 lead in moral victories.

 

[Green Lantern]

They tried to get physical and it didn't work..Cavs need to come out Sunday and bang them early and frustrate them.

 

[Simmy]

Every now and now I browse through my 2014/2015 video archive that I created back when the Cavs won the lottery for the 3rd time in 4 years. Tonight, I watched the introductions and the opening few minutes (up until LeBron's first bucket) of the season opener against the Knicks.

It's almost unfathomable, how much this team has grown and progressed since Game 1. Even watching the way Kyrie was moving, he's developed tenfold since that very first game (something many may neglect to acknowledge without assessing the earlier footage).

Then you look across the board at Iman and JR suited up in Knicks gear and can only chuckle to yourself as you sit there thinking "little did we know, these two guys that tore us up on opening night would be 2/3rds of the reason why our season would be rocket-launched, full-throttle to championship-contention status."

Watching the lack of ball movement, the confusion on both offense and defense, Dion Waiters, Andy running around all over the place - obviously it was the first game and all teams were shaking off the rust (and for us, the nerves), but watching that over again really gives you a level of perspective now that we assess this current series against the Celtics and the Cavs in general.

We can really be incredibly proud of where this team has come and where it's going. And just by watching back the very first game and analyzing the progress made by the team, the coach, each player and in particular LBJ, it's very easy to say that win or lose the championship this season, this is still the beginning. There's no cap on the insurmountable growth we can experience as a ball club from this point on.

Bring on 4 and let's send these Celtics packing!

 

[col63onel]

Q: What would you say the LVP rankings of the playoffs are so far? Rondo is obviously first, then I would say D-Will at two.
—Brad, Huntington, WV

BS: Yeah, that’s your Bird and Magic of the 2015 LVP so far. It’s a two-man race. Honorable mention: Dame Lillard (even earned a rare TV upbraid from Barkley), Kyle Lowry (is he hurt???), Dirk Nowitzki (for defensive reasons only), Omer Asik (a plus-minus calamity), Masai Ujiri (for freezing at the trade deadline), Kelly Olynyk (could someone tell him the playoffs started?), Lionel Hollins (for not having the balls to just bench Deron), Cleveland’s crowd (did you ever think Miami would have given LeBron a better playoff atmosphere than Cleveland????)4 and Rondo a second time.

Step it up, Cleveland. It’s the playoffs! No PA announcer should be imploring you to “MAKE SOME NOIIIIIISE!” Come on. Your boys are gonna need you for that Bulls series.

So Dan O' says we were way too excited for a round 1 win, Simmons says we don't care.

Boston media so eager to diss Clevelanders, they do so for opposing reasons.