Did we really never win a playoff series with Fratello?
LeBron
1977
1992
1993
2024
That ‘s it.
I think this is a MASSIVE win for the franchise and our young team. LeBron casts an enormous shadow over the team and rightfully so. Take what he’s achieved away and there’s not much.
Our players starting with Collin (we all still love you bro) and Garland and everybody else who came here played in LeBron’s gym. That’s just how it has been. Garland said a couple of years ago that they wanted to make their own legacy.
They did. LeBron had an all star starter alongside him this season but he’s done. Cavaliers advance to the second round. We’re in, he’s out.
Garland endured some rough initial years here, then make the ASG at 22, and then had a severe eye injury and a broken jaw that meant he couldn‘t properly eat for weeks. We had a bunch of injuries with DM and Ice and Strus out along with a brutal post ASG schedule. We utterly humiliated the Clippers with 80 in the first half and then the gas tank hit empty in just a brutal loss at the end of a hard road trip (where they at now lol lol lol for Durant Harden and Kawhi and a bonus lol for Westbrook).
Garland’s confidence was clearly shot but Mitchell knows he needs his guy alongside him and has backed Darius 100%. We had to get him going. He missed that three but Ice got the rebound and Garland made no mistake with the second. That unlocked him and he was scoring, feeding Mobley, rebounding and looking like that guy who was an all star.
The effort and together together together JBB preaches is corny and trite and mockable - but it’s not wrong. So proud of the guys for rallying.
They’ve been playing tight for months. Understandable, past three years for various reasons they faded late and past two seasons the play in / playoffs have been awful.
But now I think the burden of following LeBron and the past disappointments are over. Nobody expects them to beat Boston. This is an opportunity with limited downside.
I think they’ll play loose. Pressure off, Knicks series finally in the rear view mirror, there’s more hope of success rather than fear of failure. Boston lost Game 1 vs Philly last season in Round 2. I think we can steal a game in Boston. If we can do that - Game 3 in Cleveland will be nuts. All the pressure in this series will be on the Celtics. Let’s ambush these bums.
