W Cleveland 113 Boston 109 2OT

[cdt]

Game #52

Cleveland Cavaliers (30-21) VS Boston Celtics(20-31)

Wednesday, February 15th, 2006
7:30pm ET
Radio : WTAM 1100
Television: FSN Ohio
Fleet Center, Boston, Massachusetts

Head Coaches

Mike Brown / Doc Rivers

Probable Staters

Eric Snow / Delonte West

Sasha Pavlovic / Paul Pierce

LeBron James / Wally Szczerbiak

Drew Gooden / Ryan Gomes

Zydrunas Ilgauskas / Raef Lafrentz

Cleveland Cavaliers Bench

Damon Jones / Mike Wilks / Anderson Varejao / Donyell Marshall / Alan Henderson

Boston Celtic's Bench

Brian Scalabrine / Orien Greene / Tony Allen / Michael Olowakandi / Dwayne Jones

CDT's Keys To Vic-Tor-Y

* Attack the glass. This team isn't the best rebounding team in the game. That is very obvious by the fact that Lafrentz would rather shoot threes then to crash the glass. Win the battle on the boards.

* Try to contain Paul Pierce. He is the only player that I fear on that roster. If he has a big game it will inspire his teammates and keep them alive late in the game.

* Bring some of the atmosphere from the San Antonio game with us. We often get discouraged and veer off from our game plan by shooting ill advised jumpers and playing 1 on 1 basketball.

* Play tough interior defense. They have some talented bigs, Lafrentz might get lucky and get a dunk here and there but Jefferson knows how to score easy buckets, we need to contest shots down there and take away easy points.

* BEAT A TEAM WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BEAT! Don't let the final game before the all-star break slip away. We can beat the world champs and the team with the best record in the NBA but we can't seem to focus and squash the bad teams. Don't play down to their level. Someone switch their record appearance from 21-30 to 31-20 before the game and we should win :chuckles:

CDT Prediction: Cavaliers 98 Celtics 91​

 

[Karma]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

So if this game goes to script we lose. Mediocre team not playing well. Sounds just like a team the Cavs lose to.

Attack the paint is all I can say. Gooden should be licking his lips if he is tagged by an undersized Gomes. No excuses for going inot your shell Mr Gooden. Z can sit LaFrentz in 1 minute if fed the ball.

Let Pierce go in a scoring dual with LeBron. Hopefully James wont get caught in the moment, as he has the big advantage of opening the game for others unlike Pierce. Wally and West worry me some from the perimeter.

 

[Maximus]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

Wally may sit this one out with a swollen knee....

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

LeBron James quotes:
(On the last game in Boston before the All-Star Break)
“I told the guys, a win like this means nothing if we go into Boston and lose. We have to do a great job of coming out and doing a great job against Boston. We haven’t been successful in Boston a lot, but we have to mentally prepare ourselves. We will savor this moment tonight, and try to get a win on Wednesday.”

(On being able to beat great teams but having trouble against below .500 teams)
“It’s just growing up. We have to grow up. We can’t keep beating teams like Phoenix, and Detroit, and San Antonio, and then loss to a sub-par .500 team. It’s not going to help us. We have to grow up, and just keep getting better.”

Oh Yeah, the Cavs WILL win this game. No doubt. LBJ wont allow a loss tonite. Wally is hurting, hopefully LeBron checks Pierce. Cavs will slay the Celtics! Win by 15+!!!

 

[Jimmy]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

Wally may sit this one out with a swollen knee....

Feb 15, 2006 11:23am ET
LeBron Could Hurt Celts, Beat-up Szczerbiak Might Sit
In the BOSTON HERALD, Steve Bulpett writes "Assuming LeBron James doesn’t go hunting with the Vice President this morning, the Celtics are in grave danger of getting shot up by the Cleveland Colossus tonight. And the task of extracting a victory is even more difficult now with Wally Szczerbiak’s availability in question because of a swollen left knee."

i was just going to say that

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

Boston Celtics.......prepare to be beat down!!!

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

Guess Wally's playin. Cavs lookin strong out the gates. LeBron seems focused. Celtics will lose.

 

[TyGuy]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

Lebron is really play great d on pierce. Forcing the guy to make tough shots, his ooints seem to be coming off double screens.

 

[TyGuy]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

Bah, the damn screen and roll.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

Nice sparring match between James and Pierce. LeBron got schooled a couple times, but James has answered. Should be a great battle between the two.

 

[TyGuy]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

Well gooden was suppsoe to cut off thr baseline and of course he didnt. Also red heads feet were on the line off lebrons drive.

 

[TyGuy]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

I liek what we are doign though, really attacking the paint and puttign pressure on their defense.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

Solid first quarter. James sitting with 2 fouls. I think he should stop guarding Pierce until the 4th to avoid foul trouble. But itd be fun to see them go at each other the whole game.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

Damon for THREE! I think someone else is gonna check Pierce for now.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Re: Cleveland @ Boston

Gettin sloppy out there. Cavs up by 11. Keep attacking!