It's child's play as Celts tame James, Cavaliers: Green gang up on phenom LeBron

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It's child's play as Celts tame James, Cavaliers: Green gang up on phenom
LeBron
By Steve Bulpett
Saturday, November 15, 2003

The Celtics were wise last night to remember that the first word in hoopla is
hoop. So on a FleetCenter evening when the buzz was all about 18-year-old
LeBron James, the Bostonians kept their focus well enough to collect the only
meaningful thing at stake - a victory.

     ``You still got to play a basketball game,'' noted Paul Pierce [news]
after the 91-82 conquest of Cleveland. ``We don't really get into that
(hype).''

     Considering James was a mere 1 the last time the Shamrock AC won a
championship, there is much work to be done around here. And after falling to
the shady Bulls two nights earlier, the C's couldn't let this one get away. So
Pierce went for 19 points (with five rebounds, six assists and just one
turnover) and Eric Williams had 17 points off the bench. Tony Battie added 15,
while Vin Baker was large again with 13 points and 11 boards.

     Cleveland did creep within five in the last quarter, but the Celtics, who
led for the last 38:43, had a strong enough finishing kick to defeat the Cavs
for the 11th straight time. It was Cleveland's 27th straight road loss, dating
back to last season.

     James looked good in spots, but he wasn't even the most productive James
on the floor. The fact that Celtics point guard Mike James [news] had that
honor while shooting just 1-for-7 from the floor might tell you something.
LeBron had 10 points (3-for-12 shooting) five rebounds, three assists and four
turnovers, while his counterpoint had two points, four boards, eight dishes
and no turnovers.

     The Celtic offense was far more fluid than on Wednesday. While the C's
had a modest four fast-break points - that's four more than they netted
against Chicago - they were simply far more active. They were also much
smarter with the rock, turning the ball over just two times in the first half
and eight times in the game.

     ``We did a lot of nice things grinding out this win,'' said Jim O'Brien.

     And a few very bad things. The Celts actually did much to keep the Cavs
in the game, sending them to the free throw line for a whopping 20 attempts in
the third quarter. Cleveland made 16 of them to stay within 10 points at the
end of the frame despite making just 3-of-12 from the floor. Pierce was taking
a break on the bench when he noticed the problem and spoke up.

     ``They can't score, man,'' he said to his mates. ``Why we fouling?''

     He may also have wondered why the Celtics were giving up so many
offensive rebounds. The Cavaliers won the boards, 50-43, taking down 17 on the
offensive end and turning them into 19 second-chance points.

     ``We slowed down our flow because of basically foolish fouling,'' O'Brien
said.

     The Celtics threw a changeup to begin the game, starting Jumaine Jones at
small forward in place of Kedrick Brown [news], who had opened the first eight
games at the spot.

     The other change in the frame came when Jiri Welsch was called upon as
the main sub at point guard for Mike James.

     ``The reason I went to Jumaine is I think Jumaine is going to be a guy
that starts at that position a long time,'' O'Brien said after Jones had five
points in 16 minutes and Welsch had three assists in 13. ``And you have to
throw him in there some time. . . . And I think Jiri is a terrific talent at
both the 1 and the 2.''
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx