If Cavs keep it close, mighty Celtics could collapse

[BDodgers at aol.com]

If Cavs keep it close, mighty Celtics could  collapse
 
By Brian Windhorst
Special to ESPN.com
BOSTON -- The _Cleveland Cavaliers_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=cle)  don't want to see Gino. 

 
 
 
The popular facet of the reinvented _Boston Celtics_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=bos)  mystique -- the one with a dance team  and a 
dunking leprechaun mascot -- is the new version of the Red Auerbach  victory cigar. 
It's a 1970s-era _"American  Bandstand" clip_ 
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MzP0rNN5w0)  with a resplendent male dancer in bell bottoms, a  glorious 
coiffure and beard, and a T-shirt that reads "Gino." When the game is  in hand 
and the clip hits the videoboard, the faithful at the new Garden go as  wild as 
the fans at Fenway during "Sweet Caroline." 
Most of the time this season, Gino has been called in by the middle of the  
fourth quarter, as the Celtics have made a habit of blowing out opponents at  
home. Try 14 wins of 20 or more points during the regular season and four wins  
by an average of 25 points over the _Atlanta Hawks_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=atl)  in the first round. 
"They try and hit people early like a lot of heavyweight prize fighters who  
try to knock people out in the first round," said Cavs guard _Wally 
Szczerbiak_ (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3329) , whose team 
begins its East semifinal  series with the Celtics on Tuesday in Boston. 
The style of the Celtics is the antithesis of the style of the Cavs, who,  
purposely or not, have made fourth quarters must-see TV during most of the  
season. No other team in the NBA has had as many fourth-quarter comeback  
victories. Most of the time, it has been due to heroics from _LeBron James_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3704) , who led the NBA not only 
in  fourth-quarter scoring during the regular season but also in so-called 
clutch  time, the final five minutes of a game when neither team is ahead by more 
than  five points. 
 

 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2008/columns/story?page=CavsCelticsPreview-080506&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1#) 
All that was before the Cavs watched the Celtics fail to put away the Hawks  
in any of the three close games in the opening series, even when it looked 
like  Boston had safe leads late in the games. When a game was close, the Celtics 
 couldn't close. They couldn't stop _Joe Johnson_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3520) , their poise was questionable at best and  
some noticed their conditioning didn't appear to be sound after they spent 
much  of the season on cruise control late in games. 
There's plenty of other strategy to deal with, but the Cavs know one thing as 
 they try to unseat the East's No. 1 seed for a second straight season: The  
longer the game stays close, the better chance they have. 
"It is going to be vital for us to keep our poise and play through their  
runs," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "That is a great team at home because they  
have self-motivators that feed off that crowd."  
This will be especially important in the first two games in Boston, when the  
confident Cavs might have their best shot against the still-shaky Celtics,  
following Boston's unexpected troubles against the Hawks.  
"We're going to approach it like we approach every series," James said.  
"We're going to try to get stops and execute on the offensive end. We want to  
compete and give ourselves a chance to win as many games as possible."  
By now, that simple formula has become gospel for James. Although the  
personnel around him has changed, the style and the substance of the team are  the 
same, and he has reason to believe in it. This is James' eighth playoff  series 
in just his third postseason, and he already has a pretty impressive 5-2  
record. Those five series wins, by the way, are more than either _Kevin Garnett_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3007) , _Ray Allen_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3080)  or _Paul Pierce_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3253)  has, and Boston's 
big three have a combined  35 NBA seasons.  
When they made their unexpected playoff run in 2007, the Cavs allowed the  
fewest points per game in the postseason (86.7). This year, they picked up where 
 they left off in the first round against the _Washington Wizards_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=was) , a team known for its offense. The  
Cavs held the Wizards to 88 or fewer points in four of the six games and to 42 
 percent shooting in the series. That effort kept them in almost every game, 
and  in every game, they had the best player at the end.  
Until the 2007 Finals, when they let two home games slip through their  
fingers, the Cavs were 8-3 in playoff games decided by five or fewer points.  Most 
of the time, James was the difference-maker.  
During this regular season, the Cavs beat the Celtics twice, both times by  
five or fewer points and both times with James making the plays down the 
stretch  to deliver the wins. He averaged 35.5 points in those wins. Until the 
streak was  snapped in February in a loss in Boston, James had scored 30 or more 
points in  nine straight games against the Celtics, a feat equaled only by Wilt  
Chamberlain.  
The Celtics play some of the most physical defense in the NBA, especially on  
the perimeter, where they apply pressure to the ball handlers. When the Cavs  
lost to the Celtics in February in Boston, they marveled at just how  
aggressively the Celtics played defense. A week later, _Tracy McGrady_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3179)  said the same thing when the 
Celtics shut  him down and ended the _Houston Rockets_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=hou) ' 22-game winning streak.  
That physical style doesn't work so well on James, who handles pressure well  
because of all his experience with double-teams. He has the ability to sense  
where the defenders are coming from, and at 6-foot-8, he often can see over 
them  to find an open man. As he said, "If they double-team me, it won't be 
something  I haven't seen before. It may have caught Joe [Johnson] off guard, but 
it won't  catch me off guard."  
It does, however, affect the Cavs' point guards. _Daniel Gibson_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=4170)  and _Delonte West_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3841)  both have trouble dealing 
with pressure,  and in the past, each has been an inconsistent ball handler. 
The Cavs  hemorrhaged turnovers at times against the Wizards, and turnovers 
lead to fast  breaks and runs, which the Cavs can't afford against the Celtics.  
But West, Gibson, Szczerbiak and the now-healed _Sasha Pavlovic_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=3722)  will have even more 
important roles  against the Celtics, beyond dealing with the pressure, defensive and 
otherwise,  that comes with playing a deep, talented, 66-win team. They will 
need to hit  shots. The Cavs' defense is a constant, and so is their 
rebounding, but their  shooting and offense have been spotty. When the players around 
James maintain  their composure and hit shots, the Cavs suddenly have the look 
of a championship  team.  
Both West and Gibson shot 50 percent from 3-point range in the series victory 
 over the Wizards, and Szczerbiak made six 3s in the clinching Game 6. It was 
not  unlike the performance last May when the _Detroit Pistons_ 
(http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=det) ' defense on James was shredded by his  
aggressive drives and the shooters who burned them when they brought help.  
The Cavs believe that if they get it all working with James' talent, there  
isn't any team they can't beat.  
"My teammates need to be confident, and I'm going to help them. I am excited  
about the way we played in the first round; this is the best time to be 
playing  well," James said. "When I'm on the court, we always have a chance." 
Brian Windhorst covers the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Akron Beacon  Journal.






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