The Cleveland Cavaliers continued their dominance at home, crushing the defending NBA Champions 98-83 at The Q. The Cavs never trailed, having taken a quick early lead and expanding it throughout the contest.
If you couldn’t find this game on TV, you’re probably blind. Three networks carried the contest (Fox Sports Ohio, TNT and ESPN). The wide interest in the game was nationwide, as it featured two of the NBAs top three teams, and two bitter East rivals. The Celtics eliminated the Cavaliers in last years conference semifinals, 4 games to 3.
But the difference between these two teams was never as obvious as it was tonight. The Cavaliers have far more depth than the Celtics, and that depth allowed Cleveland to maintain their lead when the superstars needed a break. This is the Celtics biggest problem as the trading deadline approaches…the choice falls between wearing down their starters or struggling in close games.
But tonight was all about the continued coronation of LeBron James. King James had 38 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocked shots. Boston simply had no answer for James, and his defense only further wore down Paul Pierce, who finished with only 11 points and five turnovers.
The Cavs have now taken over the NBA lead at 29-6, while Boston falls to 29-9 and have now dropped seven of their last nine games. The Celtics downward spiral has now led them from being the best team in basketball to the 3rd seed in the East (Orlando passed Boston tonight to take over the 2 seed).
But the direction of these two teams was exposed with just over 5 minutes to play in the game. With Cleveland holding a 12-point lead, Boston decided to find Ben Wallace wherever he was and foul him immediately, whether he had the ball or not. Over the next two game minutes, Wallace (who shoots only 44 percent from the line) was fouled four times, where he made 4 of 8 shooting. The expected result of Wallace missing his free throws just never came out fully, and during that spread, the Cavs extended their lead to 19 points. The “foul Ben” strategy failed miserably.
But while the foul strategy may have been a good idea, it shows exactly how much Boston has fallen. The arrogant champions went from their typical cocky attitude to actually praying the other team would miss free throws…..with FIVE MINUTES TO PLAY. Thats a pretty wide chasm of confidence, if you ask me. I see that strategy with less than a minute left all the time, but when was the last time you saw an elite team do that with half a quarter to play?
To be honest, Doc Rivers should be ashamed that the Cavaliers have surpassed his team so fast.
The Cavs road doesn’t get much easier after this. They play 6 of their next 7 games on the road and the competition is pretty steep. Here’s what they face for the rest of January;
- At Memphis(11-26)
- At Chicago (16-20)
- New Orleans (22-11)
- At L.A. Lakers (28-6)
- At Portland (21-14)
- At Golden State (10-27)
- At Utah (21-15)
- Sacramento (8-28)
- At Orlando (29-8)
- L.A. Clippers (8-28)
Half of those ten games are against teams under .500, but the other five can count themselves among the NBA’s best teams. The rest of this month will tell us a lot about who we are down the stretch.
Story By The Buckeye Battle Cry
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