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Then again, the Celtics brought this on themselves, too. Adding to the James disrespect inventory was Boston rookie Jaylen Brown telling Comcast SportsNet New England before Game 2 that the four-time MVP was “just another guy to me” and adding, “I have no fear whatsoever of LeBron.”
Brown, to his credit, backed up his statement about James with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting off the bench to lead Boston, though 13 of those points came in a second half that wasn’t competitive.
First of all, if LeBron needs to get motivation from the remarks of a 20 year old in the Eastern Conference Finals, then, well, good for him. But the reality is, this was much more about poor play by the Celtics than it was about LeBron & Co. finding some ‘next level.’ Yeah, I know that’s the narrative, but that narrative can take a flying leap. LeBron didn’t do jack squat to keep the Celtics from missing open jumper after open jumper in the early going. And when the wheels fell off? It wasn’t because the Cavs did something that no other team has done to the Celtics this year, or even this month.
No one who saw this team give up a 26-0 run against the much less skilled Wizards should be surprised by what happened last night.
This is a team that, when it looks bad, looks about as bad as you can imagine bad looking, and we’ve known this about them all season long. Yes, last night was particularly bad–so bad that my dad texted me halfway through the game and said they should turn all the pictures in the arena of former Celtics greats around to face the wall. At the same time, it was not out of character. Refusing to get worked up about this doesn’t mean that I think the team played okay. They should be upset with how that game ended, but the rest of us? You get up in a bad mood because of that game and stomp around all day with a grouch on because of how the game ended and where are you? All the crabby remarks you make about ‘effort’ ain’t even going to get through to these guys, so why make yourself or the people around you miserable? It’s not going to do any good.
Anyway, I’m not going to give Cleveland too much credit. Washington went on a cumulative total of 64-0 in runs against this very same team. Is Cleveland better than Boston? Yes. Are they better than the Wizards? Yes. Are they ’86 Celtics good? Nah. Not. Even. Close. Boston, as a team, is prone to getting way outside themselves, pushing, rushing, and just collectively losing their cool. When they do, bad things happen in great big massive boulder-sized chunks.
On the other hand, this is also a team that won 53 games, and won two playoff series already. When this team has confidence (but not too much confidence), then, like Dumbo, they can fly.
Call me unrealistic, but I don’t think the Celtics are getting swept. In at least one of these games, you’re going to see this elephant fly.
The rest of the autopsy reports:
MassLive: Ty Lue praises Jaylen Brown, says Boston Celtics rookie ‘not afraid’ against LeBron James | Isaiah Thomas injured, Boston Celtics trounced by Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2, 130-86
CSNNE: Celtics demolished by Cavs in Game 2, 130-86
Boston Herald: Cavaliers complete second consecutive blowout of Celtics
Page 2: Where IT’s hips are no longer lying
According to CSNNE’s Chris Mannix, Thomas visited the hospital for examination and the Celtics had doubts about whether he would play in Game 7 against the Wizards. He did, of course, and even had 29 points and 12 assists to shove Washington out of the playoffs.
But Thomas aggravated the strained right hip again during the first half Friday night and could not return after halftime. Stevens said the guard “hasn’t felt great” since tweaking the injury earlier in the playoffs and “looked much different” (read: worse) during the first half of Game 2.
Remember after game 7, when IT said his whole body hurt? Seems there was more to that than just grinding out a tough win against the Wizards.
I have no idea how serious this is, but I’m looking at the Cavs series so far, and I’m like, ‘don’t rush back, IT.’ Seriously. He’s not going to be the difference between them moving on to the Finals or going fishing, they’re going fishing.
The rest of the links
CSNNE Blakely: Cavs series should cement C’s decision to draft Fultz
Boston.com: The Celtics home crowd was still cheering in the fourth quarter
(there are some ‘takes’ out there from the usual suspects, but you can find those on your own if you want to reward stupidity with clicks and traffic)
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