Taking Stock: Celtics – Cavaliers

After every game, we'll take stock of how each individual performance affects the player's overall value.

Starters

Avery Bradley:  His D wasn't nearly what it was in the last Orlando game, and the 5 turnovers (a couple of them were really bad) were a problem.  And if E'Twaun Moore is going to play like he did last night, Avery… defense and all… will lose minutes.

Paul Pierce:  He had a stretch where he was just awesome.  But he also had 7 turnovers in the game. 

Kevin Garnett:  Not a bad night for KG.  14 and 7 is ok for him.  But I thought he was on his way to a 20-10 night the way he started out.  
 

 Brandon Bass:  I don't know if I'm being hard on everyone because I still have that sour taste in my mouth, but Bass had an OK but not great game.  His production in the books wasn't bad, but I just thought he could have been a difference-maker with some energy that was clearly missing elsewhere.    
 

Ray Allen:  

Didn't seem to miss a beat, did he?

Bench

E'Twaun Moore:  Not bad.  4 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds in 20 minutes.  His jumper is inconsistent right now.

Mickael Pietrus:  2 points off the bench just ain't gonna cut it.

Chris Wilcox:  How the hell did Chris Wilcox, in that tight, crappy game, manage to be a game high +15?  Because he did the little things like rebound to get stops… plus he got a steal and a block.  Fundamentals, kids. 

Marquis Daniels, Sasha Pavlovic, JaJuan Johnson:  Sasha made a nice move to get a dunk, but that's about it.  Marquis… Marquis is just very confusing to me this season.

Coaching

Doc Rivers:  I'm not sure if Pierce had a point about his minutes.  35 minutes seems to be pretty good to me.  I might have put Garnett on Varejao in the final possession, but I can see how he might have been afraid of KG being burned by Irving's speed on the pick & roll.

OVERALL 

What can you say about a loss like this.  It seemed to be set up perfectly.  C's were a little tired, a little sloppy, so they played down to the Cavs.  But then they played hard when it counted and they pulled away for what was going to be a double-digit win.  Except they didn't think the Cavs would ad-lib the part in the script where they rolled over and died.  

This loss might not feel so bad had it come in a different season.  Considering the Celtics still have a chance at revenge and ending the month at .500 like I'd thought they would, I'm not going to get too down about this.  But the clock is ticking more loudly now.  The Celtics do need to send a message on Tuesday.