Celtics Will Take Ugly Win in Game 1
Kevin Garnett called it "two heavyweights just body punching". Ray Allen deemed it an aberration. Media members expecting a shootout probably thought it was a bit boring.
Doc Rivers said it was beautiful?
Okay, well, Rivers called it a "beautiful win", but we're guessing the coach sees the inner beauty that lies beneath the box score when he sees a pair of 2-for-18 efforts from each team's superstars. Cavaliers forward LeBron James scored just 12 points, turned it over 10 times and was frozen out for almost half of the game, while Rivers watched Allen and Paul Pierce combine for a 2-for-18 line of their own.
Allen was 0-4 and did not score, while Pierce was 2-for-14, scoring just four points. Not exactly how Rivers would draw it up, but in the playoffs, esthetics be dammed as long as you notch a 'W'. The Celtics held down James and held off the Cleveland Cavaliers for a 76-72 victory in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series at the Garden Tuesday night.
"We never established Ray or Paul in this game," Rivers said. "You know Paul tried to get it going but just didn't have it tonight. Obviously, to get away with a win with those two (Pierce and Ray) shooting the way they did is pretty good."
For the Cavs to stay close while James couldn't get it going and the team shot just 30% from the field was even more impressive. Cleveland started the game 2-for-16 and spent the first half clanging jumpers while the Celtics worked them inside on the other end.
If the Cavs decided to pick their poison defensively in Game 1, they seemed to settle on rolling the dice with Kevin Garnett. Joe Smith and Ben Wallace ended up in man-to-man coverage on Garnett for most of the night, and neither proved to be the antidote. KG had 16 points in the first half and finished with 28 points, including two big hoops down the stretch to win the game.
With KG in single coverage, Wally Szczerbiak, James and company stayed at home, leaving little room for Allen and Pierce on the perimeter.
"I just think the looks weren't there," Allen said. "I've always scored here in the offense when we run, when the [other] team doubles, and Wally wasn't leaving me. It's almost better when I sit down and Posey is in the game or Eddie [House] is in the game, because those guys, he'll turn his head and they'll get easy looks."
Will things change in Game 2? The Cavs probably don't want Garnett to burn them down low again, which means Allen and Pierce should get better opportunities if the Cavs decided to double-down on Garnett.
"The whole series could be filled with us grinding it out," Cavaliers Coach Mike Brown said. "We need to make sure we continue to get stops and execute for 48 minutes, and if we do, we give ourselves a good chance to win."
Brown knows James won't tolerate being a non-factor again in the series. James dubbed Game 1 a "struggle" not only for his own offensive woes but those of Pierce, whom he matched up with for most of the game. While Pierce can be credited with helping to bottle up James and drew two offensive fouls in the process, James didn't leave his counterpart much room either.
Certainly, both teams were unhappy with what they got from their offense. Adjustments are on the way for Game 2.
"The tape will be interesting for both sides," Allen said.
