20150419-BOSCLE

Boston Celtics

RE: How to stop Cleveland when its clicking:

RE: Matching up with Kyrie Irving when he's on like he was in this game:

RE: If it's deflating playing a team that seemingly can't miss:

RE: Making adjustments after the first quarter:

RE: How Cleveland's playoff first-timers performed:

RE: If the Cavaliers were tight at the beginning of the game:

RE: If Boston's strong first quarter kickstarted the Cavs:

RE: Making an effort to involve Kevin Love:

RE: How playing on a big stage brings out the best in him:

RE: His mindset when he was shooting the first-half buzzer beater:

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That's What He Said - Celtics at Cavaliers

Marc D'Amico

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CLEVELAND – The Boston Celtics can compete with the Cavaliers.  But if they want to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, much will need to change from Sunday’s Game 1.

First and foremost, they need to be themselves.  They’ve gotten to this point by playing intelligent and spirited team basketball.  Where did that disappear to during the second half?

Boston was fantastic during the first half of Game 1.  It outplayed Cleveland.  The only reason the Cavs were leading at halftime was because they shot the lights out from long range, making eight of 18 attempts.

That first-half performance featured the C’s we’ve all come to know and love.  The ball was whipping around, turnovers were limited, and Boston’s players were in the right spot far more often than not.

Such was not the case during the second half, when the Celtics looked like a completely different team.  They forced shots.  They didn’t box out.  They searched for offense.  They committed the cardinal sin of ball handling – jumping into the air without knowing what you’re doing with the ball – multiple times.

Those mistakes allowed Cleveland to quickly turn a tight game into a breezy victory.  The Cavs led by as many as 20 points during the second half as the Celtics failed to regain their mojo.

One player who had no mojo Sunday afternoon was Avery Bradley, and the Celtics aren’t winning this series without strong play from their starting shooting guard.

Bradley is Boston’s second-leading scorer, behind only Isaiah Thomas, yet he looked lost on Sunday at the offensive end.  He shot just 3-of-10 from the field, including three airballs.  His seven points were half of what he provided on average each night during the regular season.

It felt as if everything was moving too quickly for Bradley during this game.  He never seemed comfortable handling the ball or firing up a shot.

Here’s the good news for Boston: that’s wasn’t the real Avery Bradley.  We haven’t seen that guy in years, and it’s a safe bet to say that Sunday’s performance was just a blip on the radar.

Similarly, the Celtics’ second-half performance was marked by unusual play.  That was not the Celtics who went 24-12 over the final 36 games of the regular season.

The Celtics who went 24-12 are known for making great decisions and operating as a team at both ends.  Those are the guys who need to show up for the entirety of Game 2.

If they do, Boston will do more than just compete with the Cavs.  It will have a chance to take them down.

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Bradley, Celtics Must Be Themselves in Game 2

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CLEVELAND - The Cavs’ Big Three all came up big in Game 1 Sunday afternoon, and they eventually imposed their will on the Celtics.

Despite unfavorable matchups at several positions, the Celtics stayed step-for-step with the Cavaliers in the early goings. But after building a first-quarter lead and going ahead by as many as eight points during the second quarter, the Celtics started slipping when they failed to control the glass at the defensive end, illustrated by a 10-1 offensive rebounding deficit at halftime.

The C’s also fell victim to a shooting display from Kyrie Irving that Brad Stevens characterized as “superhuman.” Irving dropped 30 points on the night, but had 20 of those during the first half, and 12 came on a 4-for-4 second-quarter performance from behind the arc. Two of his 3s were especially back-breaking, with one coming from deep in the left corner despite great defense from Isaiah Thomas, and another at the halftime horn.

“I thought we found him when we needed to and we gave him the space to play,” Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt said. “Listen, he’s a tough guy to guard, and he has the ability to create his own shot and create for others. No big secret, but that’s the way it works.”

The Celtics came out firing during the first half, and traded punches with the Cavs in the early going.  Kelly Olynyk's performance was especially surprising, as his 10 points in 6:37 of playing time during the first quarter led all scorers. Olynyk was perfect from the field, dropping in a pair of 3s and throwing down perhaps the most aggressive dunk of his career. But Olynyk scored only two more points the rest of the night.

The C’s dug themselves a 20-point hole during the third quarter, and despite battling back to within six points, they never really threatened the Cavaliers again. Kevin Love, who was just 2-for-11 from the field during the first half, came alive during the second half.  Love did work on the glass and drew a pair of charges to make his presence felt in his first career playoff game. Love wrapped up with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

LeBron James had a strong game but never really overwhelmed the Celtics as he’s been known to do to his opponents. Still, Cleveland’s top three players combined for 69 points and just their presence together on the floor is a challenge to contend with.

Cleveland’s impressive ball movement had the Celtics’ defense scrambling most of the night to run shooters off the 3-point line. Despite some impressive defensive rotations, the Cavs knocked down 13 of 31 3-pointers on the night. Cleveland's long-range shooting, coupled with rotations that left guards in the paint while Boston’s bigs ended up on the perimeter, cost the Celtics on the glass.

“I thought we did as good of a job on LeBron as we could have done, but I think that those rotations, sometimes you leave Tristan Thompson and you have to rotate to block out,” Stevens said.  “We have to rotate to challenge shooters, we have to rotate to be there. Obviously the offensive rebounds and getting outscored at the 3-point line are two huge things.”

One small thing – literally – the Celtics can point to was Isaiah Thomas, whose speed and willingness to attack the paint has proved to be a game-changer for the Celtics. Thomas finished with 22 points, but he sat at the postgame press conference podium frustrated by his team’s turnovers and their opponent’s clutch shooting, specifically Irving’s, after defensive possessions that bottled up the Cavs for 23 seconds.

“He’s one of the guys who takes tough shots and makes tough shots,” Thomas said of Irving. “There’s times we were right in his face, end of the shot clock, and he buries a 3. That’s just his game and we’ve got to try to take those away from him and turn him into a playmaker and not so much of a scorer.

“He’s a hell of a player and we’ve got to slow him down to win this series.”

Stevens told the media afterward that he was happy with the offense during the first half and the team’s defense during the second half. But he knows the Celtics need to be at their best for an entire 48-minute game to beat James, Irving and Love.

“I thought we got stagnant on a number of different possessions, right before they went up 20 on that run, and right after we cut it to six, we got too stagnant,” Stevens said. “We’ve got to keep that ball moving. Their length and athleticism is just too much if we let it load up on a lack of movement.”

The Celtics will have Monday to correct Sunday’s mistakes, but Thomas says the Celtics can’t dwell too long on Game 1.

“Good or bad, you have to have a short memory,” Thomas said. “There could be possibly seven games in this series and it could go either way.”

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Cavs' Big 3 Get Best of C's in Game 1

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Photos: Celtics vs. Cavaliers - Apr. 19, 2015

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Many expected the inexperienced Celtics to be a bit shell-shocked at the start of Sunday afternoon’s Game 1 in Cleveland.  They weren’t.

During the first half, Boston looked like the team that finished the season 24-12.  They competed at a high level and showed no signs of intimidation while taking on LeBron James and his Cavs on a national stage.

The Celtics, in fact, led for most of the first half as it showcased strong team basketball.  Isaiah Thomas (12 points) and Kelly Olynyk (10 points) led the way for Boston, which trailed by eight at halftime after Kyrie Irving beat the first-half buzzer with a 3.

Everything changed on Boston’s end at the start of the second half.  It looked like the team many thought they would see during the first quarter.

Turnovers and overall poor decision-making allowed the Cavaliers to pull ahead by as many as 20 points during the third quarter.  The Celtics looked completely out of sync, and as if their bodies couldn’t keep up with their minds.

If you’ve watched this Celtics team throughout the season, you already know that it would never give up.  It didn’t on Sunday.

Boston sliced the Cavs lead all the way down to six late in the third quarter but it just didn’t have enough in the tank to finish off the comeback.  Cleveland built its lead back up and eventually took Game 1 by a score of 113-100.

Think about how good Isaiah Thomas has been for the Boston Celtics since joining them at the trade deadline.  Can you believe that amidst all of that great play, he had never tallied a double-double?

Believe it or not, that’s a fact.  A fact that’s now of the past.

Thomas was Boston’s best player on Sunday while racking up his first double-double with the team.  He was fantastic as the offensive end.

Many consider Thomas to be the frontrunner for the Sixth Man of the Year award because of his impact at the offensive end.  He had it all working on Sunday, as he not only scored, but also helped his teammates to score.

Thomas poured in a team-high 22 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field.  His total nearly doubled the next-best scoring tally of any other Celtic, which was 12 points by both Evan Turner and Kelly Olynyk.

Thomas reached double-double status by adding in a game-high 10 assists.  No other player in the game dished out more than seven assists in the game.

Not a bad start to Thomas’ postseason career, but the Celtics will need him to be even better if they’re going to take Game 2.

Brad Stevens on how difficult it is to defend the Cavs

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Ford Keys to the Game: Cavaliers 113, Celtics 100

CLEVELAND (AP) Five years ago, LeBron James left the floor after Game 5 against Boston in disgrace. There were boos from the home fans, even some whispers he'd quit on the Cavaliers.

On Sunday, in his first playoff game for Cleveland since 2010, James will take his first step toward an NBA championship - toward the one that could top them all.

James and the Cavaliers open the playoffs against the Celtics, a team he knows well and the one that abruptly ended his first stay in Cleveland. Shortly before his exit to Miami in the summer of '10, the Cavs were beaten in six games by the Celtics, and that series loss, perhaps as much as any other, scarred James.

"It stuck with me a lot," he said after Friday's practice.

This opening-round matchup appears to be a mismatch for James and the Cavs, who righted themselves after a 19-20 start and are expected to easily dispatch the up-and-coming Celtics. In James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, Cleveland has an updated version of the "Big 3," while Boston traded star guard Rajon Rondo and finished two games under .500.

The oddsmakers have tabbed the Cavs co-favorites to win the title, but James knows well that there are no guarantees.

"Everyone's 0-0 when you get to this point, so our whole game plan right now is giving ourselves a chance to win the game," said James, who has never lost a first-round series.

Since that defeat by Boston in 2010, James has won two titles in Miami, and he's now hoping to quench a 51-year championship drought in a tortured city that didn't take long to re-embrace him.

Cleveland and Boston split the season series, with the Celtics winning twice last week - games in which Cavs coach David Blatt rested starters to be fresh for the postseason.

The only time both teams were at close to full strength was March 3, when the Cavs demolished the Celtics 110-79.

Boston guard Evan Turner knows for the Celtics to have any chance, James must be slowed.

"You try to make it uncomfortable for him, make him work (defensively), contest his shots," Turner said. "I know he's going to get calls, and I know he's going to make a lot of great plays."

There are some other sub-plots to the Celtics-Cavs series:

SMOOTH TRANSITION: Celtics coach Brad Stevens knows his way around the NCAA Tournament, but this is his first dance with the big boys. In 2010 and 2011, he guided Butler to consecutive NCAA title games. He took over the Celtics last season, when they went 25-57 while rebuilding.

PLAYOFF ROOKIES: Irving will make his playoff debut, a game he has dreamed of since childhood.

"This probably will be the biggest game I've played in," said Irving, who in his fourth season has developed into one of the game's elite point guards.

Irving said James has given him some pointers about what to expect in the playoffs, with "preparation" the biggest piece of advice.

Love, too, is a playoff rookie after six seasons in Minnesota. After some early resistance, he's willingly sacrificed personal stats for team goals.

"You can shoot 0 for 35. As long as you win, that's all that matters," Love said.

BIG DIFFERENCE: Boston's trade with Phoenix for 5-foot-9 guard Isaiah Thomas on Feb. 19 changed the season. The Celtics were 20-31 before the deal, 20-11 afterward. Thomas sat out 10 of those games, but Boston was 14-7 when he played, and he led them with 19 points per game.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS: Since James and Love came to town, Cleveland has been tagged as the team to beat. Blatt has spent the season trying to manage the hype.

"It's not sensible and it's not correct to put the cart before the horse," said Blatt, another playoff first-timer. "We've got a lot of tough basketball ahead of us to get anywhere. That's why I think it's a little unfair for people to start claiming that we should do this and do that.

20150419‑BOSCLE

That's What He Said - Celtics at Cavaliers

Bradley, Celtics Must Be Themselves in Game 2

Cavs' Big 3 Get Best of C's in Game 1

Photos: Celtics vs. Cavaliers - Apr. 19, 2015

Ford Keys to the Game: Cavaliers 113, Celtics 100

Game 1 Preview: Celtics at Cavaliers