Live Thread: Cavs @ Celtics
2017-03-01
When Kevin Love joined J.R. Smith among the ranks of the injured, much was made about the possibility of the Cleveland Cavaliers losing their grip on the top seed in the Eastern Conference. After all, they were missing two starters, had a thin bench, and will face a March schedule that is heavy on both road games and back-to-backs.
One team that many thought would push the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference standings was the Boston Celtics. Unfortunately for Brad Stevens and his team, that has yet to happen. There are several reasons that the Cavaliers have actually extended their lead over the second-place Celtics to four games since Love went under the knife. First, the Cavaliers played extremely well in February, finishing the month 9-2 after going just 7-8 in January. Second, the Celtics decided to stand pat at the trade deadline, despite talking to the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers about Jimmy Butler and Paul George, respectively. Finally, the Celtics have struggled since the break, going just 1-2, and barely defeating the struggling Detroit Pistons in their lone victory.
None of this is to knock the Celtics. They play hard, are well-coached, and Isaiah Thomas has emerged as one of the best closers in the entire league. That being said, they simply haven’t shown they are on the same level as the other elite teams in the league this year, as evidenced by their 3-11 record against the Cavaliers, Warriors, Spurs, Rockets, Wizards, and Raptors this season. It also doesn’t help that Al Horford, one of the best big men in the league, has struggled tremendously against the Cavs the last few seasons. Now, the Cavaliers have replaced Mo Williams, Chris Andersen, Mike Dunleavy, and Jordan McRae with Deron Williams, Andrew Bogut, Kyle Korver, and Derrick Williams, forming arguably the deepest team LeBron James has ever played on.
Still, a win tonight at home against the Cavs would move the Celtics one game closer to the top of the Eastern Conference, and give at least some evidence that they can compete with the big boys. Be sure to tune in tonight at 8:00 on ESPN, and be sure to share your thoughts here at Cavs: The Blog!
James with another poor pass TO leads to a triple. 7 pt lead gone.
Shump starting to look like the odd man out. Seems like he doesn’t fit. Can’t wait for JR.
Canadian thunder!
HA! I just saw this!
https://twitter.com/SN_Ohio/status/837116440868171776
Bagtized
Need. More. Teabagging.
Name Smith is wasted
Enchilada: rejection & TD catch.
Thing 1!blockin the shot, running the floor!
Dude Derrick Williams is an animal
Kelly O is killing us.
Man, James is so much improved from deep this year.
Kyrie returns. He got a good 6-7 minutes off.
That. Looked like a travel to. Me
With Frye starting, this unit loses a little of the spacing. Those Korver/Frye plays aren’t quite there.
Both Deron and Derrick will play so well alongside Lebron
Man I can’t stop laughing at Rozier getting dunked on, sat on, then T’d up…
Silly foul there after a TO. We are letting them hang around when they are shooting 32%. We should have a 10+ pt cushion here.
Celtics getting tons of calls
They ar at hime
Hey Korver: try getting open
Why does Lue have Korver on Olynyk? Was that a switch?
Boston floppers
I still hate olynyk
Yup.
Man… bummed to be missing this… hope to catch second half…
Enchilada!
Derrick keeps shoot threes, I keep groaning , he keeps draining them…
https://twitter.com/oldseaminer/status/837115779841683456
EG would have a pic for that
Would it be legal to post it?
Lol
2nd quarter: James at C + DWill1, Korver, DWill2, + RJ.
Rozier, typical Celtic. Sucks, and a punk to boot.
Wow RJ!!!
LOL THAT WAS HILARIOUS! Rozier got dunked on then T’d up!
Haha, RJs nuts in your face and you get a tech.
Rozier with a tea bag retaliation tech!
How’s the new DWill doing?
Looks good to me…
Couple rushed shots, a couple nice pocket passes. Looks good
Really good so far!
James already with seven boards. Triple double alert
Good defensive quarter from the Cavs. The Celtics missed a few open looks but overall the Cavs played them well.
TT held onto that one! Missed the FT, up 6. That no Kyrie, no James lineup got us a nice 2-3 minutes at the end of that quarter & extended the lead. Early days, Deron is going to help. A lot.
So happy to have Deron…
Good first quarter. Second unit with no Lebron or Kyrie held up. Played good D
This is why Boston doesn’t scare me. Because for all his faults, Shump owns Isaiah.
mmmmm…. not quite
Yeah may be drunk.
Lol…..
Deron is going to be huge
RJ with a rejection. Deron with a 2!
Deron has a smooth game
D-Will, Korver, RJ, D-Will TT.
James with some poor passes. Had Korver there & floated one for a TO. The one to TT a trip prior. 4-1 on TOs & 4-2 on the O-glass. We clean that up, & TT handles some passes, & we are up 10+ instead of 2. FG% is 50 to 35 & we are up only 2.
What’s with the crappy rebounding? The Celtics aren’t big and long
Deron enters.
Enter Deron. Cue Metallica.
IT gets more crap calls in his favor than any player.
He’s right up there for sure…it’s like ‘how dare you block that midget’s shot! Foul!!!’
Shump with some poor D there. Korver will finish games, Shump should start to help hide Kyrie’s D. Plus, he’s 10 years younger. Let Kyle play fewer minutes. D-glass an issue again.
Shump has excelled at fouling shooters on the pump fake
TT has the dropsies. That’s twice hie’s turned an easy hoop into a miss.
Frye failed to step out on that. Horford had missed 2 easy ones in a row. Why stick to him?
Thoughts on starting Korver over Shumpert? He’d be nasty with the starters.
Isaiah Thomas has no business being in the same room as MVP talk
Cook in his second game with Dallas tonight. 17 min 2/2/2 on 1-5/0-3 in 1st game.
I’m 90% certain that Lebron made a deal with the devil to get his 3 stroke back this season.
I don’t like how Bradley shoots. Like he’s line driving it out of his hands.
Maybe the ugliest three I’ve seen, Amir Johnson. Should have been negative points
Shump is due for a good game.
TV says Frye will start this one.
Fun with math. Win a win the Cavs will have a record of 42-17 (0.712 PCT). A win would put us up 6 in the L column & win us the season series vs. the Cs. So virtually up 7. We’d have 23 games left. At at 0.712 PCT for 23 = 16-7. C’s can’t catch us even if they win out (not going to happen) if we maintain our current pace. Really, the way we are playing & with the added depth, I think we might even win at a better clip from here on in. Cols714 is right,… Read more »
i kinda feel like this will be similar to the last few Celtics games: we’ll take a big lead into the 4th, let our foot off the gas a little, Thomas will score 20 in 4th, but we’ll “escape” with about a 6 point win.
IT TIME!!!!!
That’s some tired crap, too.
IDK, we’re deeper now. Deron running the show when Kyrie & James don’t.
I don’t see Lue being able to manager rotations well enough for us to begin blowing teams out day 1…eventually I think the depth will become a force but maybe not til end of march
Deron Williams is wearing No. 31.
It’s March 1.
Warriors blew a 3-1 lead.
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/837086903807660036
Seriously, I win here, despite being down two starters basically wins us the #1 seed.
I’ve hated the Cetlics since 1981. Is that wrong?
I used to kind of like them in the ’80s, just as someone to root for over the Lakers. But their fanbase is by far, far, far the most arrogant and entitled in sports nowadays. Boston fans are also disproportionately represented in the sports media, so they have their own propaganda arm with a platform.
I hate the Celtics more than the Lakers or Knicks (although it is close). Remember the final series when Jabbar was way old, and in Game 1, Boston routed the Lakers in Boston, and the fans were jeering AKJ. In Game 2, Jabbar came alive, and spanked them. Then Larry Bird went into super pout mode that they had to play three in a row in LA, how that should never happen. I said T.S., you could have offered to let the Lakers have games 1,2,6, and 7 at home if you thought the format was unfair. The Celts did… Read more »
Great memory. As a huge Dr. J fan, I must say their fans did one cool thing, the ‘Beat L.A.!” chant to the 76ers.
May not be able to catch much of this one due to work engagements… but just remember who the Cavs are up against tonight…
This guy…
Ha. I’ve been waitin gall day for this
My least favorite team, least favorite coach, and least favorite fans. Hope they smoke them.
Great summary to set the table for this one. Up 6 in the L column with a win. Let’s get this done. I fear the Cs less than the Wiz or Raps. Let’s knock them down to 4th. Might not happen with Lowry out.
Cavs Roster: last season vs. this season
LBJ, Kyrie, Love, Tristan, J.R., Shump, Frye, Jefferson, and Champ are back. The rest is interesting.
Dellavedova-Deron Williams
Mozgov-Bogut
Dahntay Jones-Liggins
Mo-Felder
McRae-Korver
Kaun-Derrick Williams
Wow.
Deron>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Delly
Bogut>Mozgov
Korver>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Dwilliams>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
Dahntay Jones>Liggins
Delly 4ever.
I don;t think they are well coached at all. If Cavs win tonight, they basically have the #1 seed sewn up.w