Playoff Podcap: Cavs 87, Celtics 79 (or, “Then I Will Make It Happen”)
2018-05-28
https://soundcloud.com/ctb-5/episode-174-then-i-will-make-it-happen
So, how do you top an epic Game 6 to stave off elimination? Well, against all odds… you will your team to a grind it out defensive gem of a victory in a place where the home team was previously undefeated in ten tries. Or, just another day at the office for LeBron James in the Eastern Conference Finals. Yes, our well of superlatives ran dry about two years ago when King James delivered a title to a city and fanbase that desperately needed one. Now, we’re almost forced to invent new words to describe his greatness. After yet another incredible Game 7 in Boston, where he once again ripped out the hearts of the Celtics and their fans with 35 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists and two gigantic blocks while playing the entire 48 minutes, LeBron showed that he can make anything happen.
To praise The King and his supporting court, Nate, Tom and EG hopped in the booth and were anything but short and precise in breaking down this epic Game 7 that resulted in LeBron’s eighth straight trip to the NBA Finals. They also covered everything Green… from Uncle Jeff’s contributions to the sickly look on the faces of those in Boston that witnessed this muzzling of their young team. There were kudos to go around for Tristan, George, JR and Kyle too, and even some kind words for Ty Lue (not to mention some relief for EG that he can go another year without tipping a cap to a certain President Genius). There was also some speculation on who the next opponent might be… but more of that to come in the days ahead.
For now, we were just happy to echo our C:tB Angolan fan’s sentiments… that our greatest desire is to know King LeBron… then he can make it happen… in the Finals and wherever else he wants.
As always, you can catch us above, on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts or Google Play.
Even if I am wrong and we do not have a better chance to beat Houston (especially with CP3 out), I would much rather see Houston win than GSW.
This will be a really long 24 minutes. Time will stand still
If you would have told me Harden 5/15 and 2/8 from deep I would have said trouble.
Capela has 14 on 7/8. Rockets up 26 to 17 on the glass and 11-5 offense. Hou winning TO battle with 6 to GSW’s 10.
Curry, Durant, & Green have all played as many minutes as Harden or more. Klay has 3 and likely cannot match up with the Beard to start the third.
Harden needs to attack.
Houston winn
Winning the rebounding at 26-17
They gotta keep that going.
Kevin Durant is a freak of nature. Has anyone seen him play live or up close? Just looks unnatural slinking around the court
If, big if, Houston manages to pull this off, it will be an amazing end to a crazy regular season/playoffs.
Game 6 looked like this one. I expect the Warriors to come out extremely aggressive in the third. Harden better begin to hit some shots. He should try to drive more.
That was a big bucket at the end of the half. Have to withstand the GS third quarter storm.
Nice coast to coast by Gordon. Rockets +11.
I’m getting emotional here.
Me too lol.
Curious how TT has played Capela. He’s just a glorified Al Horford that doesn’t shoot 3’s?
He’s what TT would love to be when he grows up.
Hah! True. He is just longer and is capable of going straight up without bringing the ball down.
Still, TT was huge in G7 vs Indy and mostly very good vs Horford. We would be out without him.
Not at all. He’s probably the NBA’s best dive man right now. Great timing, great finishing ability. Also great on the o-boards. Might need zizic just for the fouls.
Different player. No playmaking or shooting. Better rim protection & rebounding (especially offensive).
Rockets killed us on the glass in Houston. We almost won anyway. Can’t remember who we were missing (Love or TT or both).
Green went crazy. Might have been his season high.
Sorry for the Anonymous comment lol
http://www.landofbasketball.com/player_comparison/clint_capela_vs_tristan_thompson.htm
The 2018 Playoffs section tho…
Hou has missed 9 triples in a row.
Harden starting to brick. 5/15. Too many threes.
Gotta hunt Klay. Harden had him & waited for a Curry switch.
15 down to 9.
Draymond looks like he’s turning from “passionate soul of the team” to “annoying guy pointing out everyone else’s flaws”. Hope the warriors quit.
That would be phenomenal.
One thing is for sure next round if the Cavs don’t improve their three point line defense they will get swept.
Both teams heating up offensively. KD hits a triple to cut it to 11.
I cannot believe Hou does not just run P&R with Harden & whomever Klay is guarding. Got to hunt him. Get that 4th.
Good point
Kerr was upset during end of quarter chat w DA. Not so calm and collected, esp compared to Lue when Cavs trailing.
Curry & KD tend to wilt. Klay, Dray, & Iggy are the resilient ones.
When did Eric Gordon learn to shoot like this? I’m getting flashbacks to Mikael Pietrus
He’s always been a great shooter IMO since Indiana days…. it was the rest of his game that was the question.
He has had good offense for a while. Injury issues for a while. 6th man of the year once I think.
TT and Nance better learn how to sniff out that Harden Capela PNR if Houston wins. Love could get played off the floor
Rockets +11. Kerr looks worried.
I am starting to get hopeful.
Of course, I was hopeful when they were +17 last game.
Way too early…. but loving the home crowd.
Hou +2 while Harden rested.
Klay starts the 2nd. Big gamble.
Iso Joe at PG as Harden rests.
Klay Thompson could be the best player on his own team
Rockets +5 after one.
I will take that. Harden with a very good quarter shooting & got to the line.
Go Rockets Go!
TV says Paul could be back for Game 1 of the Finals. But the expectation is Game 3.
Anderson & Iso Joe both getting burn for Houston. 8 deep!
Hou hadca shot to get some real separation and did not get it done.
Bad offense on both sides. Yikes…
15-9 for forever.
Rockets offense more predictable than the last few all star games
They were in the bonus with 10 minutes left in the quarter and haven’t made a FT since (0-3).
Dubs hacking Capela. Slows it down for Harden.
If the Rockets can parade to the line, Harden will get more rest.
Every time Hou does something bad on O the Dubs score or get fouled in transition.
Still, Klay with 3 gives them a boost. No way Kerr runs him out before half. If he does, it is desperation time in Dubland.
This game is sloppy AF. 3 on Klay. Hou in bonus.
Houston needs to take advantage. Klay will be out for essentially the rest of the half.
DUUUUUUDE that step back J! The only time I’ll cheer for Harden haha
Awful inbounds there leads to a Curry triple.
2 TOs in a row for Houston.
Marv Albert still clueless. Can’t tell out of bounds (take out on baseline) from a foul (take out on side). Reggie had to clean it up.
Refs calling fouls early. 3 on Dubs. Make it 4. 2 on Klay.
The Rockets’ arena is super hyped for this game. Those fans are bringing it.
CP3 and Iggy both out.
If the Rockets can somehow get a win tonight, Paul looks like he misses a chunk of the Finals.
Go Rockets! Harden needs an efficient scoring night with a lot of assists and few TOs to keep them in it. Also, refs cannot let the Dubs maul him every time.
Scott Foster is the ref and it is a discrace he is still even in the league considering all the phone calls between he and Donaghy.
Great pod. Loved the flow (aided by Tom Pestak (PPM- Podcast Program Manager). I love the cathartic FU to Boston we all had to get out to start it. I ended up watching the game on delay due to a similar situation to Greek Cavs Fan although just went the one way not the round trip. Being able to fast forward through breaks and free throws definitely made that first half more bearable. Got a hunch Warriors win easily tonight but man if some how some way we can muck it up and squeek out a title over Warriors then… Read more »
WHAT IS KLOVE’S CURRENT STATUS —–WILL HE BE READY FOR GAME 1 ——————AMICO HOOPS IS HINTING TO KOLBY TO SEEK TRADING LOVE THIS OFF SEASON—–THOUGHTS/ OPINIONS ??
I think Love should be considered a valuable, but diminishing, trade option. If I’m Altman, I’m looking to trade him.
I would trade him too, as a matter of fact I believe the only way Bron stays is if the Cavs trade KLove and the pick for a legit second option.
Amico just collects rumors from other sites and is almost always wrong.
However, if we want a legit #2 superstar (which Love is not) he + the pick is about the only way we land one. Or even have a shot.
“echoing ‘ evil’s post—-THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SERVICEMAN—–PAST AND PRESENT !!!!!!!!!!
I drove a combined 4 hours back and forth from my summer house to my regular house in the span of 9 hours to watch last night’s game, because I don’t have an internet connection in the summer house and the game in Greece started at 3:30 in the morning, so there was nothing open. Everybody called me nuts, but I am glad I did it. I am crazy tired today but it was all worth it. Everybody gave his best. It was a win of will. In the finals no matter who we play we will be the overwhelming… Read more »
Damn. You might qualify for fan of the year. Awesome story!
Dedication !
Aha! Kyrie was shy with a bandaged nose:
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23631844/kyrie-irving-boston-celtics-does-not-attend-game-7-due-deviated-septum-surgery
Is “deviated septum” code for “nose job?”
Yes
Can someone with meme skills make one with the M Smart flop and the Wilhelm Scream? That would please me to no end. Really enjoying this day and looking forward to watching the West tonight. It won’t happen, but could the Rockets please win? So great to be playing in June. Also, living in Boston as I do, having a whole ‘nother year to being able to wear my Cavs hat with pride is a wonderful thing. One other thing about Dorris — did you guys catch that thing she said about JR after game six? I forget exactly, but… Read more »
just looked at the regular season defensive ratings vs the playoffs—–guess one positive thing you can say about ty / longenberger—–when given the TIME / AND ONLY 1 OPPONENT TO PREPARE FOR —–THEY DO A RESPECTABLE JOB ——rest and get ready for thurs ——-again all last night / today had that same great feeling similar to the 2016 championship—- GO CAVS —–BELIEVELAND !!!
Do we give Lue/Koby some credit for Jeff Green’s signing now?
Yes, he has been inconsistent. But 10 ppg of the bench for the 82 and two huge games when facing elimination.
Begrudgingly, yes.
I realize now that I have taken LeBron for granted. As happy as I was when he came back, Kyrie was by far my favorite player. I always wanted him to have the most success and went crazy in 2016 when he blew the doors off the warriors with LBJ. I recognize that we will never see another player like LeBron and I will savor every last minute he plays until he retires.
He is the best player of his era by a wide margin. In my view he took that from Duncan/Kobe in 2011-’12 when he led the Heat to their first title. And had some huge elimination game perfirmances. 7 years atop the heap is a pretty long run.
And he was top 2-3 from 2007 to 2011. If not higher. Amazing.
He’s been the best player in the league since his second year. Kobe being the best player in the league was laughable. Duncan had a claim. But no one has held a candle to him for 13 years running.
+1. Jason has some fixation for diminishing James’ accomplishments and doesn’t even rank him in the top five all time. Beyond ludicrous. I am with you JoeyB on James being the best for the last 12-13 years, and I believe second all time to MJ who LeBron may still equal
Again you misrepresent. I said no way would I rank him first or ahead of Jordan, Russell, Kareem, or Wilt. 5th I could handle. 8 straight Finals is fantastic. 8 straight titles is better. 35 ppg in elimination games is awesome. Wilt averaged 31 + at least 25 rpg + lord knows how many blocks (probably around 9). And led the league in assists one year. 50/25 while playing every minute of every game for an entire year atxa faster pace with less timeouts. He averaged 46 mpg for his PO career. Bron does it twice in a week &… Read more »
Disagree. Kobe led those Kobe/Gasol Laker teams to 3 straight finals from 2008-2010. 2 wins. And excellent regular seasons as well. While I think he is a top 15 guy (not a top 10 or 5) I do think there was a year or two there where Kobe was a plausible #1.
Bron had shrinkage/quitter issues in 2010 & 2011. No way he gets it before that despite the regular season excellence. Plus he had no post game & the jumper was too spotty.
It’s really insane to me how the defense really came together last night. That’s how they survived that early deficit… and to me it was totally unexpected that they morphed into a lockdown defense…. they held the Celtics to 53 points in the final 3 quarters!!! It was like a throwback to 1st era LBJ in Cleveland. Also, that lockdown defense revealed that the only legit scorer the Celtics had was Tatum, whether it was poor coaching or playing, no way should he have taken that few shots. Great call by EG on Green…. and Green came through in a… Read more »
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR CLEVELAND CAVALIERS!!!!
Thank you LeBron James!!!! Never ever question this man’s will and passion.
This playoffs has been a roller coaster ride of an experience. Credit to everyone on our organization. I don’t know what our future holds but f*ck the finals record, we are all in!
Marcus Smart did sell limited contact, but there was clear contact to his chin. It wasn’t a whiff. That being said, he wasn’t in legal guarding position anyway, so it should have either been a play on or a foul on his face. The Morris twins were two separately fertilized eggs. They look identical so whatever. Jeff Green really stepped up defensively. His attention to detail far surpassed what we usually see from him. After the game, LeBron referred to him as “his guy”. I suspected, but maybe I should blame/give praise to Bron for sticking with Green through mostly… Read more »
No. no. No. You saw it at the wrong angle. There was ZERO contact.
https://twitter.com/CoreyDParker_/status/1000914520037044226?s=19
LOL…classic Smart…what a tool…
You are so right about livingston. Clarkson will bleed 3 points a minute.
As JVG said, it doesn’t matter whether or not there’s contact. Lebron made a legal offensive move and smart wasn’t in legal guarding position. Also, you have to check the tape. There’s a clear delay between when the hit supposedly took place and when Smart’s head snaps back. I don’t know when Marcus Smart started earning superstar calls, unless getting up to hitting 25% of your 3’s makes you a superstar.
Greatest stat on the pod among many: Celtics now 37-1 when up 2-0. Another big mark on James amazing ledger of accomplishments
Go Rockets. At home. Hopefully CP3 pulls a Willis Reed & wills them to a win but then has to limp through the rest of the series.
I just watched it again. I have to say, I agree with Windy. This was not a great LeBron game if looked at in isolation. Does that speak to his greatness that 35/15/9 on 50% shooting is not a ‘great’ game? Yes. But it was not. 8 TOs is poor. The D was a bit shoddy early. I can remember one egregious play letting Brown drain a 3. From 6 minutes to the last layup (up 7 with 1 minute left) he didn’t make a basket (3/4 from the line). He let Smart get a board off a FT. Had… Read more »
It wasn’t his best game, but it was certainly one of his mentally toughest games. It’s clear he’s pushing past exhaustion. He quite literally has nothing left to prove, in cleveland or anywhere. He’s playing 48 minutes straight with an exhausted body with straight mental fortitude. It’s really impressive.
Marcus Smart looking for at least 12-14 million per year this offseason. I think he brings a lot to the Celtics as that “Draymond”-like heart and soul to the team and they’re a better team with him on the roster. It would probably screw up their cap situation though so I can see some other team giving him the money and Ainge letting him go.
I think Danny needs to give him $18 mill per….gotta make him happy…
Id like to rewatch the point where they were down 12 – and lebron chucks up a laaazzyy 3 and had basically given up. some other players started scoring then and I want to understand who they were and how they did it
This doesn’t tell you how, but in the play by play, the Celtics went up 35-23 early in the 2nd. The Cavs’ next five possessions: two James turnovers, then missed jumpers by James, Green and James.
The next two buckets came from Hill and Green. Then LeBron, Green, JR and TT.
It took about six minutes to cut the lead from 12 to 2.
hill green geeen jr tt – that gave james hope
Stevens was right. We were ready to get KO’d and they just could not score.
There was a similar stretch at 47-41 early 3rd, but it was only like 3 possessions each.
Again, this was NOT a great game from Bron. Far from his best. Given the circumstances however…..
Saw some tweet that said, ‘JR Smith threw soup at Damon Jones and Cavs still made it to Finals, unreal’ hahaha….weirdest season ever that I can recall from any franchise of any sport.
Special thanks to all of our active duty and military veterans on this Memorial Day
Lets go Rockets!!
https://twitter.com/cediosman/status/1001002989983846401?s=19
I wish he was given meaningful playing time
Many of our youth were star strucked in the moment last night. Good to see all those smiles!
Doesn’t matter if the Morris brothers are identical or fraternal twins. They are both ugly, annoying and delusional.
Lol
Green is a fun word to describe what happened. But I’ll give you another one: Pride. In the best sense, that is what we saw last night. There is no other way to explain the indomitable will of King James. I mean, barring some freakish development in the finals, this crew doesn’t have much chance of winning the title. But LBJ gave everything he could, on the road, and his team followed his example. Gone is the destiny of finally winning for the Land, gone are his best friends at his side, like JFJ (DWade was supposed to be that… Read more »
Have only listened to the very beginning on the drive to work. Was on the road last night for the first half, but I checked the score early second quarter, and it was 26-18 Celtics, I think, and I was not optimistic. I checked as I was almost home and it was a 4 point differential, and I felt they had a fighting chance. I was just worried about getting down 12-15 early and being in a hole the rest of the game. Steph may veer from 40% to 90% from game to game, but I guarantee that Lebron was… Read more »
thank you LeBron / cavs —-thank you ctb brothers !!!—had big cook out—couldn’t join you guys for the party ——is downtown Cleveland still partying —cavs win —Indians dramatic walk off win ——great to be a Cleveland fan—-BELIEVELAND —IN THE LAND !!!——-ALMOST HAVE THAT SAME FEELING THAT I HAD BACK IN 2016——–THINK LNJ / CLARCKSON- ( AND YES MAYBE EVEN UTAH HOOD )—-MIGHT PERFORM BETTER AGAINST THE WESTERN CONFERENCE TEAM —-GO CAVS !!
Tatum is gonna be a stud moving forward, be interesting how Celtics mix in Hayward and Kyrie after all this. Those two nearly got sucked into the Ewing theory vortex.
Leborn unreal as usual, glad to see Jeff Green step it up, always thought he had way more potential than he was showing, just looks like a mismatch regardless of opponent. Enjoying this one! GO CAVS!!
Thank god JR went into YOLO mode. If he would have gone into his shell like in the other road games, no way they win this one. I hope he brings that mentality into the finals, so that it will at least be entertaining.
I would love to see a collage with the faces of Paul Pierce, Michael Rappaport and Bill Simmons the moment they realized the Cavs were once again going to the finals.
I need to confess, I stopped watching in the second quarter. I was watching the game on my phone and I was a millisecond away from smashing it through the sliding glass door after Clarkson took a mid-range jumper that bounced off, then he slapped his hand together like, “Sh!t I missed”. That was it for me. So needless to say, it sucks I missed the second half. I’ll need to watch it online to catch LeBron’s greatness once again. Glad to have made it another season here on CtB. Sorry I punked out at the last minute. Unfortunately seems… Read more »