Playoff Podcap: Celtics 96, Cavs 83 (or, Rough Road)
2018-05-24https://soundcloud.com/ctb-5/episode-173-rough-road
The Cavs proved once again to be no match on the road as they fell behind early at the TD Garden by 13 in the first quarter, and wound up losing by precisely that margin in the end. Though they made runs in the final three quarters, they never really got the deficit under 10 that often, and trailed by as much as 20 early in the fourth quarter. The Celtics didn’t even really shoot that well, averaging just 36.5% from the field on the night… but they wound up taking 11 more shots than the Cavs given Cleveland’s 15 turnovers, and a lot of those were threes. Ty Lue once again went the inexplicable route in his wonky rotations… and had an even weirder response for why he didn’t play Kyle Korver at all in the first quarter…
#Cavaliers coach Ty Lue said Brad Stevens not going to Semi Ojeleye in first quarter "threw them for a loop" & led him to keep Kyle Korver on the bench (yeesh)
— Scott Souza (@Scott_Souza) May 24, 2018
To recap and try to make sense of this nonsense… Nate, EG and RightDownEuclid gathered their courage and hopped into the podcast booth. We dissect what went wrong (mostly Ty Lue), what went right (Larry Nance stood up for himself), and whether or not we expect the Cavs to regroup and respond in Game 6. EG went off his meds to throw shade at Terry Rozier and his non-masculine fighting style, then contemplated the complexities of LeBron’s future. RDE chimed in with some observations on fan rapport. Meanwhile, Nate kept us all grounded with his boundless optimism. Let’s hope he’s right, and that the Cavs can take care of business at the Q on Friday… then navigate the potholes and construction cones in a Game 7 on the road Sunday.
As always, you can catch us above, on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts or Google Play.
Great podcast, guys. Really enjoyed the discussions about LeBron’s future and the intensity of the Q crowds. I have to say I splurged and got seats in the 11th row behind the bench for Game 2 against Indiana. I pretty much considered this a “must win” given how badly the Cavs played in Game 1. When LeBron went nuts in the first quarter and took a personal 16-1 lead, me and my brother were going bananas. But it seemed like most of the people around us were just kinda wondering what we were cheering about. It was pretty strange. And,… Read more »
Could it be that both Warriors and Cavs are feeling the tolls of 3 straight years of playing deep into the playoffs? Both Rockets and Celtics were not exactly sensational in their respective Game 5 but they seem to have more energy.
Only Bron, Love, JR, & TT did it. And only Korver last year. Plus TT & Love missed a lot of time this year.
LeBron yes. Everyone else? No.
I think the toll of being coached by an idiot is a greater toll.
Hahaha that’s great JoeyB.
Warriors and Rockets is a grueling series. When a series is played that hard, injury prone guys/old guys with lot of mileage get hurt like Iguodala and now CP3. It shouldn’t be excuse, since your team is who you signed as everyone carries pros and cons. Kyrie probably finished only two seasons healthy, boston should have known who they got.
Who knew? All the Celtics had to do to keep Korver from hitting 3s was bench Semi Ojelele…
Especially after Korver’s D on Brown the prior game. It makes no sense.
Lue is just not that bright and cannot adjust well in the flow of the game. Like IT & Wade said.
One last complaint about Lue’s reasoning behind not playing Korver I need to get off my chest. The whole reason you make moves is to force the other team to adjust and then you need to be prepared to make more adjustments. Lue has said all playoffs that he thinks the Cavs are basically unstoppable on offense when they surround Lebron with shooters against a traditional lineup. If that’s his belief, then why would he hesitate to put Korver into the game when Stevens went with Baynes? That’s the lineup you want to take advantage of with your shooting by… Read more »
This would be a historic choke by the Warriors. Game 4 would be worse than Heat blowin lead over Mavs in game 2 2011. That series also should have been won in 5 games
But of course Cp3 gets hurt, so the warriors will win. Man what a weird playoffs this has been
Yeah, another lucky draw by GS.
FWIW, Paul said he was okay for game 6…believe he told Sam Amick. Remains to be seen, obviously, but that’s a better sign than I expected.
My guess is, knowing CP3, he will grit his teeth and try to olay through it.
Question gor the Rockets is do you let him? Or do you sit him for game 6 & get him as healthy as possible for game 7?
Last time he played against the spurs on a hammy injury in G7 (and hit the game winning shot), he had to sit the fist 2 games of the next round, so it comes down to whether you really think you have the Dubs on the ropes. I think they do, and if they don’t win G6, Dubs are gonna win G7 anyway. So might as well leave it all on the court.
Feel bad for cp3, but something like this happens to him every single year. Caveat emptor, indeed.
Argh! This is why Lue’s coaching madden me. These two western teams are clearly vulnerable.
If you call these teams vulnerable, then what would you call the Cavs? The intensity of last night’s game was the highest I have seen since our famous comeback. Really impressed with the Rox. They are defending as if they have played together for years. Extremely few mistakes and against arguably the hardest team ever to defend with all the shooting they have and all the stuff they are running every time. I don’t know who the defensive coach for the Rockers is, Bzdelik or something I believe, but I would certainly trade him for Longambardi.
Last time CP3 played G7 on a hammy injury, he missed the first 2 games of the next series. He’s taken some of the load off Harden, but Harden still looks as gassed as Lebron at times. So I’d put the rockets down for almost as vulnerable as the Cavs.
Yeah, I was going to post the same thing. The Rockets and Warriors have been the best two teams in the league all year, and if one or the other, or both, look ‘vulnerable’, it’s because they are playing each other.
Playoff Harden, yikes