Nope, Doc is still a moron. We have as high as a 10-point lead and he waits until the Cavs are on an 8-0 run to pull within one to rest Rondo. Good time to go without the best player in the series Doc.

Looking good for the C's. Mo can't carry those bums.

2nd half

Celts pick em -115
230/200

Very few moments in sports have been as satisfying as this......

Celts didn't beat Cleveland. They destroyed their soul. LeBron is the king of the regular season. Too bad championships are not won in the regular season.

Echoed my feelings exactly. I'm sure everyone's still gonna pick the Magic, but let's not forget that everyone assumed Cleveland would stampede Orlando last season after sweeping through the first two rounds.

So what stops LJ from being signed by Boston in the off season?

Complete and utter lack of cap flexibility? You're serious?

9 turnovers. What a buster.

The Cavs need to let him go and pursue a proven winner...D. Wade. Then beat the punk b.itches ass in the playoffs.

Say what you want about Skip but at least he takes a f.ucking stand.

I'm so god-damned sick of the LeBron love in the sports media I can puke. If LeBron stays and never wins a championship for Cleveland they should take the above image and make a statue out of it and put it in front of his locker.

True that. Only a few come to my mind. Commendable winning the Belmont Stakes is one. Plus a couple of Kobayashi's hot dog eating wins I think outdid it satisfaction wise. I'm at a loss after those however. So you may be on to something.

Dude I feel your pain but you can't begrudge Celtic fans for enjoying this.

Oh no, I don't begrudge Celtic fans anything. Cleveland fans deep down really love all things Boston sports.

"To say LeBron's game is not polished is pretty far out there."....


Guilty of being "pretty far out there"....

Talented and polished are completely different skill sets. James doesn't make anyone on the Cavs better than the talents they already possess. Rhondo completely outplayed James in the series while showing that his game is becoming more versatile or polished because his shot is becoming more dependable.

James makes his team uncomfortable when his shot isn't falling. AJ has never looked worse trying to guard KG while trying to figure out when he can push his own offense.

All I kept reading was how James and his deep talented bench was going to abuse Boston. Celts would be lucky to win a game. Seems the Celts were "lucky" 4 out of the 6 games played.

I'm really sorry. I was very wrong on all things about LeBron James. I apologize. His jersey says "Cleveland". I want him to succeed while wearing that jersey. Why is that so bad? Warts and all his 7 years in Cleveland were the 7 best years consecutively in franchise history. They won playoff series' in 5 consecutive years....yes, FIVE. That may not sound like much to a fan of the god-like Boston Celtics but pre-LeBron the greatest franchise streak was 2 years. It turns out he is indeed not God. I'm not sure if I ever claimed that, but he single-handedly made one of the worst franchises in professional sports history relevant.

That is something. I'll defend anything I guess. Three years ago CC Sabathia was reviled in Cleveland because he came up woefully short in the postseason. He was the Cy Young winner but got outpitched by Beckett in game 1 and game 5 in the ALCS. Game 5 a potential clincher at home. He choked, I guess. Sound familiar? Next year traded and single-handedly pitched a woeful Brewer organization into the playoffs. Stunk in postseason yet again. Next year he is a champion and suddenly able to pitch in postseason. What happened?

I can't honestly defend what happened this series. I will state this. They won 42 playoff games in his time here.....7 years. The first 34 years of the franchise they won 28 playoff games total. I can defend that. He's done remarkable things on the court for this franchise. You make good points in your post...but to state Jamison couldn't play defense on Garnett because LeBron's jump shot wasn't falling does seem a bit out there too. So even in your bashings of him, you actually feed the myth of him. You feel his powers are so, so great, his jump shot success actually affects defensive abilities of his teammates.

( I also find it hilarious how no Boston fan on here has talked about the refs one single time after the last 3 games. How is that even possible? They suddenly found their groove or something? I talked about them facetiously a bit but nothing from Boston fans. Odd. Not odd, actually, just complete pansies. After game one it was all refs, after games 4, 5, and 6, it was nothing about the refs. Boston Celtic fans are complete and total pansies of the highest order. That you can take to the bank)

I do find it curious that Lebron was somehow supposed to make Jamison a better defender. Jamison is perhaps the worst defender in the league and that is putting it mildly. Would any player in NBA history save Bill Russell or Akeem in his better days have made him look any better?

Lebron could have played better last night and over the series. I have never seen him look worse over a course of a series but I think a good measure of credit has to go to Boston's defense and yes Joey, Doc's gameplan in stopping him. He was certainly rattled and the 9 turnovers were crushing.

Suddenly, people like that idiot Skip Bayless (the biggest idiot in all of sports media) are feeling somehow vindicated in whatever cheap swipes they took at him. The guy had a triple ****ing double. He had 19 rebounds. Is it his fault Jamison shoots 2-10 and can't guard the towel boy? The media was crying after the last game that he wasn't assertive enough and now he doesn't make his teammates better. Does Kobe Bryant "make his teammates better"? Give me a break. Kobe won last year because he is a great player and he had a good team around him not to mention a competent coach.

To the victor goes the spoils and Boston won. Their fans surely have the right to gloat especially after some of the comments that were made in this thread. No doubt, I would be doing the same thing. At the same time, this kid is getting killed because his team lost to an underrated and game champion. Its almost as if Boston fans are more excited about Lebron not succeeding than about their own team's accomplishment.

By the way, Boston starters Rondo, Allen and Pierce were a combined 6-24 outside of the paint last night. Pierce and Allen, the guys the superior Rondo was "making better", shot a combined 6-21 from the floor as a whole.

Congrats to Boston and its fans. They played an outstanding series and last night was an incredible defensive effort.

Well, hopefully LeBron will leave so Varajao can become the 20 and 10 man he should be if that dang LeBron wasn't holding him back so much. You can tell watching his shooting form and ball handling skills what he could be if LeBron wasn't there.

Varajao sucks so bad. the cavs could have won last night if that guy hadnt played. he's terrible and his hair sucks too. (uh oh I think NEbrady might get mad at me now)

Also Lebron just didnt have any "swag". He looked lost, definately wasnt dominant no matter what the stats say.

I'll take Orlando in 6 in the next series.. and Orlando over the Suns in the Championship.

No. He is the one guy on the team who plays hard every single second he's on the floor. He is what he is. He struggled the whole series, but the whole team did. I should probably blame the refs for that...I know the whole Boston fan contingent on this board would, but I'm pretty sure it was just Boston who played better which made the whole team struggle. I should be happy I think. Orlando would have planted Cleveland like a potato.

I will give you that.. he's the only one who really hustled non stop.. Mo did some of that too. But his effort hurt the team IMO.. He rushed, the threw up bad shot after bad shot after bad shot.. every time trying to draw a foul which he wouldnt get.. then he'd cry to the ref's. didnt even seem to look to pass. His hustle was commendable, his play sucked.

The Celtics winning doesnt make most of this nonsense true. Boston played much better than they have in 2 years. Not one player on Cleveland had a good series. It is really not that complicated.

Every team in the league would love to have him.

Some day many of you will realize ,first, how unimportant all this really is and, second, what a phony James is.


That's how simple it is.

Things I didn't see coming 2 weeks ago

1. Rajon Rondo turning into a real star and having Magic Johnson-type games. Great job in the 2006 draft by Isiah trading what turned out to be the 2nd pick (for fat, gay slob Eddy Curry) and missing out on LaMarcus Aldridge or Brandon Roy and with the 21st pick selecting Reynaldo Balkman rather than Rajon Rondo who went 22nd.
2. LeBron James either being struck with clinical depression and playing like a zombie or becoming the worlds biggest *****
3. Mike Brown going to the rarely seen 11 man rotation. Brown being outcoached wasn't a stretch but this badly by Doc Rivers is inexcusable. Not to mention Rivers had his team breathing fire(except 4th quarter of game 1 and the game they mailed in) and Brown sat passively while Rome burned.
4. The complete domination of Jamison by KG. I didn't think the 2010 version of KG had that kind of series left in him.

Though the story is James and his mystery lethargic attitude along with pending free agency, you have to give credit to Boston for winning virtually every matchup. And that is with Paul Pierce playing horribly. They outhustled Cleveland, they beat them to loose balls, hit big shots and deserved to win. But I still think this was probably the last hurrah and they are going to be in serious decline unless they have a major roster shakeup. Replacing Allen is going to be hard and resigning him is suicide. Pierce looked very bad this series and who knows how many more great series KG has left in him. Perkins is a solid defensive center and Rondo showed he can take it to a new level but the rest of the team is very hit or miss. If I were Ainge I would poison Rasheed Wallace and hope to get away with it rather than have him around for another year and Finley is a cooked goose. Big Baby is nothing more than a role player as is Tony Allen. Nate is Nate but that aint much and forget the rest.

Cleveland is screwed anyway you look at it.

I don't think anyone was arguing that the Celtics aren't in decline. But when healthy, they're still as dangerous as anybody in the field. If they get '08 or '09 form from Pierce in the ECF, Orlando is toast.

The best way to slow down Rondo is have Tubby Smith coach him.

I think they treated this series like the last stand. Can they do it again? I was wrong about this series but Pierce has to play a whole lot better for them to have a chance to win the series. Orlando has Vince carter so anything is still possible, either way.

He earned the name Isiah Thompson, that's for sure.

Rondo is a PLAYER, good to see him flourish like he is.

:tro::tro:

If they get that kind of effort from Birds.hit Wallace they have a real shot to work Orlando. What is that big douches name on the Magic that's in commercials? Dwight Schrute? Yeah we'll see if he's a real player or just another buster.

Sports post of the year

:tro:

What would really be scary is if Rondo was paired with a bigtime finisher. Allen, Garnett and Pierce are great players but arent at their best going to the basket.

I would pay $55.99 PPV style to see Isiah waterboarded and electrocuted "Taken"-style

Howard can't do anything if Perkins guards him. Perk is stronger and pushes him away from the basket, where Howard bitches up. Even Baby and Sheed do decent jobs on keeping Howard out of the post. Which will leave it up to Vince Carter.

:)

:{>:

I really don't think he's phony. He's an ego-maniacal self important, self entitled professional athlete. He believes the world revolves around him and damn the rest of us. He is what he is. (and to be fair he's not PacMan Jones or Chris Henry or Michael Vick either....guess I'm a glass half full guy!). All I know is the Cavs were a better team since he joined them...that's my only investment. And he entertains when he plays, both when he plays good and bad. I wanted Albert Belle to hit home runs when he played for the Indians too. I'm pretty simplistic that way.

(clyde, are you telling me that LeBron's free agent decision really has no bearing on the world in general!! :):) ) your education of us never ceases!

clyde, are you as shocked as I am that the signing of Russell Branyan hasn't turned the fortunes of the Tribe around?? You wait, when Jhonny's 32 he'll have it turned around completely!! :D

Thank you very much.




I will read what you said later.

You know me,HC...I love rebuilding with ancient players who can't do anything.


Really makes sense.

Celts didn't play well this first half either but seem at first look to be competitive with Da'Magic. Are they truly competitive here or is this just a set up for a Bruin type collapse.

Celtics really have to clean it up in the second half. Those Orlando threes are gonna start falling. 41% and 10 turnovers ain't gonna cut it.

Celts got this.