Cavaliers vs. Celtics

[ChicagoCavFan]

Cleveland Cavaliers (39-29) VS Boston Celtics(29-40)

Friday, March 24th, 2006
7:30pm ET
Radio : WTAM 1100
Television: FSN Ohio
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH

Head Coaches

Mike Brown / Doc Rivers

Probable Staters

Eric Snow / Delonte West

Flip Murray / Paul Pierce

LeBron James / Wally Szczerbiak

Drew Gooden / Ryan Gomes

Zydrunas Ilgauskas / Raef Lafrentz


Cleveland Cavaliers Bench

Damon Jones / Sasha Pavlovic / Anderson Varejao / Donyell Marshall / Alan Henderson

Boston Celtic's Bench

Brian Scalabrine / Orien Greene / Tony Allen / Kendrick Perkins / Dwayne Jones


ChicagoCavFan's Game Notes

* The Celtics final trip to Quicken Loans Arena this season. We defeated them 115-93 on November 22, 2005. If we beat them, it will be the first time since the 1999/2000 season the Celts have not won at least one game in Cleveland.

* In their previous meeting in Boston (February 15th, just before the All Star break), Pierce scored 50 points in a thrilling double OT 113-109 good guys win.

* Pierce has been arguably the best player in the NBA the last month and a half. He has scored 30+ points in 14 of his last 15 games. He led the league in scoring in the month of February at 33.5 PPG.

ChicagoCavFan's Keys to Victory

* Contain Paul Pierce - as shown above, he has been on fire. Delonte West is a main cog in how successful they will be as a team. Eric contains him, victory for Boston becomes difficult.

* Hammer the ball down low - Boston doesn't have much to match up with Z, Andy and Drew. It is a re-occurring theme, but get that aspect of our game rolling, and it opens up the lanes and the outside for Flip and LeBron to drive, and Damon and Donyell to hit their outside shots, respectively.

* The last game of a 4 game homestand for the Cavs - finish strong - establish home court dominance heading into the playoffs. Play like we want the 4 seed, guaranteeing home court advantage in the first round.
​

 

[PIP]

They better play much better than they did against the Bobcats... Their defense completely fell off the planet in that game... Not to mention, Boston always plays us well..

Ryan Gomes (a steal in the draft for them) is playing excellent ball as of late... Pierce has arguably been the best player in the NBA since the all star break...

I want this one bad... I hate Doc Rivers to the highest degree..

 

[cdt]

I won't be surprised if we lose this. We are just like Indiana in the fact that we play down to our opponents level. If they chuck 3's so do we, even if we go 1 for 20.

Paul Pierce is going to carve us up big time, West hurt us last time with his threes, and like you said Jefferson and Gomes will suck to play with Gooden and AV..if we win it'll be a squeaker like last game.

 

[hughes1988]

playing in cleveland... we win enough said...

 

[PIP]

playing in cleveland... we win enough said...

Hughes1988 with the bold prediction.

 

[Kypus]

Boston doesn't really have anything to play for except for Paul Pierce's 30+ scoring binge. Not a connected streak but I'm sure he'll want to keep it going- and Pierce unleashed always spells trouble for us.

Lafrentz will make Gooden guard him out at the 3 point line, so we might have to use AV more. He's a little more mobile out there. Kendrick Perkins is back and taking some of Gomes' minutes now, he can shotblock but Z can shoot over him no problem.

After watching us adjust to our competition lastnight w/ the Bobcats, I'm not going to bother to make a prediction. No idea what our team's focus will be like.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Posted on Fri, Mar. 24, 2006
James, Pierce resume rivalry
Cavaliers standout set to go head-to-head with star of Celtics 10th time
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter

CLEVELAND - Over the last three years, much has been made of the story line, ``LeBron James vs. (opposing star's name here).''

Whether it's Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade or Kobe Bryant, when they're playing James and the Cavaliers, it's usually televised nationally and much-hyped.

But the schedule-makers and TV decision-makers seemingly haven't noticed James' most fierce and entertaining individual rivalry: the one against Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics.

Tonight marks the 10th regular-season matchup between James and Pierce over the last three years, as the Celtics visit Quicken Loans Arena. Their history and rivalry goes beyond those games, however. In fact, including the four preseason games the Cavs have played with the Celtics over the last two years, James has faced Pierce more than any other contemporary star.

The last time the two hooked up, the result was one of the best Cavs games for viewing this season.

James put up 43 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in a double-overtime victory. Pierce scored a career-high 50 points and might have forced a third overtime -- or led his team to victory -- had he not drawn his sixth foul.

The next day, both flew to Houston to take part in the All-Star Game.

``We didn't script it, it just kind of ended up that way. I look at it like it was a classic,'' Pierce said. ``You had two all-stars going toe to toe, and I think it was fun just being a part of it.''

It was just the latest in a series of intense matchups. The start goes back to James' rookie season, when he scored 37 points and Pierce bested him with 41 in a Celtics victory.

Over the last two seasons, the Cavs have played three games with the Celtics that have come down to the final seconds, two of which have gone to overtime.

Since James came into the league, the Cavs are 5-4 vs. Pierce and Boston. Pierce has averaged 30 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists in those games. James has averaged 28.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists. The two have guarded each other a majority of the time, which hasn't always been the case with high-profile opponents such as Bryant, Wade and Anthony.

``I always like going up against him,'' James said. ``We're both similar players and we play the same position, so we usually guard each other. It's always a lot of fun.''

They were guarding each other before last season during a preseason game in Columbus at Value City Arena when things got heated. James and Pierce were aggressively going after each other on the offensive and defensive ends. It boiled over after James got a steal and dunk.

Being chirped at from the Cavs' bench, Pierce spit at the reserves. He later was fined.

Following the game, Pierce and James got into a fiery exchange in the hallway between the locker rooms with then-coach Paul Silas having to break things up and Pierce having to be carried away by teammates.

The two later made up at the All-Star Game in Denver, but they still make sure they bring their best game to face each other.

``He's a top scorer and I'm a top scorer and we kind of offset each other,'' Pierce said. ``He's a very nice guy. He's having an MVP-type year guiding his team to the playoffs.''

 

[Flippin #2]

Be ready for a battle boys, but their is only one thing we need to know....



4...just 4

 

[jjc58]

What an anticlimactic start to this game. Teams are shooting a combined 3-25 (or something like that)...

Thank god that they can't hit a thing either, or else I'd have broken my television by now...

 

[The George]

wow that was terrible

 

[jjc58]

Maybe Mike Brown is better at in-game adjustments than I give him credit for...

 

[jjc58]

Alright, Donyell. Man, I'm really hoping that he and Damon keep working out the kinks in their shots. If they're hot in the playoff, we can score with anyone...

 

[Karma]

Finally a couple of made hoops after a brick fest.

16-15 at the timeout.

 

[Karma]

Andy another missed double at the line. Tsk

 

[Glen Infante]

A shakey start. End of first quarter Cavaliers down 21-16