Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals
vs.
on the road to claim
RECORDS
Cavs: 1-2 (4th seed in Eastern Conference)
Celtics: 2-1 (1st seed in Eastern Conference)
8:00PM EDT
AT
INSIDE
HEAD COACHES
Mike Brown | Doc Rivers
Cavs Starting 5
Delonte |Wally World | James |Big Ben |Zadrunas
vs.
Rondo|Shuttlesworth |Pierce| KG | Perkins
Celtics Starting 5
Cavaliers Rotation
Sasha | Brown| Smith | Boobie
Cavaliers Bench
DJones | DwJones | Allred | Thomas
Cavaliers Injuries
E Snow| AV
· Eric Snow (Left Knee) is out.
· Anderson Varejao (Left Knee Contusion) is out.
Celtics Rotation
ET | Posey | Powe| Big Baby
Celtics Bench
T Allen | Brown | House | Scalabrine|Pruitt
Celtics Injuries
Drugs are why I'm out injured...again.
· Scot Pollard (Left Ankle Surgery) is out.
Series at a Glance
Game 1:
L 4/19/08 Cavs 72, Celtics 76 at the Garden
Game 2:
L 4/21/08 Cavs 73, Celtics 89 at the Garden
Game 3:
W 4/24/08 Cavs 108, Celtics 84 at the Q
Cavaliers Notes
Cavs Playoffs By the Numbers
No. |Name |Pos. |Ht. |Wt.| PPG |RPG |APG
23|LeBron James|F|6-8|240|25.9|8.4|7.7
11|Zydrunas Ilgauskas|C|7-3|238|15.6|7.7|2.0
10|Wally Szczerbiak|F|6-7|244|11.9|1.6|1.7
13|Delonte West|G|6-4|180|9.9|3.8|4.9
1|Daniel Gibson|G|6-2|190|9.2|1.4|2.6
32|Joe Smith|F|6-10|225|6.2|4.6|0.4
33|Devin Brown|G|6-5|220|4.1|2.4|1.1
4|Ben Wallace|C-F|6-9|240|3.6|7.0|1.4
17|Anderson Varejao|F|6-10|230|3.1|5.2|0.8
3|Sasha Pavlovic|G-F|6-8|220|4.0|0.8|0.0
27|Dwayne Jones|F-C|6-11|250|0.6|1.2|0.0
19|Damon Jones|G|6-3|185|1.0|0.0|0.3
12|Billy Thomas|G|6-4|208|1.0|0.3|0.3
41 |Lance Allred |C-F | 6-11| 250|0|0|0
20 |Eric Snow| PG| 6-3| 205|0|0|0
·The Cavaliers are 3-1 at home during the postseason. In those games, Cleveland has held its opponents to 86.0 points per game on .398 shooting. No team has scored over 88 points against Cleveland in any of the four games.
·The Cavaliers are 7-3 all-time at home against Boston in the playoffs. Dating back to the 1995-96 season, Cleveland has gone 18-7 against Boston at The Q in the regular season and playoffs combined including seven straight wins in Cleveland.
·Delonte West and Joe Smith both tied their playoff career highs in Game 3 against Boston. West finished with 21 points on 7-11 shooting including four three-pointers while adding seven assists and five rebounds. Smith scored 17 points on 7-8 shooting and grabbed six rebounds.
·In his last four games, Wally Szczerbiak has averaged 17.0 points per game. He has scored at least 13 points in all four games.
·In Game 3 against Boston, the Cavaliers shot .536 (37-69) from the field. It marked their highest field goal percentage in a playoff game since Game 5 (May 3, 2006) of the 2006 First Round series against the Wizards when the Cavs shot .543 (44-81) from the field. Since 1992, Cleveland is 7-1 in playoff games in which they shoot 53 percent or better.
·In seven games against Boston this season (regular season and playoffs), Zydrunas Ilgauskas has averaged 15.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. In the three games during the series, Ilgauskas has averaged 17.7 points per game.
·LeBron James has averaged 29.3 points and 7.8 assists and 7.5 rebounds per game in four home playoff games this season.
·James' 22.4 percent field goal percentage in the first three games is the worst of any three-game stretch in playoff history since the 1977-78 ABA-NBA merger.
·Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith and Ben Wallace -- all acquired in deals at the Feb. 21 trading deadline -- totaled 63 points, 20 rebounds and six 3-pointers in the game 3 win.
·In 42 career playoff games, LeBron James has averaged 27.0 points and 7.2 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game.
·In 46 career playoff games, Z has averaged 12.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. In 2008, he's averaging 15.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
·In 112 career playoff games, Big Ben has averaged 8.1 points and 12.4 rebounds per game.
Celtics Notes
Celtics Playoffs By the Numbers
No. |Name |Pos. |Ht. |Wt.| PPG |RPG |APG
34 |Paul Pierce |F |6-7| 235 | 16.3 |4.6 |4.4
5 |Kevin Garnett |F |6-11 |253 |20.5 |9.1 |3.6
43 |Kendrick Perkins |C |6-10| 264 | 7.2| 6.8 |0.5
20| Ray Allen |G |6-5 |205 |13.9 |3.2| 3.0
9 |Rajon Rondo |G |6-1 |171 |11.0 |4.0| 6.3
42 |Tony Allen| G |6-4 |213 |1.3 |0.2 |0.1
93| P.J. Brown |C/F| 6-11| 238| 1.3| 1.1| 0.2
28 |Sam Cassell| G| 6-3 |193 |6.4 |1.1 |1.4
11 |Glen Davis| F| 6-9 |289 |2.0 |1.2| 0.6
50 |Eddie House| G |6-1 |175 | 0.3| 0.9 |0.7
0 |Leon Powe| F| 6-8 |240| 6.5| 3.7| 0.4
41 |James Posey| F| 6-8 |217 |7.8 |4.0| 1.3
66 |Scot Pollard| C |6-11 |278 |0|0|0
13 |Gabe Pruitt| G |6-4 |170 | 0 |0|0
44 |Brian Scalabrine| F |6-9 |235 |0|0|0
·The Celtics were outscored 32-13 in the first quarter to pace the rest of the contest…They would never come within 10 points for the remainder of the contest.
·The Cavaliers and Celtics split the season series 2-2. One of the Celtics wins was without LeBron James in the lineup.
·The Celtics and the Cavaliers have met in the playoffs three times with the Celtics holding a record of 10-7 and two series wins.
·The last Celtics-Cavaliers series came during the 1991-92 season when they met during the Eastern Conference Semifinals and were eliminated in a seventh game 122-104 in Cleveland.
·The Celtics and Cavaliers also met during the 1984-85 playoffs in the First Round and in 1975-76 Conference Finals with the Celtics coming away with victories in both series.
·In 57 career playoff games, KG has averaged 22.0 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game. In 2008, he's averaging 20.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game.
·In 47 career playoff games, Paul Pierce has averaged 22.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game. In 2008, he's averaging 16.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game.
·In 47 career playoff games, Ray Allen has averaged 22.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game. In 2008, he's averaging 13.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game.
_amon's Keys to the Game
·More Z. Z is a dominant force against the Celtics...when he's used. They just haven't been able to have an answer for him. Getting Z involved early gets everyone else better looks. He's a veteran and understands his role. He needs to be as much of a problem for the Celtics as LeBron.
·LeBron needs to drive. And drive. And Drive. Despite getting laid out by a Posey clothesline, LBJ needs to find some way to get into a rhythm and get his shot to fall. The best way to do that, is to beat the Celts on the inside for some easy buckets. The Celtics want James to shoot from the outside. They are pretty much daring him to do so, right now. If he can get some easy shots early, he can take over.
·Keep up the ball movement. The constant movement of the ball confused the hell out of the Celtics. They were lost from tip-off, and couldn't get back on track. This needs to continue. Doc Rivers is a horrible coach, and has only succeeded because of the talent the Celts now have (sound familiar?...although Brown is a much better coach than Doc). The constant movement is creating open looks for everyone, and they are capitalizing. This team is much better than it was a year ago, and has enough talent to beat anyone...if they bring it every night.
_amon's Prediction
Cavs 93, Celtics 84
·Cleveland won despite LeBron's poor performance in game 3. They were close in game 1 even though they were the visitor, and LBJ had his worst playoff performance of his career. They can beat Boston. They are deep enough, and talented enough. If the team continues what it started in game 3, and LBJ returns to normal (or, even half normal for LeBron), they can beat the Celtics. The Celtics are flawed (but, so are the Cavs) and can be beaten.
·The only thing that is truly beating the Cavs this season (in both the 2nd half and the post-season) is a lack of consistency. If the Cavs played with any consistency, they would have swept the Wizards, and would be up 2-1 on Boston. If they can maintain and build on the play of game 3, they will win.
·I am concerned about LBJ. He has taken a ton of punishment this season, in the no calls for fouls, the brutal attacks from the opponents (4 flagrants against him in the playoffs, so far), and the amount of minutes he racked up. Because of his poor shot selection and lack of attack to the rim, I wonder if one of those flagrants didn't give him a concussion. He's missing a ton of shots that he normally buries. Some of that is due to defense, but there seems to be something wrong with his shot and decision making. Despite the great win in game 3, the Cavs won't go anywhere if LeBron isn't right. Just a thought.
What the Media is Saying
From a blog, but very interesting:
BOSTON v. CLEVELAND: MIKE D'ANTONI
You know, we've said it in this space before, the Chuckster alludes to it about five times a night, and you saw it for yourself last summer with Team USA: LeBron James filling the lane on the fast break is about as physically unstoppable as Shaq was down on the low block in his prime.
As much talk as there is about whether D'Antoni is the best fit in Chicago or Toronto or New York or Dallas, doesn't he actually make the most sense in Cleveland? Is there any team that *needs* to be relentlessly fast breaking more than the Cavs?
Yeah, sure, they'd still need the right point guard to make it go, but when you have possibly the greatest fast-break finisher in basketball history, I say you've got a pretty decent building block to start with.
How many PPG would LeBron average out on the break, at a faster pace? 35? More? You'd have to think the numbers and the fun style of play might help keep him away from the Brooklyn Hovas down the road, no? Although, quality of supporting cast will probably still be more important, questions about whether there was enough D to win in the D'Antoni style could arise, and who knows if the whole thing isn't essentially fait accompli already, no matter what.
In any event, it would be pretty ballsy for Danny Ferry to emulate the Joe Dumars Carlisle-for-L. Brown swap by canning Mike Brown for D'Antoni even after the Cavs' recent success, but I think it'd actually be a good move for his franchise, both short-term and long-term, if he did it.
http://thepaintedarea.blogspot.com/2008/05/conf-semis-thinking-of-dantoni-jr.html
May 9, 2008, 10:37 am
Is Credit Due?
By Stephen J. Dubner
In our Times column published last Sunday, we wrote about how Mike Zarren of the Boston Celtics organization uses statistical analysis to help with personnel and strategic decisions.
Here’s one paragraph toward the end:
Zarren is also responsible for the Celtics’ basketball-related technology and uses a service that delivers video footage tagged with statistical information. With just a few mouse clicks, he can call up every clip in which LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers has touched the ball at the top of the key and see whether he went left or right, was double-teamed or not, passed or shot — and, if the latter, whether he missed, scored or was fouled. So if the Celtics dampen James’s scoring the next time they play a high-stakes game against the Cavs, Zarren might be entitled to a smidgen of credit.
In his first two playoff games against the Celtics, James has shot 2-for-18 and 6-for-24, with 12 and 21 points respectively. His season average was 30 points. Knowing Zarren a bit, I am sure he is not crowing about his contribution to the Celtics’ defensive success against James.
But maybe, just maybe, some kid somewhere in America this morning has decided to spend a little less time working on his jump shot and a bit more time working on his math skills.
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Let’s see if Celtics have championship mettle
By Tony Massarotti
Monday, May 12, 2008
CLEVELAND - No point in dribbling around this one: It’s time to wonder whether the Celtics [team stats] have the necessary toughness to win the 2008 NBA championship.
Still the possessors of a 2-1 series lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Celtics will play Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinals tonight at the Quicken Loans Arena. Maybe the Celts will come out and blow the doors off the place. But at this stage of the postseason, the Celts need to show us, themselves and everyone else that they aren’t just a collection of bullies who can batter opponents only when they have 18,000 strong behind them.
Time to show some meanness.
“We’re playing better teams,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said yesterday. “It’s a playoff game and they’re better prepared. The slipping you can get away with during the regular season on the road, you can’t get away (with) during the playoffs. We’ll get it right. We’re just going to keep trying. That’s the good news.”
Before we go any further here, let’s clarify some things. This isn’t about manhood or machismo. Toughness is more a mental thing than a physical one. In Game 2 of this series on Thursday, Paul Pierce [stats] was hacked on his way to the basket (no foul) and his right thumbnail pulled away from the skin. Pierce showed his hand to officials, then stepped off to the side of the court and tried ripping off the nail altogether before getting the assistance of trainer Ed Lacerte.
Arrrrrrrrrrrgh.
What happened at The Q on Saturday night was a completely different challenge. In what Sam Cassell termed “probably the worst game we’ve played since I was part of the (team),” the Celtics completely caved in. In the postseason, they are now a well-documented 0-4 on the road. More worrisome than the loss itself was the nature of the defeat, a thorough butt-kicking during which the Celtics looked overwhelmed and intimidated.
Were Saturday’s loss anything but the fourth straight on the road to open this postseason, maybe we could chalk it up to nothing more than a bad night. Unfortunately, the schizophrenic nature of this club has become the norm rather than the exception. While each game brings new hope for a change in the pattern, the truth is that the games are going to get only more difficult, not less.
If the Celtics can’t win at Atlanta, how can they win at Cleveland? If they can’t win at Cleveland, how can they win at Detroit? If they can’t win at Detroit, how can they win at San Antonio or New Orleans, Los Angeles or Utah?
“Very uncharacteristic,” Rivers said after reviewing his club’s effort on tape. “(A better performance) doesn’t mean we win the game, but we’re better than that and they know it.”
Said Pierce: “We all need this win on the road, man. It’s like the gorilla on our backs - trying to get a road win. We’re going to play better basketball on the road from here on out, I can guarantee that.”
Given how well the Celtics played throughout this renaissance season, some things might have gone overlooked. Individually, the Celtics obviously have considerable experience, but they are still terribly new to one another as a group. On the court and off, the dynamic and makeup of their team are being tested like at no other point. As such, maybe it is entirely understandable that the Celtics would have a complete breakdown in composure when placed under duress.
In such circumstances, a more experienced team would know where to turn and, more specifically, whom to turn to.
In basketball, perhaps more than any other sport, there is an order of natural selection. Usually, the best players are also the leaders. Rajon Rondo [stats] is a second-year player in the NBA, so some inconsistency is a given at this time of year. But when guys like Pierce and Ray Allen seem weighed down by the moment, it does not bode well for the rest of them, no matter how much stability the Celtics get from Kevin Garnett and James Posey.
In the process, a team gets fractured.
“We believe we’re going to do what we want to do this year,” said Rivers, who acknowledges that his team is in uncharted territory despite a brilliant regular season. “We understand what the process (of team development) is. A lot of teams use the process to get where they want to go (in the long run). We want to use it now.”
“(The challenge) is learning it under pressure. We always talk about character under pressure, and it’s different (now). Anybody can have character when there is no pressure. It’s good for us, but we’ve got to be successful in dealing with it.”
A year ago at this time, of course, the Celtics [team stats] were preparing for the NBA lottery. May 22 will mark the anniversary of the day the ping-pong balls came up snake eyes. The 356 days since have been nothing short of a whirlwind, the Celtics transformed from the second-worst team in the NBA to legitimate championship hopefuls like a homeless man who just stumbled on a winning Mega Millions ticket.
In retrospect, maybe this all happened too fast.
At the moment, the Celtics certainly don’t look ready for it.
tmassarotti@bostonherald.com
Source
Time to get a move on
Rivers runs team harder in practice
By Marc J. Spears and Michael Vega
Globe Staff / May 12, 2008
CLEVELAND - A lot of time has passed since the Celtics had training camp in Rome and London. But in hopes of getting their focus back after the worst loss of the season, they had a training camp-like practice yesterday.
The Celtics were drilled, 108-84, by the Cavaliers in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series Saturday night. Boston has a 2-1 lead in the series, with Game 4 tonight at Quicken Loans Arena.
Coach Doc Rivers held a tough practice at the arena that lasted about an hour and included scrimmaging, although he claimed, "It wasn't hard, [heck] we went for one hour."
"We [were running], there was no doubt about that. We needed to, though," he said. "We've been doing a lot of film and a lot of [walkthroughs] and I felt like we needed to do a lot of movement today. Sometimes you can run it out of them."
Before practice, the Celtics watched only the first quarter of Game 3. Boston was outscored in the first, 32-13, and never got any closer than 12 the rest of the game. Shot selection, defense, intensity, and throwing the ball into the post more were some of the points Rivers stressed.
"It was the toughest film session I've watched this year," Rivers said. "It was out of character. But we're better than that and they know it."
Forward Paul Pierce said, "It was all about our start, playing better, not turning the ball over, executing, coming out with the intensity we needed to start the ballgames. You can't just ease into the games and expect these guys to lie down, especially on their home court."
The Celtics won an NBA-best 31 road games in the regular season. Boston, however, is now 0-4 on the road in the postseason and 0-3 overall in games at Cleveland.
"We all need this win on the road," Pierce said. "It's like a gorilla on our back trying to get this road win. I'm sure [my teammates] want it as much as everyone in the state of Massachusetts wants it. So, we're going to play better basketball from here on out on the road. I guarantee that."
"I always feel like we're going to get the next one regardless to where we play," Pierce added. "I'm not looking up at history, although we haven't won a [playoff] game on the road. There's always the next one. I feel like we'll always play better the next game. A lot more urgency. A lot more fight."
Double standard?
Pierce recently was fined $25,000 by the NBA for making a "menacing gesture" with his hand during Game 3 of the first-round series vs. Atlanta. While some thought the gesture possibly was a gang sign, the Celtics have described it as meaning, "blood, sweat, and tears." A players' union official said if Pierce appeals the fine NBA commissioner David Stern would be the arbitrator.
Pierce said he believes there has been a double standard toward him, since other players haven't been fined for making hand gestures. Pierce mentioned that Lakers forward Ronny Turiaf made hand gestures that weren't questioned when teammate Kobe Bryant recently was given the MVP award from Stern.
Pierce also said no one questions players, most notably Cleveland's LeBron James, for occasionally displaying rapper Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records hand signal, too.
"You can interpret it any way you want, so that's why I thought it was unfair that I got fined," Pierce said. "Every game someone is doing something with their hands."
Tunnel vision
Just how focused is Rivers on this series? Until he was told about it by a reporter yesterday, he didn't know that Mike D'Antoni had left the Suns to coach the Knicks Saturday.
"I didn't know. Really? That's great. Congratulations," Rivers said. "This is the first I've heard it."
After being told that it happened Saturday, Rivers said, "He's a good coach. It will work wherever he goes. But I'm surprised because I thought he was going to Chicago. But I didn't know that. That caught me off guard. Congrats. Welcome to the East."
Dizzying start
About 75 minutes before Game 3, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown didn't think Ben Wallace would play because of a recent bout with dizziness. But Wallace was cleared after warmups. Because of the loud noises during introductions, he went into the locker room in hopes of not aggravating his dizziness. When Wallace was announced in the starting lineup, however, a confused Anderson Varejao ran onto the floor since he assumed he would play for the absent Wallace. Wallace returned, and had 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks. "There was nothing sinister about it," Brown said. "It was my bad." . . . The Cavaliers practiced at their suburban facility yesterday. The team said Wallace, who also has been dealing with an inner-ear infection and allergies, is day-to-day and Varejao (right knee contusion) is questionable (50-50 chance of playing).
No mental block
Although they were played endlessly on the highlight shows, Celtic Rajon Rondo said James's pair of blocked shots against him did not merit any video review - they were clean. Rondo said, "The [first] one with the backboard? I didn't see him and he came from behind and blocked it." What about his attempted dunk on James? "That was clean, too," Rondo said. Asked if he was trying to send a message to James on the dunk attempt after getting blocked, Rondo replied, "I was just trying to complete the play, really. If I go up and lay it up, he'd probably block it. I wanted to go up strong and attack him. I was just trying to stay aggressive." . . . When Kevin Garnett said Saturday night that perhaps too much attention was paid to James, leaving the back door open, Ray Allen agreed. "There's a fine line, and you have to know when LeBron's attacking and when he's passing," Allen said. James had eight of Cleveland's 29 assists.
Source
Gilbert spends now, makes money later
Jason Lloyd, Journal Register News Service
05/12/2008
Knowing Dan Gilbert and his lust for winning, it probably would have happened anyway. After all, this is a man who has poured $30 million worth of improvements into an arena that is only 14 years old.
But the Cavaliers' run to the NBA Finals last season certainly cushioned the financial blow the team will soon feel for its monster three-team, 11-player deal that overhauled the roster at the trade deadline this season. Acquiring Ben Wallace, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and Joe Smith has not only pushed the Cavaliers into the second round of the playoffs, they also pushed the Cavaliers' payroll to just over $81 million, or about $14 million over the luxury tax.
That means Gilbert and the Cavaliers will be writing a check for $14 million this summer to the rest of the league - or $1 million more than LeBron James made this season.
Staggering? Absolutely. But the 10 extra home games the Cavaliers enjoyed in the playoffs last year could have generated as much as an extra $10 million for the Cavs to play with this year.
"Typically what you'll find with teams in the playoffs, you'll really see the positive impact the next season," Cavaliers President Len Komoroski said. "The following season is where you see increased ticket sales and corporate relationships."
Indeed, the Cavaliers this season surpassed their lofty attendance figures from 2006-07. This season, the Cavaliers had franchise-bests of 33 sellouts (surpassing last season's mark of 32) and registered an average attendance of 20,465 (surpassing last season's 20,437). The average home attendance this season was just 97 tickets shy of Quicken Loans Arena's official capacity.
Better yet, the current television contract with FSN Ohio is believed to be worth $25 million, or roughly double the value of the old deal.
In trying economic times, particularly in the Cleveland area, fans are still paying top dollar to flood The Q. That, in turn, allowed the team to remake the roster on the fly this year. Wallace and Szczerbiak make a combined $27.5 million this season, which helped push the Cavaliers' payroll into the league's top five despite ranking in the lower half of market size within the NBA.
Gilbert is the antithesis to former Indians owner Dick Jacobs, who just may have been the shrewdest owner in the history of Cleveland sports. Jacobs was a brilliant businessman who spent what the team made. No more, no less. Although the Cavaliers are doing quite well in revenue, Gilbert is still outspending the cash flow.
"We've taken a long-term approach to our business," Komoroski said. "If we do the right things now, even if that means we're investing more now, you might look at the (financial) sheet on the short-term basis and it may not make as much sense. But whatever we do, we have a long-term view. One of Dan's 'isms' is 'Numbers and money follow, they do not lead.' "
The proof of that is already beginning to show. In December, Forbes named the Cavaliers the seventh-most valuable franchise in the league at $455 million (Gilbert paid $375 million for the team in '05). It marked a 20 percent increase over the same study last season, the biggest single-season improvement in the league this year. Much of that is attributed to last season's appearance in the Finals.
NBA teams guard their books tighter than the Celtics guard James, but it has been reported that home teams rake in about $1 million per home playoff game, despite the league's increased slice.
Whereas the league takes just a 6 percent cut during the regular season, that figure has been projected as high as 45 percent for the postseason. Komoroski wouldn't divulge specifics, but agreed "the league is getting a significant amount of the (playoff) gate. It grows considerably."
Even if the Cavaliers don't make it back to The Q for Game 6 of the current series with the Celtics, they're still assured an estimated $4 million to $5 million for the five home playoff dates they've enjoyed through the first two rounds of the postseason.
Trickle-down effect
The financial gains of postseason basketball have spilled out of The Q and into the community.
Positively Cleveland, the Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland, has estimated that each home playoff game generates $3 million for the economy. Last year's NBA Finals generated between $3 and $4.5 million per game.
In downtown Cleveland, nights like the Cavaliers' 108-84 rout of the Celtics on Saturday night are a businessman's dream. Cavaliers fans filled The Q for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals as Indians fans filed into Progressive Field. With so much activity, parking prices nearly double - lots that charge $10 and $15 near The Q during the regular season charge up to $30 for the playoffs.
Sports bars around the Gateway complex are jammed before and after the games. All of which makes Komoroski giddy over the transformation.
"When you look at our location and what takes place around here between The Q and Progressive Field - if this was playing out in a suburban arena in the middle of a cornfield, how different would it be?" Komoroski said, referring to the old Richfield Coliseum. "The forefathers who had contemplated the Gateway project and everything you see happening down here right now, it's a tremendous experience."
None of this, obviously, would have been possible had it not been for LeBron's appeal. Last year's Finals were viewed by 100 million fans in China, who knew all about the Cavaliers when they arrived last fall for preseason games. That, in turn, generates revenue from an untapped market in merchandise sales. A portion of that goes back to the team, which can then be redistributed for payroll and luxury taxes.
It won't be complete, however, until one of these teams wins a championship. Given last year's appearance in the NBA Finals, the Cavaliers certainly seem to be the closest right now.
"Obviously, we want to keep this run going as long as we can," Komoroski said. "The ultimate goal really is measured by championships. That's why these investments are being made. It's sort of like a waterfall of positive momentum that keeps spreading." ]
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Cleveland Cavaliers need LeBron James to be King of the Road to beat Boston Celtics
Monday, May 12, 2008
Bud Shaw Plain Dealer Columnist
Shrinking shamrocks are a variety of clover apparently not found in Massachusetts, but recently spotted wherever the Celtics play on the road.
It remains to be seen if this is a permanent infestation that could choke a 66-win season and promise the Cavaliers good luck at the same time. The Cavs did beat down Boston in Game 3 in their first series opportunity at home. But in the NBA, that's almost rote. San Antonio, Orlando and Utah all did it, too, after losing the opening two games.
What we'll find out starting tonight is if what suddenly seems possible really is the case: that a Cleveland team's greatest matchup edge could be playoff grit.
I know. It's not exactly been a calling card over the years, but as the road losses mount for the skittish Celtics, it appears more and more they are packed for NBA playoff travel with "fragile" stamped on them.
Doing the math, that's not a guaranteed fatal flaw for Boston.
The Celtics won the Atlanta series without a single road victory. In theory, Boston could do the same throughout the playoffs. In principle, that's no way for an NBA champion to conduct itself, and somewhere along the way bad habits will cost them a home game and a series.
In the meantime, what an opportunity for the Cavaliers now, or the Detroit Pistons to come if the Celtics take another plunge or two into self-doubt.
Their inability to win on the road has exposed something vulnerable you didn't think was there for the Cavs to prod when the playoffs began.
"You watch ESPN, it's all you hear about - how they struggled in Atlanta," Cavs forward Joe Smith said. "But eventually a team like that finds a way to win."
Until then, the difference - since it's not LeBron James in his masquerade as a 22 percent shooter - is the Cavs have not only won playoff road games, but series-clinching games, too, over the past few years. They should've won Game 1 in Boston.
Meanwhile, the Celtics have demonstrated no inclination to strut championship stuff in three games at Atlanta and one here. Were they coasting late in the season with nothing to play for and lost the vibe? You'd have thought one stumble in Atlanta would put their minds right, if that were the case.
The Cavs might not be any closer to stealing something from their house than vice versa, but James is a wild card you can't discount.
Cavs coach Mike Brown would never admit to gaining confidence from an opponent's struggles. He's a pupil of San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, who only recently called all such media conjecture about playoff momentum and pressure "psychobabble."
"If we play our game, we feel confident in our abilities no matter who we're going up against," Brown said Sunday. "We know they've 'struggled on the road,' but we're not worried about that."
The Celtics haven't just "struggled." They've lost four straight, three to a No. 8 seed. Their issues present a greater opening for the Cavs, just as the Pistons' issues did last year when the series shifted and James got so far in their heads they looked like Linda Blair in "The Exorcist."
There are eight teams remaining in the playoffs, and seven have proven they don't always need a cheering section to go about their business.
The race is on: the Celtics or James. The first to find their old groove wins.
To reach Bud Shaw:
bshaw@plaind.com, 216-999-5639
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Obligatory Cavs Dancers Shots
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