Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics: Windhorst Beat Blog
By Brian Windhorst, The Plain Dealer
March 14, 2010, 9:25AM
CLEVELAND -- Pre-game from The Q:
Projected starting lineup
Celtics: Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins
Cavs: Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, LeBron James, Antawn Jamison, JJ Hickson
Officials
Dan Crawford, Sean Corbon, Tommy Nunez
• Jamison will start after missing Friday's game. The Celtics are fully healthy and that includes Pierce, who missed the last meeting with a thumb injury when the Cavs blew out the Celts in Boston. Speaking of thumbs, it will be interesting to see how the crowd reacts to Glen Davis. He drew ire after appearing to purposely try to hit Shaquille O'Neal's thumb after he had already severed a ligament hacking Shaq a few minutes before. The Cavs players sort of shrugged on the incident but fans have been upset.
• The Shaq injury ended up benefitting the Cavs in the short run against the Celtics. It is well known that Boston has trouble with athletic teams. Their defense, usually strong, seems to lose its teeth when it has asked to move a lot. When Boston can set its defense in the halfcourt they are still one of the league's best. In transition or in constant motion, holes open up. So look for the Cavs to really attempt to push the tempo. Hickson can have a big game if he moves well. While Perkins is a strong post up defender, he's got very slow feet and doesn't move well when he's got to chase. Same goes for KG, whose knee limits his lateral quickness these days.
• Showing how the Celtics have changed/aged over the last two years, Rondo is now the biggest danger to the Cavs. In the '08 playoffs, the Cavs didn't even cover Rondo and it was a strategy that was successfuly enough to get to underdog Cavs to Game 7. Now, it just looks like the Cavs don't cover Rondo at times. He's so fast that he often burns Williams. Playing smaller will help the Cavs on pick-and-roll defense, which is a problem with Rondo. The Cavs have to keep him from getting into the middle every time down the court.