Disappoinment!

 

The best thing to say about Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals is that it wasn’t over at halftime.  The Cleveland Cavaliers were in the game until the final couple of minutes, but still lacked something as they dropped the contest and the series, 94-85. 

 

It marks the second time in three years that the Celtics knocked off the Cavs in the conference semis, and back-to-back years where the wine and gold had the league’s best regular season record only to come up short in the playoffs. 

 

And of course, the speculation will begin as to where LeBron James will continue his career, although he took a beating from the media for his play and his seeming lack of fire throughout the series, save for the third game. 

 

James had a triple double, scoring 27 points, grabbing a career high 19 rebounds and dished out 10 assists.  However, despite the lofty numbers, it wasn’t a dominating performance, due mainly to nine turnovers. 

 

Mo Williams finally showed up, scoring 18 points in the first half, but finished with only 22 in 46 minutes. 

 

The only other Cav who played well was Anderson Varajao, who had six points and seven boards, draw charges, and generally played the type of game Cleveland fans have been accustomed to seeing over the years. 

 

In the end, we said at the beginning of the series, the key was to control Rajon Rondo, who make no mistake, is now the Celtics’ best player.  They couldn’t do it, as the smallest guy on the floor dominated the series, much like Tony Parker did in The Finals in 2007.  The other matchup that killed Cleveland throughout the series was the decided edge Kevin Garnett had at power forward. 

 

The coaching staff seemed slow to put Varajao on Garnett, who is simply too big for Antawn Jamison. 

 

Mike Brown declined comment about his future after the game, but it is doubtful that he will be back after another disappointment in the playoffs, and the fact that Doc Rivers outcoached him in every way possible. 

 

For example, the Cavs started Game 6 with Shaquille O’Neal guarding Garnett.  Instead of continuing to have Garnett post up against the larger O’Neal, Boston took The Big Ticket outside, away from the basket, thus foiling the Cleveland strategy. 

 

Rivers and his staff had an answer for everything the Cavs did, you can’t say the same thing for Brown and his staff.  When Williams got going in the first half, the Celtics defense got up on him in the second half, and no one else could take advantage.  The Celtic defense was also determined not to let James go to the hoop freely, fouling him as he got near the basket.

 

The King couldn’t get anything going from outside, so Boston was content to give him the outside shot.  Jamison, who was acquired to be a second scoring option for the team, finished with just five points, although once again, there was nothing run to give him a good scoring chance. 

 

We’ll say it once again, when you go up against good defensive teams, who have to have a plan offensively, and the Cavaliers don’t have such a plan.  Even Hubie Brown, the guru of NBA analysts, was on the Jim Rome Show, and he pretty much said the Cavs have no plan on offense.

 

There can be a ton of excuses as to why the Cavaliers were eliminated, but for the second straight year, a regular season that ended with a team poised to win a title, turned out to be a disappointment of epic proportions. 

 

Whether James stays or not, there will be changes once again for the Cleveland Cavalier organization.  If the fans think they are upset, my guess is it pales in comparison to owner Dan Gilbert.  He said many times, the team was "all in" this season, unfortunately for him, the dealer turned up with blackjack.

 

It will be a long, long summer of anticipation for Cavalier fans, hoping that when James switches his number to 6 next season, it will be on the back of a Cleveland Cavalier uniform.

 

JK