The Ticket Chest

Has Lebron Checked out of Cleveland? Rondo, Celtics Take Control of Series with Dominating 120-88 Win in Cleveland

Thursday, May 13th, 2010 | Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James, Miami Heat, NBA, Sports | 1 Comment

WOW — is the Lebron James era officially over in Cleveland.  If you didn’t see the Celtics manhandle the Cavs 120-88 in front of their home town crowd on Tuesday night, you missed one sad, but amazing display.  Have you ever heard of Lebron James getting booed at a home game in the State of Ohio in his entire hoops career dating back to grammar school?  No way.  But that’s exactly what happened to Lebron and his teammates as the Cavs embarrassed themselves in the most lopsided loss for the Cavaliers in franchise history.  I guess what goes around comes around as the Cavs made a mockery of the Celtics in Game 3 at the TD North Garden this past Friday night.

In the 32-point debacle, James made just 3 of his 14 shots and scored just 15 points with 6 rebounds and 7 assists.  For any player, that would be an excellent night, but for Lebron James it was a major disappointment.  Couple that with the fact that he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but on the court, it has left people wondering what is going on with the King – the 2-time defending NBA MVP.  Have the Cavs told him that he won’t get a max contract?  Does he know that he’s already leaving to join Dwayne Wade in Miami, Derrick Rose in Chicago or some mopes in New Jersey or New York?  Did he just really have an “off night” as he has claimed?  We’ll probably never know, but what we do know is that the Cavs have put together their best team in the James era and it still doesn’t look like it’s going to be enough to get Lebron (and the city of Cleveland) an NBA Championship.  That alone could be enough for James to realize that he’s going to need to go elsewhere if he wants to get a ring on his finger.

The other side story is the emergence of Rajon Rondo as one of the best big-game players ever.  Yes you heard me – ever.  Look at his numbers from the Celtics 97-87 Game 4 win in Boston which the Celtics had to have if they expected to have a shot to reach the Conference Finals.  Rondo poured in 29 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and still found time to dish out 13 assists — simply incredible.  The stat line doesn’t even do justice as to how much Rondo took control of the game for the Celtics.  He pretty much dictated every aspect of every minute of the game, and always seemed to be a step ahead of every one on the court, sometimes even his own players.

In Game 5, his numbers were “down” — 16 points and 7 assists — but his consistent play has made every other Celtics on the court that much better.  In Game 5′s win, Ray Allen scored 25 points nailing 6 3-point shots from the perimeter.  Paul Pierce looked like a new man as the Cavs defense focused on Rondo – 21 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists.  Even Kevin Garnett got into the act with 18 points and 6 boards.

Stay tuned – Game 6 in Boston tips off at 8PM EST – Will the East’s #1 seed get bounced from the playoffs without reaching the NBA Finals for the 2nd straight year?  And more importantly, will it be Lebron’s final game in a Cavs uniform?  Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Tags: Derrick Rose, LeBron James, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Shaquille O'Neal

Lebron James, Cavs Crush Celtics 124-95 in Boston

Friday, May 7th, 2010 | Boston Celtics, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Cavaliers, MLB, NBA, New York Yankees, Sports | 1 Comment

Ouch – the Cleveland Cavaliers crushed the Boston Celtics 124-95 tonight – it was the worst home playoff loss in the storied Celtics’ franchise history.  How does a game like this get that out of hand?

It’s simple when Lebron James is on the court.  The Cavs raced out to a 36-19 point 1st quarter lead behind 21 points from the 2-time reigning NBA Most Valuable Player.  By halftime, the Cavs led the Celtics by 22 points.  James finished the night with 38 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.  But he also had help from teammates Antawn Jamison (12 points and 9 rebounds) and Shaquille O’Neal (12 points and 9 rebounds).

It was not a night to remember for Boston sports fans.  Just 4 days ago, Boston sports fans all across the country were going nuts as the Celtics and Bruins won big playoff games and the Red Sox ended a 3-game skid by cruising to an easy win over the Angels at Fenway Park.  Tonight is was the exact opposite.  While the Cavs were crushing the Celtics, just a few miles away, the hated New York Yankees were pounding the Red Sox 10-3 at Fenway and the Bruins lost a demoralizing overtime game to the Flyers in Philly.  Paul Pierce who scored just 11 points in the loss was disgusted with his team’s play — “That was embarrassing.  That’s embarrassing when you lose at home like that.  We just let our guard down… You’ve got to know the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to come in here with all the urgency in the world.  They took the fight to us early, and we didn’t respond to it.”

The Celtics still have a chance to even the score on Sunday with the afternoon affair against the Cavs.  Guess it can’t get any worse than this…

Tags: LeBron James, NBA MVP, Paul Pierce, Shaquille O'Neal