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The Boston Celtics continue to prove that the regular season can sometimes carry little weight once the postseason begins.

The Cavaliers earned the NBA’s best record for the second year in a row this season, but they now find themselves in danger of falling short of the Larry O’Brien Trophy once again after an embarrassing 120-88 loss to the Celtics on Tuesday night. The blowout victory gives Boston a 3-2 stranglehold on the Eastern Conference Semifinal Series that now will head to Massachusetts for Game Six.

Playing in front of a sold-out crowd at Quicken Loans Arena in Game Five, the Cavaliers failed to perform to the level fans have grown accustom to seeing since the 2009-10 season began back in October. They were sloppy, lackadaisical and just about every other negative adjective you could find in a dictionary.

As is usually the case, LeBron James set the tone early that he and his teammates would follow the rest of the game. On this night, that wasn’t a good thing. (more…)

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There has been a common theme in the Cavaliers’ two losses to the Celtics this series.

An abundance of missed threes.

The Cavaliers made just 19 percent of their three-point attempts in Games Two and Four, leading to low offensive efficiency in both contests. Although inconsistent outside shooting is not the sole reason the top-seeded Cavs have dropped two of four games to the Celtics, it surely hasn’t helped.

The Cavaliers 4-of-21 performance from beyond the arc on Sunday was a far cry from their Game Three win, when they made 5-of-12 three-point attempts.

“We shot the ball extremely well last game, nobody expects to shoot it that well every game,” Anthony Parker said after Game Four. ”The law of percentages went against us today.” (more…)

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Maybe the Cavaliers should have saved some of their baskets from Game Three for Sunday afternoon.

After winning easily in Boston, by 29 points, on Friday night, the Cavaliers found themselves trailing by nearly double-digits at halftime of Game Four of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Although Cleveland managed to make things interesting in the second half, the Celtics – led by Rajon Rondo – ran away with the game late for a 97-87 home victory that evened the series at 1-1.

Rondo already had a triple-double by the end of the third quarter, but the young point guard wasn’t done doing his damage just yet. 

He added eight points, seven rebounds and three assists in the game’s final period to finish with a monstrous 29 points, 18 boards and 13 dimes.

“He [imposed] his will on this game,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said after the game.”Whether it was driving the basketball and looking to try and finish or get to the free throw line or kick or offensive rebounding.” (more…)