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Even though he didn't come out and say it, LeBron James insinuated that he hopes the Cavaliers face the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.

"I'm a competitor, I thrive on going against the best," James said. "I love playing against the best you make your answer out of that."

If we can somehow get by Orlando (not saying we will, at all), I really hope Pierce has enough in the tank to make this live up to last year.

I also begrudgingly applaud LeBron for a good attitude, which is more what this thread is about.

i have a feeling that Paul knows he's gona have to play like a defensie player of the year against Cleveland for us to have a chance... which is why he may be going at a slower than normal pace and deferring to teammates.

exactly (the previous post has nailed it)

Pierce could be hurt. But he played remarkably against Chicago even though a lot of it was under the radar. There was that one game where PP won the fourth quarter and OT for us (arguably the best and most overshadowed, underrated clutch performance in recent history). The triple OT game, Rondo's and Davis's emergence, and Allen's 51 did overshadow Pierce's solid play

But we all know that somehow, Pierce will reach into the reservoir and play LeBron like few others are capable of. Be cautious though: LeBron is going to play better against us in the ECF (assuming we get there) than he's ever played in any series. We're going to see him at his best, absolutely unstoppable, especially in the games at Cleveland.

But Pierce isn't afraid of sacrificing his body and giving it all defensively. Rondo, Marbury and Ray Allen had better come up huge offensively. If KG can return for the ECF, we can stretch them to 7 games.

you never know what could happen in Game 7. For the other games at Cleveland, we would probably get blown out (but win the home games), but the C's have too much pride to get blown out in a 7th game at Cleveland

I could see Paul sacrificying himself on D, which limits his output on O. That means Ray has to step up, which is the problem. Not only because Ray is playing not so well against the Magic, but because the Cavaliers are making opposing SG their bitches on a regular basis.

Oh well.. Nothing of this matters if don't finish the 2nd round well.

Even though KG is not playing.....be careful what you wish for.....

Nice quote, although given LeBron's supreme arrogance it could also be viewed as a dig...

As much as I dislike Cleveland and LeBron, I would much rather they beat a depleted Celtics team in a competitive series en route to a title versus having them sweep a mentally soft team (Orlando) and face their first real test (against the Lakers) in the Finals.

Anything to keep Kobe away from a title and Jackson away from one more ring than Red.

LeBron should want to face Boston, even though they're not at full strength. Unlike Atlanta, Detroit and Orlando, the Celtics won't give up after a blowout loss.

How can Bron find his answer? Without Garnett we aren't at our best, so I guess he won't find that answer.

If we do advance on to play the Cavs and when they win, you know their fans are going to saying crap like "payback" "revenge" etc ... damn I wish we were healthy. We could be beasting.

Lol, if you thought Ray Allen is playing bad, wait and see how he plays against the Cavs. If the three is not falling for him then damn ... we're going to get worked - should we make it.

I've said before and I'll say it again. Against strong defense, Ray becomes solely a shooter. We need Pierce for defense and Ray HAS TO step up. I doubt we'll win more than 1 game but this team is teaching me to not stop believing in them.

spf211 wrote:As much as I dislike Cleveland and LeBron, I would much rather they beat a depleted Celtics team in a competitive series en route to a title versus having them sweep a mentally soft team (Orlando) and face their first real test (against the Lakers) in the Finals.

Anything to keep Kobe away from a title and Jackson away from one more ring than Red.

LeBron should want to face Boston, even though they're not at full strength. Unlike Atlanta, Detroit and Orlando, the Celtics won't give up after a blowout loss.

Well said!

Be careful what you wish for LeBron