Why the Cavs getting #1 is a problem

[Athanacropolis]

Perhaps Cleveland's reliance on homecourt and their invincible attitude toward it will be their downfall. They are not nearly as good a road team, so if we could steal one, that would eliminate the homecourt and put the pressure on THEM...

Yes. My thinking exactly. That's why (in response to another thread), I think the next game against the Cavs will be meaningful, not only to preserve the '86 Celtics' 40-1 home record: it would be a great psychological and confidence boost for the Celtics to beat the Cavs in Cleveland for the first time since dinosaurs roamed the earth.

[MyInsatiableOne]

^Remember, though, it's been ages since CLE won in Boston as well...coupled with stealing a game in CLE, that is a double boost...

[Athanacropolis]

^Remember, though, it's been ages since CLE won in Boston as well...coupled with stealing a game in CLE, that is a double boost...

Yes on both counts!

[humblebum]

Underrated aspect of Celtics vs. Cleveland this season. The Cavs are smaller across the board and Z isn't getting any younger. Wallace is a huge piece of that team and he's out, if he's not at full strength than the Celtics will be able to give the Cavs a lot of problems by attacking a generally porous interior defense. Also last year the Cavs started West/Wally in the backcourt. That's 6'3"/6'6" in the backcourt vs. 6'/6'3" in the backcourt this year. West is a much better defender than Mo and Wally gave Ray all sorts of problems with his size and strength last year in the playoffs. That's a hugely underrated PLUS for the Celtics this year, physically we're much more imposing than the Cavs in the backcourt matchups.

Furthermore the Celtics used small lineups with Posey last year, which IMO sucked vs. the Cavs who would proceed to punish the Celtics inside and on the boards. This year the Celtics are big and physical at the 4 spot off the bench with Powe and Davis BOTH having improved greatly. Wallace can minimize either of these guys completely when healthy, but will he get back healthy for this matchup? Who knows. Even Varejao has seemingly trimmed down and isn't as physically imposing as he was last year. Add to all of this that Mike Brown seems to be utilizing Lebron at the 4 more often this season and you take away what I, at least, thought was the Cavs greatest strength last season... that they were HUGE from the PG to Center positions.

West/Wally/Lebron/Wallace/Z with Smith/Varejao/Pavlovic off the bench...

vs.

Mo/West/Lebron/Varejao/Z with Wally/Smith/Pavlovic off the bench...

If the Celtics can win the interior battles against the Cavs than they won't even need 7 games to take them out. With the Cavs being a smaller, less physically imposing unit overall, I like the Celtics chances of winning, even on the road, vs. the Cavs.

[Hydroponic3385]

Wallace will be back by the ECF for sure though (he'll most likely be back somewhere around the end of the regular season). So basically the Cavs are the same as last year + Mo Williams.

[MyInsatiableOne]

Wallace will be back by the ECF for sure though (he'll most likely be back somewhere around the end of the regular season). So basically the Cavs are the same as last year + Mo Williams.

But remember, Mo Williams is "teh greatestttttttttt LOLZ" according to an awful lot of CLE posters on here earlier in the season, so we are dooooooomed!

[No Offense]

Mo Williams isn't a "great" point guard by any means, but you cannot ignore the fact that the season isn't over yet and the Cavs already have 9 more wins than they did last year.

Trust me, that's not a result of the team staying healthy.

[Hydroponic3385]

Wallace will be back by the ECF for sure though (he'll most likely be back somewhere around the end of the regular season). So basically the Cavs are the same as last year + Mo Williams.

But remember, Mo Williams is "teh greatestttttttttt LOLZ" according to an awful lot of CLE posters on here earlier in the season, so we are dooooooomed!

Well I AM a Cavs fan, I just wanted to let you guys know it's most likely Wallace will be back and fully healthy by then. Not that it makes that huge of a difference, but just saying that the Cavs didn't lose frontcourt depth (if anything they gained a little because Hickson + Jackson is better depth than Dwayne Jones).

And aside from Deron Williams/Chris Paul, Mo Williams may be the best possible PG fit for the Cavs and Lebron. Some people on here may think the Cavs fans on here overrate him, but he truly has made a HUGE impact for Cleveland. He's averaging over 18 a game (and his PPG have gone up every month this season, besides February), is another guy who can create shots and handle the ball, and he's been absolutely clutch this year at the ends of games. I don't think he's one of the greatest PG's in the game right now by any means (if Cavs fans on here do, they definitely don't represent all Cavs fans - the best fans are on realcavsfans.com anyways), but he's made Cleveland a much better team than they were last year, or any other year with Lebron.

I hope you guys, Cleveland, and Orlando will be fully healthy going into the playoffs (well except for Nelson who is obviously going to be out). Should be a very fun playoffs this year.

[Hydroponic3385]

Trust me, that's not a result of the team staying healthy.

That's cuz they haven't stayed healthy. Lost Z and West for a total of about 6 weeks each (with them being out the same time over half of that time), Wallace for what will be over 6 weeks (so that's 3 of our 5 starters), Pavlovic and Kinsey for 4-5 weeks, Wally 2-3, Gibson missed a week a couple different times. They've been fortunate with Lebron, Mo and Andy, but that's been about it. They haven't had the worst injuries in the league by any means, but they've consistently had some serious ones and have been able to adjust and continue their winning percentage without much of a problem.

[Kefa461]

I don't think you understand, guys. Let's look at the Celtics remaining schedule, and my predictions:

Fri 13 vs Memphis L
Sun 15 @ Milwaukee L
Tue 17 @ Chicago L
Wed 18 vs Miami L
Fri 20 @ San Antonio L
Sat 21 @ Memphis L
Mon 23 vs LA Clippers L
Wed 25 @ Orlando L
Fri 27 @ Atlanta L
Sun 29 vs Oklahoma City L
Wed 01 vs Charlotte L
Fri 03 vs Atlanta L
Wed 08 vs New Jersey L
Fri 10 vs Miami L
Sun 12 @ Cleveland L
Tue 14 @ Philadelphia L
Wed 15 vs Washington L

So, clearly, based on my expert analysis and Celtics fandom, we're going to go 0-17 down the stretch, so we'll be lucky to get the 7 seed.

Regardless, we WILL NOT beat Philly/Miami/Atlanta in the first round.

And even if we do, we WILL NOT beat Orlando/Detroit in the second round.

If we miraculously do, we WILL NOT beat Cleveland in the ECF, or anytime at all for the next 25 years.

And if we amazingly get to the Finals, we WILL NOT beat the Lakers.

And even if we do win the Finals, we WILL NOT be allowed to keep the trophy, and it will be given to either Cleveland or L.A. anyway, teams who obviously deserve it more than we do.

So basically, the Cavs will get homecourt, and it won't matter, because the Celtics are going winless for the next 12-15 seasons, anyway.

Now I feel better......

[Athanacropolis]

Hahah! You do realize I was being sarcastic, I hope?

[MyInsatiableOne]

^I hope he realizes as well...I think he does...

[infinite11285]

The Cavs want no part of Orlando. Hopefully you guys take eachother out. Or you guys can do us a favor and take them out.

[Al-Haqq]

Hopefully this road game in Cleveland gives you guys a reason why I STILL find playing the ECF mostly in Cleveland a large problem.

If we do get that far we're going to have to try win game 7 in this type of environment. There's no way we get rid of them in less than 6-games.

We simply can't win in Cleveland, I mean even with KG we got worked. I've never seen a home team so dominant. This will be a really tough post-season if we have to go through Cleveland IN Cleveland.

[campybatman]

If you remember last season, if not for Ray's missed free throws. Boston might have won a tight game in Cleveland. With Garnett, Boston doesn't rollover to this team on the road. I wouldn't want to be any Celtic player who'd played today returning to the locker room knowing that Garnett was watching the game in the back. That was an embarrassment on national TV no doubt. If there's a psychological advantage, neither team seemingly believes that they can win on each other's floor. If that's really the case, the Celtics are doomed. If not, the Celtics didn't seize an opportunity to show otherwise.

[infinite11285]

If you remember last season...

Neither team is the same team this season, as last season.

[campybatman]

No, really? Both Cleveland and Boston are different teams this season? Wow, I didn't know that...

My point is that Boston could've won that game in Cleveland last season. And I was talking in relation to the previous poster's last comment.

[MyInsatiableOne]

^This looks like the Cavs year...they are playing well, have the league and refs on their side, national media...the C's can overcome, I believe they will, but it's gonna be tough!