Boston 95, Cleveland 89

A rocky start. An excellent first half. A great beginning to the third quarter. A bit of a lull. A bit more of a lull. And then just enough plays to take it home.

[recap] [box score]

The first half was surprisingly smooth given that it was the inaugural 24 minutes. After the break, however, the game took a noticeable turn for the worse, a combination of offensive stagnation, sloppy play and carelessness with the ball, and good defense. But the Celtics got it done down the stretch, stemming the tide just when they needed to, as they've done so often the past couple of seasons.

A game this choppy doesn't deserve one of my elegant, flowing narratives (cough). How 'bout some bullet points?

• I'm happy overall with what I saw out of Kevin Garnett. He played 33 minutes overall (a few more than I and the coaching staff would have liked) and didn't seem like he was limping or anything like that. I noticed in the first half that he wasn't as quick to loose balls and rebounds as I'm used to seeing. The only bad sign we saw in the second half was a missed dunk on a break, however. I think it's probably him just getting his legs back.
• I wasn't quite as happy with what I saw from Rasheed Wallace, even though he hit three of six three-pointers and finished with 12 points. His play was fine; he just didn't look very good. TNT announcer Doug Collins said that 'sheed was out of shape, maybe 10 pounds above ideal weight. I didn't necessarily notice that, but I did notice that Wallace got almost no lift on his jumpers and on his way up for rebounds. I haven't seen much of him the last few years, so I can only hope that this is just him working into game shape and we won't see him play so ... geriatrically for long.
• Doc Rivers' substitution patterns were markedly different tonight than we're used to seeing. Wallace checked in for Kendrick Perkins with about five minutes remaining in the first quarter, with Marquis Daniels spelling Ray Allen a minute later. Garnett sat for Shelden Williams with 2:31 to go in the period, and Eddie House came in for Rajon Rondo with just over a minute left. It was pretty common for the starting five, save Garnett or Perkins, to play the whole first quarter last year, with one of Pierce or Allen starting the second stanza as well to provide offense for the second team. There had been a lot of talk in the offseason about having a true second unit, but in this game Doc seemed more focused on gradually transitioning to the second string from the first and back again (Allen started the second for Paul Pierce and played the entire quarter, while the rest of the starters came back at the six- and four-and-a-half-minute marks). Whether this was Doc experimenting or dealing with a depleted bench -- remember, Glen Davis, Brian Scalabrine, Tony Allen, and Bill Walker missed this one with injuries -- or a new philosophy remains to be seen.
• Doc used a similar substitution pattern in the second half, but he had the starters back in earlier, with 8:03 remaining. However, our offense was stagnant and Doc replaced Perkins with Wallace with 4:16 to go to spread the floor and force the Cavs to guard every position. Who gets the frontcourt minutes in crunch time alongside KG will be something to watch all season.
• Marquis Daniels is a career 23.7 percent three-point shooter. I mention this for the benefit of RwH readers who are largely unfamiliar with Daniels and who may have heard the TNT announcing team of Kevin Harlan and Doug Collins imply that Daniels was dangerous from behind the arc. Daniels hit a triple early in the fourth quarter, and Collins mentioned that the lineup on the floor at the time -- with Allen, House, Wallace, and Daniels -- was a good three-point shooting lineup (which it is, but not because of Daniels). Seconds later, Harlan mentioned how Daniels is the kind of player Doc likes, because he can defend and make the three-pointer. C'mon, fellas. Do your homework.
• Daniels, by the way, played very well on both ends of the court. Nothing spectacular, but very solid.
• Even with Shaquille O'Neal around, Cleveland is a one-man band offensively. There's so much standing around in that offense, it's ridiculous. Rarely do they have more than one thing going on at a time.

I don't want to say this was a statement game, because we didn't play well enough for it to be a statement. But it's our first win in Cleveland since 2004, and a road win is a big leg up in the head-to-head should we need it for playoff tiebreakers.

***

NEXT GAME: Boston's back in action Wednesday night at home against Charlotte in the opener for the Bobcats. A potential letdown game if played at a different point in the season, but there's no such thing as a letdown game in your home opener. Especially when it's KG's return to the parquet.

VIEWING ALERT: The game against Charlotte isn't on national TV, but NBA League Pass is running its free preview through November 3rd. If your cable company doesn't offer League Pass, try League Pass Broadband's free preview. The game's at 7:30 Eastern.

TMJF: Minnesota hosts New Jersey in the opener for both teams tomorrow night, but Jonny Flynn might not play. He's missed two practices in a row with an illness. If he does go, he'll have his hands full with Nets point guard Devin Harris, one of the league's bright young stars at the position. Harris is super-quick and has a few inches on Flynn. If it materializes, it's a tough assignment for an NBA debut.

While I'm talking about Flynn, though, I do want to make a few additional comments to the ones I made the other week. While I expect great things from him long-term and think he'll have a strong rookie season, I do expect him to experience some ups and downs. Any point guard who is immediately handed the keys to an NBA team will have encounter some bumps in the road, particularly if he's as reliant on Damien Wilkins and Corey Brewer as Flynn has to be. Flynn will have his share of high-turnover games and nights where his shot isn't falling. His size will leave him vulnerable against certain point guards. His work ethic, competitive nature, and ability to get to the free throw line should be insurance against any truly disastrous games, but I didn't want my glowing comments from before to be read that I think Flynn's just going to hit the ground running and never look back.