Cleveland 88, Boston 87

[recap] [box score]

The Celtics just gave this one away.

After sort of sleepwalking through the first half -- understandable, perhaps, given all the minutes everyone has had to play due to injuries -- the Celtics finally put some space between them and the young Cavs in the third quarter, and led by 11 with 4:24 to play.

From there, the Boston offense went completely stagnant. The closest the Celtics came to scoring was probably when Paul Pierce got a Cleveland defender up in the air, drew contact on a 16-footer -- but didn't get the whistle. The league is trying to clean up that kind of play this year, sick of offensive players getting to the line by leaning into defenders and drawing contact. So they've emphasized that if the defender goes up and the contact comes from the player with the ball leaning in after the defender lands, there should be no call. This, however, was a missed call; the Cavs defender clearly had not landed by the time he hit Pierce.

It's tempting to blame one play in a one-point loss, and there were others, besides that missed call, that probably would have won the game for the Celtics. Up one with less than a minute left, a Ray Allen three-pointer rimmed out, but Kevin Garnett grabbed the rebound. Rather than going back up, he looked to kick it back out to run some more clock -- and traveled when he couldn't find anyone immediately open.

On the ensuing Cleveland possession, Kyrie Irving missed a drive, but Anderson Varejao grabbed the offensive rebound and found Antawn Jamison open at the top of the key. Jamison missed the three-pointer, and Brandon Bass grabbed the rebound. But a Cav -- I think it was Alonzo Gee -- poked it away, and Varejao pounced on the loose ball, calling a timeout with 22 seconds left.

Anyone one of those plays might have secured the game for the Celtics. But instead, Cleveland had one possession to win, and Byron Scott decided to win it or lose it on that final trip down floor, instructing Irving to dribble out most of the clock at half court. Varejao came up and set a high screen, which Boston defended well. Irving drove right, over the screen, and Bass hedged nicely. But Irving, the top pick in last summer's draft, spun back left, ripping the ball through Avery Bradley's steal attempt. Irving continued to the bucket, and lofted a pretty left-handed layup over a recovering Bass that dropped through with 2.5 seconds left.

Boston still had a chance to win, of course. They advanced the ball to half court with a timeout, and inbounded to Pierce, who was immediately fouled by the Cavs, who had one to give. After another timeout, Boston again inbounded to Pierce, who was rushed by most of the Cavs defense. He had to double-clutch, and the ball was still in his hand when the buzzer went off. (The shot missed short, anyway.)

Time to move on. The Celtics have their chance for revenge on Tuesday, in Cleveland.

The Next Lamb: The Cleveland Cavalieres

Game 17: Boston (12-4) at Cleveland (7-9)

Tuesday, November 30

7 p.m. Eastern

NBATV

Last meeting: @Cleveland 95, Boston 87 (10/27/10)

The last time the Celtics faced the Cavs, it was the night after the big opening win over Miami -- looking back, it doesn't seem so big, does it? -- and after Boston blew a double-digit second half lead, everyone was quick to blame the hangover from the night before.

Since that time, however, the Cavs have played a bit better than nearly everyone expected they would, emerging as a contender for a low playoff seed in the East. They play hard and are well-coached, and teams with those characteristics are tough to beat.

J.J. Hickson did the most damage to the Celtics in the earlier meeting, and he's again the guy to watch -- he's mobile, active, and has a good jumper. I mentioned last time that offensively, he reminded me a bit of Kevin Garnett, and that's the kind of player that can give Boston trouble if Garnett doesn't stay at home.

The ever-pesky Anderson Varejao mans the middle for the Cavs, and his mobility could give Shaquille O'Neal trouble. Varejao is the kind of player whose value you don't recognize until he goes off the floor and you realize how much easier everything is without him on it. As such, I'd like to see Boston try to ride Shaq's recent hot hand in the early going and maybe get Varejao in foul trouble.

Mo Williams is the starter at point guard. He didn't play in the first Boston game, and while he adds some scoring punch, he's missed five games this year and it's not at all clear that Cleveland suffers too much with him in street clothes. The other change in the lineup is that Joey Graham has recently replaced Jamario Moon in the starting lineup, which really matters very little in the grand scheme of things.

Cleveland's bench had a nice game the last time we played them. They've got some pretty good second-unit weapons, as second-unit weapons go. The most obvious is former All-Star Antawn Jamison, a versatile forward who we can hope decides to content himself with launching perimeter shots. Daniel Gibson is legitimate three-point sniper. I'm not a Ramon Sessions fan, but he has his moments; a big key to defending him is letting him take all the crazy shots he seems willing to take, rather than over-reacting to his penetration and leaving someone else open or by bailing him out with a foul call. None of those guys has a reputation for defense, however, and while the other two bench guys -- Ryan Hollins and Moon -- are decent on D, I think the Celtics bench could do some damage.

It's a game Boston should win, but to reiterate, they'll have to do more than just show up.

The Next Lamb: The Cleveland Cavaliers

Date: October 27, 2010

7 p.m. Eastern

TV: NBA League Pass (free preview going on this week!)

Last night's opponent wasn't the only franchise transformed by LeBron James' decision to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. The King's departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers instantly turned a title contender into what appears to be one of the league's worst teams.

Many believe that LeBron's inability to win a championship in Cleveland was not his fault, but was a byproduct of the players around him simply not being good enough. Whether or not you subscribe to that particular theory, you have to admit that a team built around LeBron's former "help" -- Mo Williams, 34-year-old Antawn Jamison, J.J. Hickson, and Anderson Varejao -- promises to be a pretty sorry outfit.

We really have little indication as to how the Cavs are going to play. Like most NBA teams, they were idle Tuesday night, so Wednesday night's game is their opener. Additionally, Byron Scott takes over this season as head coach, and it remains to be seen what changes he'll make from Mike Brown's tenure. Williams was a scoring point guard in Milwaukee during the early part of his career, and I suspect we'll see him back in that role this year, though he should pile up a fair number of assists simply by virture of being the one who initiates the offense, as he did with the Bucks. Hickson is a promising young power forward, and Jamison may play a lot of three to make room for Hickson at the four. Beyond that, there's very little to talk about re: the Cavs, at least until we see them play a few games.

Celtics-Cavs was very recently a marquee matchup, the opening game of the NBA season each of the last two seasons. With James' departure, it's now nothing more than a trap game for a contender, coming on the road the night after an adrenaline-sapping win over, of all teams, James' new squad. For the the Cavs and the city of Cleveland, it's the chance to show LeBron -- and the rest of the basketball world, but mainly LeBron -- that life goes on without him, at least for a night. There will be nights this season that a half-assed effort will beat the Cavs. Tonight is not likely to be one of them.