This is going to be brief because I’m overworked right now and will be out of the office for most of the day tomorrow, but here goes —
In the first half, pretty much everything I predicted could happen to the Cavs did: Mo got destroyed by Rondo and the Celtics were living in the paint. At the same time, the Celtics’ defense - still #1 in the league - was forcing the Cavaliers into taking a ton of jump shots. Shaq (3-8) wasn’t shooting well either.
In the second half, and especially in the fourth quarter, all of that changed. Glitch was damn near incredible, as was Varejao, and Cavs fans were able to witness a free preview of what the team could look like in a Shaq and Z-less future (long-term, I mean, as in next season). Varejao was particularly strong at masking Mo’s pick and roll weaknesses (Shaq was not). Against Boston, an unathletic, aging team, this line-up (Andy, JJ, Moon, Delonte, and Mo) killed - against a team like Orlando or Atlana, I don’t know.
It will be interesting to see if Coldstone employs it when he doesn’t have to (side note: the giant line-up with Bron at the point hasn’t been used, I don’t think, since Mo’s been back).
One additional note: why in the hell does Doc Rivers play Glen “He’s Glen” Davis over Shelden Williams? This seems inexcusable to me. Then again, I never would have recommended overpaying Davis like Boston did, just because he had a few good games in the playoffs.
Finally, remember what this match-up looked like on opening night? Remember how we all had a tendency to want to define the season by a single game? Now think about what the game looked like tonight - and then keep in mind that it might look totally different the next time these guys get together.
The NBA regular season: a betting man’s nightmare.
