INDEPENDENCE — In Beantown, they like to call Celtics stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen “The Boston Three Party.”
The Cavaliers, who have the next scheduled “tea” time — Game 1 of the best-of-seven, second-round series is tonight at 8 at TD Banknorth Garden — know it’s going to be tough to throw this group overboard.
“They play great team basketball offensively and defensively,” LeBron James said. “They have a lot of guys they can go to that can hurt you.”
As good as Pierce and Allen are, it all starts with the 6-foot-11 Garnett, aka KG, who was named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged 18.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists during the regular season and 21.0, 8.9 and 3.9, respectively, during a first-round playoff win over the Atlanta Hawks, but his true value to the Celtics goes way beyond numbers.
Garnett’s intensity and will rival that of James, and he’s not afraid to say something to his teammates, including fellow All-Stars Pierce and Allen, if he thinks they need to hear it.
Garnett is also the single biggest reason, figuratively and literally, why the Celtics had the top field-goal percentage defense in the league and won an NBA-best 66 games in the regular season — or 42 more than they won without him last year.
The 13th-year pro did not, however, do it alone.
Pierce, who has never met a shot he wouldn’t try, averaged a team-best 19.6 points, plus 5.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists. Once in danger of becoming a selfish, stat-sheet stuffer on a bad team, he now also plays defense and will draw the assignment of containing James, with, of course, a lot of help from his teammates.
Allen, who averaged 17.4 points and shot .398 from beyond the arc (180-of-452) during the regular season, gives the Celtics a pure shooter who makes opponents pay if they double Garnett or Pierce.
“They understand the concept of team basketball at both ends of the floor,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “That’s what makes them special.”
Factor in explosive but streaky point guard Rajon Rondo, center Kendrick Perkins and a bench — James Posey, Sam Cassell, P.J. Brown, Leon Powe, Glen Davis, Tony Allen and Eddie House — that is deeper than any in the league and the Cavaliers will need all Brown’s defensive expertise to contain Boston.
“You can’t really take away anything from that team (without giving up something else),” Brown said. “That’s a great basketball team. You’ve got to see if you can guard guys as much as possible without double-teaming.”
As good as Garnett and Pierce are, the Cavaliers match up fairly well along the front line, where James, Ben Wallace and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, along with reserves Joe Smith and Anderson Varejao, should be able to hold their own.
The backcourt could be another story. Starter Delonte West and backup Daniel “Boobie” Gibson have both struggled to keep opposing point guards in front of them, and for them to require help against the lightning-quick Rondo could be fatal. Allen doesn’t go to the hole a whole lot at this stage of his career, but he’s going to be defended by the slow-footed Wally Szczerbiak, which could lead to a lot of minutes for Devin Brown.
“They’ve been playing great basketball all the way around,” Gibson said. “We know we have to be locked in and prepared.”
Defensively, the Celtics defend James as well as anyone, especially at home, shrinking the floor and crowding the paint in order to make the 6-8, 250-pounder attempt to beat them from the perimeter.
“They’re a very, very, very active team,” Mike Brown said.
While the relentless James still has to attack, it will help Cleveland’s cause greatly if he makes a few jumpers. It will help even more if he continues to move the ball quickly, like he did in Game 6 against Washington, and guys like Szczerbiak and Gibson continue to make 3-pointers.
“When my teammates are confident, the sky’s the limit for our team,” James said. “Like I said before, you have to pick your poison. … I’m going to help them keep their confidence up because I trust them so much.”
The fact the Cavaliers won two of their three playoff road games against Washington may mean they have turned the corner and learned how to win away from Quicken Loans Arena, but the Celtics are a different beast than the Wizards.
Counting four easy wins over Atlanta in the playoffs, including a 99-65 dismantling in Game 7, Boston is 39-6 this season at TD Banknorth Center, where it has won by an average margin of almost 14 points a game.
“The crowd is terrific up there,” Mike Brown said. “That’s a great team, whether they’re at home or on the road, but especially at home. For us to keep our poise is going to be key.”
To the Cavaliers’ credit, they did defeat the Celtics in both meetings at Quicken Loans Arena this season. If they are to win the series, however, they will have to win at least one game in Boston, where the history of guys like Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Bob Cousy, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale is never too far away.
“You look at the TV and see highlights of Bird, highlights of McHale,” James said. “It’s great to be a part of it.
“They were the best team in the league this year, but being underdogs doesn’t matter to us. We’ve just got to go out and play. We want to win this series.”
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

TONIGHT

WHO: Cleveland at Boston
WHAT: Game 1, Eastern Conference semifinals, best-of-seven series
TIME: 8 o’clock
WHERE: TD Banknorth Garden, Boston
TV/RADIO: TNT; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

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