BOSTON — In a totally new way, LeBron James was more unbelievable than he’s been at any point in his five-year NBA career.
So was this game, but not in the way the Cavaliers wanted it to be.
With their superstar doing a lot of everything, much of it bad, the Cavaliers lost Game 1 of their best-of-seven series with the Boston Celtics 76-72 Tuesday night at TD Banknorth Garden.
Game 2 of the second-round series is in Boston on Thursday night at 7, and if it’s anything like this one, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown won’t be the only Clevelander without any hair.
“I missed a lot of shots I usually make,” said James, who was 2-of-18 from the field. “I missed a few layups I know I can make, a few pull-ups I know I can make.”
It was that kind of night.
It was a night when the Cavaliers had no business being in the game, but could have won going away.
It was a night when James nearly had a quadruple-double — 12 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and 10 turnovers, the latter tying his dubious team playoff record.
It was a night when the Cleveland small forward scored just two points in the second half.
It was a night when James missed a driving layup against Kendrick Perkins that could have tied the game with less than 10 seconds to go.
It was a night when the Cavaliers held the Celtics to 35 points in the second half — and scored only 35 themselves.
It was a night when Boston’s Paul Pierce had four points on 2-of-14 shooting and Ray Allen, who averaged 23.8 against the Cavaliers during the regular season, went scoreless for the first time since 1997.
More than anything, though, it was a night that, from a Cleveland perspective, was very encouraging and totally disheartening at the same time, because if James had been anywhere close to his normal self, the Cavaliers would have won.
“He had a tough night,” Brown said. “He’s definitely entitled to it.
“I’m not worried about him. He’ll definitely bounce back.”
The Cavaliers tied the game at 72 on a Zydrunas Ilgauskas tip-in with 39 seconds to go, only to have Kevin Garnett score on a spin move inside — Joe Smith was in for Cleveland instead of Ben Wallace because Brown wanted an offensive lineup on the floor on his team’s previous possession — with 21.4 ticks on the clock.
With Boston having a foul to give, James went around a reaching James Posey and into the lane, only to miss a right-handed layup while driving left against Perkins.
Boston rebounded and Posey made two free throws with 8.5 seconds left, and just like that the Cavaliers had let a golden opportunity slip away.
“That last play symbolized the night I had,” James said.
Garnett led the Celtics with 28 points on 13-of-22 shooting, while point guard Rajon Rondo had 15 points, five rebounds and six assists. All Rondo’s points came in the first half. Veteran Sam Cassell was huge for Boston, scoring 12 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Ilgauskas was great for Cleveland, finishing with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Wally Szczerbiak overcame a slow start to score 13 points.
The Cavaliers, however, shot just .307 from the field (23-of-75), with Delonte West going 2-of-10, meaning he and James were a combined 4-of-30.
“The Celtics are the best defensive team in the league,” Brown said. “You’ve got to give those guys credit.”
Garnett scored on a layup and dunk to start the third period, putting the Celtics up eight, but the Cavaliers went on a 14-0 run over the next 6½ minutes to take a six-point lead. That run came despite the fact James was 1-of-10 from the field at the time and had already committed eight turnovers.
The 23-year-old got his ninth turnover moments later on his second charging call of the period — and fourth foul of the game — but the Cavaliers, who outscored the Celtics by a robust 15-12 in the third period, somehow trailed just 53-52 heading into the final quarter.
The first half, which ended with the Celtics up 41-37, was hard to watch and even harder to explain.
No. 1 case in point: With James going 1-of-6 from the field — he did make 8 of 10 free throws — the Cavaliers shot .289 from the floor over the first two periods (11-of-38) and missed all six of their 3-point attempts, yet were down just four points.
Boston missed its first seven shots of the game and fell behind 5-0, but the Cavaliers ended up missing 14 of their first 16 attempts, including five by Szczerbiak and three by West.
The only players having any success at all were Rondo, who made four floaters or layups in five attempts while repeatedly burning West, and Garnett, who took advantage of straight-up defense to score 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting as Boston took a 25-15 lead after one.
Pierce, who picked up two fouls in the first 3:47, and Allen didn’t score a point in the period, but the Celtics still found a way to make 11-of-13 shots after their woeful start.
Cleveland, meanwhile, went 4-of-19 in the first period (.211) and appeared to be on the verge of getting blown out when Garnett scored again early in the second quarter to put the Celtics up 12.
KG went to the bench for a rest soon after that, however, and Boston went to pot without him, allowing the Cavaliers to go on a 13-2 run — it wasn’t really a run, though, it took so long — and get right back in the game.
Though it looked like they were trying to, the Celtics never did give up the lead in the first half.
The dreadful play ended, fittingly enough, when James unwisely tried to draw a charge from Rondo near midcourt with 0.2 seconds to go, only to be called for a block that resulted in the 14th and 15th points of the half for the Boston point guard.
TIP-INS: Devin Brown did not play for the Cavaliers, with Sasha Pavlovic taking his spot in the rotation. … Cassell was called for a flagrant foul on a James drive midway through the second period.

Celtics 76, Cavaliers 72

CLEVELAND (72): James 2-18 8-10 12, Wallace 1-3 2-2 4, Ilgauskas 8-18 6-6 22, West 2-10 0-0 4, Szczerbiak 5-14 1-1 13, Gibson 2-6 2-2 7, Varejao 0-1 1-2 1, Smith 1-2 0-0 2, Pavlovic 2-3 2-3 7. Totals 23-75 22-26 72.
BOSTON (76): Pierce 2-14 0-0 4, Garnett 13-22 2-2 28, Perkins 3-4 1-2 7, Rondo 5-8 5-6 15, R.Allen 0-4 0-0 0, Posey 2-4 2-2 8, T.Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Powe 0-3 1-2 1, Cassell 4-8 3-4 13, P.Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-68 14-18 76.
Cleveland    15    22    15    20    —    72
Boston    25    16    12    23    —    76
3-Point Goals—Cleveland 4-18 (Szczerbiak 2-5, Pavlovic 1-1, Gibson 1-3, West 0-3, James 0-6), Boston 4-14 (Cassell 2-4, Posey 2-4, Pierce 0-3, R.Allen 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Cleveland 49 (Ilgauskas 12), Boston 50 (Perkins 12). Assists—Cleveland 19 (James 9), Boston 18 (Rondo 6). Total Fouls—Cleveland 21, Boston 20. Technical—Boston defensive three second. Flagrant Foul—Cassell. A—18,624 (18,624). 

 

 

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