BOSTON — The Cavaliers like to get LeBron James a little rest at the defensive end early in games by matching him up against a player who’s not real active offensively, but that won’t be easy in Cleveland’s second-round series against the Boston Celtics.
“No matter who you put LeBron on, he’s not going to have the opportunity to, quote, unquote, rest,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said Tuesday before Game 1 at TD Banknorth Garden.
Small forward Paul Pierce, with whom James matches up best from a physical standpoint, led the Celtics in scoring in the regular season and is extremely active offensively, which will cause the Cleveland small forward to expend a lot of energy.
Brown said before Game 1 there will be times when the Cavaliers will use James’
6-foot-8 height to defend lightning-quick Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who will also be checked by Cleveland point guard Delonte West.
That scenario would allow West to defend Boston shooting guard Ray Allen, with Wally Szczerbiak then defending Pierce. If the slow-footed Szczerbiak can’t handle the assignment, the Cavaliers can then go to reserves Devin Brown or Sasha Pavlovic.
“(Allen) is a tough cover for us because he moves so well without the ball,” Mike Brown said. “He not only moves well without the ball, he plays the pick-and-roll well. Those are two areas we have to play better in. He’s kind of had his way with us this year.”
Allen averaged 23.8 points in four regular-season games against the Cavaliers and shot .516 from the field, including .414 on 3-pointers (12-of-29). A tired Pierce, who has to expend even more energy than James because he gets the full-time assignment of defending the Cleveland small forward, averaged just 13.5 points and shot only .373 from the field.

Go west, young man

West played with Boston for three seasons from 2004-07, then was traded to Seattle along with Szczerbiak as part of the deal that brought Allen to the Celtics.
“It’s funny how things can change overnight,” West said. “Last year we could barely win a game and this year they won the most games.”
The Celtics won 24 games in West’s last season in Boston, then captured an NBA-high 66 this season. Things weren’t any better in Seattle, but West joined a serious contender for the first time in his four-year career when he was dealt to Cleveland on Feb. 21.
“There’s a positive in every situation,” he said. “You just have to embrace what you are doing.”

Wally Word

Szczerbiak, who made the playoffs his first five seasons in Minnesota, is back in the postseason for the first time since 2004.
“I just tried to enjoy basketball,” he said of his time in Boston and Seattle. “I was lucky to be traded to a contender with a lot of aspirations. … It’s crazy. It shows you the NBA. You never know what to expect.”

Mr. Efficient

James was first in the NBA in player efficiency, a complex ranking system that takes points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, turnovers and games played into account. James’ total was 30.33, followed by Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire (28.67), New Orleans’ Chris Paul (27.92), Orlando’s Dwight Howard (27.04) and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (26.60). Boston’s Kevin Garnett, who led the league the previous five seasons, was ninth at 25.00.

Still growing

Though the Cavaliers may have played their best game since acquiring Szczerbiak, West, Ben Wallace and Joe Smith in beating Washington 105-88 in Game 6, Mike Brown still sees room for growth for his team.
“We’re not quite there yet,” he said. “We can still be a better team than we are now.”

History lesson

The Cavaliers and Celtics are meeting in the playoffs for the fourth time. Boston won two of the previous three meetings, but Cleveland won the last series 4-3 in 1992.
The Celtics won 3-1 in the first round in 1985 and 4-2 in the conference finals in 1976, otherwise known as the “Miracle of Richfield.”

180-degree turn

With the addition of Garnett and Allen, Boston’s 66 regular-season wins were 42 more than it had in 2006-07, the biggest one-season improvement in NBA history.
San Antonio improved by 36 wins, to 56, in 1997-98 when Tim Duncan was a rookie and David Robinson came back from an injury. San Antonio also improved by 35 wins in 1989-90. Terry Cummings was acquired in a trade that season and Robinson was a rookie.

Quote of the day

“I see everybody’s neck straining. That must mean LeBron is about to talk. He’s a better talker than me.” — Mike Brown, when reporters began turning away during his pregame session with the media.
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061
or rickn@ohio.net. 

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