Coaches preach defense, big men rave about rebounding and smaller players boast about passing. But at the end of the day, basketball always comes down to putting the ball in the basket.
The Cavaliers looked like a well-oiled offensive machine for the first time in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Saturday night, which led to them winning for the first time in the series, 108-84 over the Boston Celtics in Game 3.
All five Cleveland starters made at least four hoops — led by point guard Delonte West’s seven — as the wine and gold shot a sizzling 53.6 percent from the floor in getting back in the best-of-seven series.
“We just made shots tonight, it’s pretty simple,” Cavaliers guard Wally Szczerbiak said with a shrug. “The game looks a lot easier when you put the ball in the basket.
“We saw some things on film that showed us how to attack them on the offensive end, and we put them into action tonight.”
Not only did Cleveland make the most of its open offensive opportunities, it got great production out of players who are not known for being big scorers.
West had a game-high 21 points, Joe Smith poured in 17 off the bench on 7-for-8 shooting, while Ben Wallace put in nine on a night when he wasn’t expected to play because of an ear infection.
Ironically the only players in the Cavaliers’ eight-man rotation who didn’t make at least half of their field-goal attempts were franchise player LeBron James (5-for-16) and sharpshooter Szczerbiak (4-for-10).
“When we make shots and not turn the ball over, we’re a very good team,” said James, who still managed to collect 21 points, five rebounds, eight assists, four steals and three blocked shots. “Watching the other guys step up tonight was big.”
Indeed, it was, especially after Cleveland put together two of the worst shooting performances in team playoff history in Games 1 and 2 in Boston. The Cavaliers fired blanks at a .307 and .356 clip, leading to them only scoring 72 and 73 points, respectively.
Upon returning home Saturday, though, they couldn’t miss.
“Ben was huge, Joe Smith was huge, Delonte was huge,’’ said power forward Kevin Garnett, who led the Celtics with 17 points. “Tonight, those guys were effective early and they never looked back.”
While it’s easy to give all the credit to Cleveland’s players tickling the twine, coach Mike Brown and his staff also deserve a big pat on the back.
The Cavaliers executed a fine game plan designed by Brown on Friday that stressed anticipating how Boston’s players were going to react to ball movement. The strategy forced James to make quick decisions before he was swarmed in the forecourt, similar to a quarterback checking off his potential receivers during a football play.
There aren’t many coaches who would entrust one player with that responsibility, but Brown and James have developed a unique rapport. And “The Chosen One” is no ordinary player.
“LeBron is still making plays for us, but we have to make plays for him, too,” Cleveland guard Daniel Gibson explained. “Since their defense is so locked in on him, we have to be aggressive and make plays when they force the ball out of his hands.
“A lot of teams have tried the same blueprint Boston is using. We just have got to make shots to make them pay.”
Now that the Cavaliers have done that in Game 3, can they do it Monday and tie the series at two games apiece? Playing on their home court with familiar rims can only help their cause.
“I’ve felt good every game,” said West, who missed 12 of his 15 shots at the TD Banknorth Garden. “Sometimes the basketball gods decide it’s not your day. The ball wants to go all-net, but it winds up all-airball.
“We just didn’t shoot the ball well the first two games, but we treated Game 3 as an entity in itself. We couldn’t worry about winning two in a row at home, we had to take it one game at a time. Now that we’ve got one, now it’s time to get another.”
Contact Brian Dulik at sports@ohio.net.

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