Sports Remix

Cleveland Cavaliers Dominate Boston Celtics 108-88

By: Waseem Barazi

The Cavs still have a long way to go to reach their championship dreams, but last night’s 108-88 romp over the Boston Celtics was a hell of an ego boost.

The Cavaliers need to keep performing this way if they want to have a sliver of a chance to get pas the first round of playoffs, but I think whatever fired up the Cavs to snap the three-year-long drought in Boston is here to stay, or at least we hope, for LeBron’s sake.

In the second quarter, Shaquille O’Neal wen’t down with a serious right thumb injury. It is not yet clear how long Shaq will be out or how soon he can start practicing again. It seemed like nobody on the team was in tip-top shape, but that didn’t stop the Cavs from tearing up the court.

The Cavs, realizing the seriousness of the stiuation, stepped up their game in the second half to reach a miraculous 108-88 victory over the celtics. They had to do some quick substitutions leading to a line-up they haven’t used before, but that I think we’ll be seeing alot of in the future.

Coach Mike Brown didn’t panic as he knew the capabilities of his All-Star players such as LeBron James and Mo Williams. It was the first time since Jan. 3, 2007, that the Cleveland Cavaliers have won in Boston, which spans nine games, including the playoffs. This was a streak that the Cavs were happy to break.


In specific, it was Mo Williams who caught a second wind and found his shooting ability in the second half where he scored 14 of his 19 points. Nothing new to say about LeBron except that he had a 30+ point game again. That’s not all though, tack on seven rebounds and nine assists helped his team perform better and is what ultimately allowed Mo Williams to catch fire.

The story of this game is not about offense though, its more about the defense and what the Cavs need to do for the rest of the season. They have been performing dreadfully as of late, and Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics ran circles around the Cavaliers defense last night. With Ilgauskas gone and O’Neal out, it seemed to be a hopeless situation for the Cavs. This desperation is what ultimately sparked the fire for a second half comeback.

Mike Brown though in forward Anderson Varejao at center and backed him up with J.J Hickson at forward. The strategy was to replace the big men with two lightning quick smaller guys to keep up with he fast paced Celtics offense. This new combination led to a decrease of the Celtics’ shooting percentage from 60% in the first half to 22% in the second half.