After the Celtics dismantle a team, I love to read their fan blogs and newspapers the next day. I want to gauge their hangover, see if there's any sour grapes, excuse-making and/or respect paid to the Cs.
Here's what I found today after the Celtics 95-89 win in Cleveland.
Cavs HQ:
This game was decided in the three minutes that LeBron James sat at the start of the second quarter. The Cavs were -6 in that stretch. LeBron had to play 45 minutes tonight, the first of a stretch of four games in five nights, because the bench was atrocious and Mike Brown had no answers.
Then again, when the reserves are this bad, I'm not sure how much [Mike] Brown can do. I'm tired of the Cavalier bench jumping around and pounding their chests, while playing with zero pride when they are matched up against elite competition. [Daniel] Gibson, [Jamario] Moon and [J.J.] Hickson looked just bad as any second unit the Cavaliers used last season.
Not sure I agree with the first paragraph. The game was decided in the 3rd quarter when the Celtics starters pulled away, and the reserves held down the fort. I love the criticism of the Cavs all-talk, no-walk bench.
Waiting for Next Year:
"I was a little disappointed to see Boston get the majority of loose balls. Those are usually a good indicator of who is playing harder."
I definitely wasn't feeling this way after the first seven minutes of the game. But that changed once the second unit entered the game. Rondo had some great hustle plays in the second half, and Pierce was a beast on the boards all night.
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
While there's plenty of time to deal with those bumps -- though the Celtics will have strong bragging rights until the teams meet again on Feb. 25 -- perhaps most disturbing was the effect of Shaquille O'Neal in his first real game as a Cav.
He had just 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting with 10 rebounds in 29 minutes. Deeper than those vanilla numbers, however, was his inability to deliver at all in the fourth quarter. Three different times James went to him with the score tight and the game on the line and three different times he was unable to come through.
It was kudos to Kendrick Perkins, who swatted him on one key fourth quarter possession, and Kevin Garnett, who often helped.
This proves Cleveland has an unrealistic expectation for Shaq. I thought he played well - especially in the 1st half and I was a bit disappointed in Perk's defense. Yes, holding Shaq scoreless down the stretch was key, but I still believe anything the Cavs get from their out-of-shape big man is gravy. Oops, probably not the best choice of words there.
-BigMck
| 
