The defense is the backbone..

Celtics absolutely shock, stifle and frustrate the Cavs tonight, 120-88 at the Q. C's held the Cavs to 40% from the floor and 30% from 3. My feeling is that the key to this win was not just the defense, but the ability of the C's bench to come in and keep up the pressure & hold the lead. Big Baby started off slow, but came through with 15 points and 4 boards. The C's bench outscored the Cavaliers' 30 to 20. Ray Allen was smooth as dolphin skin, scoring 26 on an array of sweet jumpers, (6) three-pointers and perfect (3 of 3) FT shooting. We all knew heading into this game that Paul Pierce was going to need to get it going. He did-dropping in 21 points. He struggled a bit early on, but found ways to score in the paint and from outside.

The turning point in this game was a 16-0 run by the Celts in the 2nd quarter. They came out strong after halftime and never looked back. Lebron James finished with only 3 total field goals and scored most of his 15 points from the foul-line. The Cleveland crowd booed at times and seemed to be waiting for James to take the game over. He never did. Shaq led the Cavs with 21 points, despite some great defense by Perk and 'Sheed. Perk took yet another shot to the face from Shaq tonight. KP picked up a tech and he & Shaq briefly got into a war of words. Ticket came over and quickly settled Perk down. That type of veteran leadership is another reason why I believe the C's can win a title this year.

Now the C's will try and close things out at home on Thursday night. It should be an electric atmosphere and I am hoping to be there. Tip-off is at 8pm...