Swamigp’s Weblog

Kevin Garnett had 26 points and 16 rebounds and Rajon Rondo delivered an unexpected performance, scoring 20 points and dishing 13 assists as Boston stayed unbeaten at home in the playoffs with a 96-89 win. The Celtics took control in the 3rd quarter after Cleveland had taken a lead as big as 14 in the 1st half. Boston outscored the Cavs by 12 in the 3rd, taking the tempo and momentum away from Cleveland. Paul Pierce led the Celtics in scoring with 29 points and clamped down on Lebron late to send the series back to Ohio with a 3-2 series lead.

Cleveland’s stifling defense in the first two quarters let up in the final two, allowing Boston to run their offense with ease, especially in the tide-turning third. The Celtics offense was so good that it seemed that the Cavaliers had to score on every possession just to keep up. They didn’t, allowing the Boston to go on spurts throughout the period to eventually take a commanding 9 point lead heading into the 4th. Cleveland couldn’t make up the deficit in the final 12 minutes, despite 10 points from LeBron. The lead hovered around 10 for most of the final period, up until the final minute. It was a 4 point game, 91-87, when Garnett missed a jumper allowing Cleveland to cut the lead even more if they could just grab the rebound. Sounds simple enough, but they couldn’t as Pierce jumped in to the fray and was fouled, ending the Cav’s chances.

Delonte West led Cleveland behind LeBron with 23 points, 10 of which coming from the free throw line, but the rest of the offense was non-existent. After being dependable for the first four games of the series, Zydrunas Ilgauksas struggled mightily in this crucial game, scoring only 6 points on 2-5 shooting. The lack of shots taken by him and Wally Sczcerbiak, 10 points on 3-8 shooting, isn’t a great recipe for winning games for the Cavs, specially of this magnitude.

The way the playoffs have been going this year for home teams, Cleveland has a great chance to tie up the series on their home floor.