In an incredibly important Game 5, the Boston Celtics outplayed the Cleveland Cavaliers in every way, scoring, rebounding, passing, you name it. The final score was 120-88, the largest Cavaliers loss in their postseason history. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce led the way for Boston offensively, scoring 25 and 21 points respectively. Although, the rest of the starting five cracked double digits as well, plus Glen “Big Baby” Davis. Davis scored all 15 of his points in the fourth quarter, coming through when it really counted. Rajon Rondo, coming off of his historic triple-double did not score a point in the entire first half, but came alive in the third quarter. He scored his first points over 26 minutes into regulation and scored 12 total in the third quarter, including a monumental three pointer with just 1:30 to go.
Pierce, the C’s captain, had a good all-around night, pulling down 11 boards and dishing out 7 assists. He also shut down MVP LeBron James on defense. James shot 3-14 and scored a measly 15 points. Most of those came when the lead had already ballooned up to over 20 as well. Paul made LeBron work on every Cleveland possession and it worked to perfection. James had no field goals in the entire first quarter. I can;t think of a worse performance from James in his seven year career, especially in a game this important. Shaquille O’Neal managed to put in 21 points for the Cavs, and wing man Anthony Parked knocked down a pair of treys on his way to scoring 14 on 5-9 shooting from the field.
As a team the Celts recorded 10 more rebounds than the Cavaliers and commit ed 7 less turnovers in the game. After the game, KG had this to say, “We cannot come back here. We have to think this is our Game 7 coming up and we cannot afford to have the best team in the league have a Game 7 on their floor. Just not possible.” The teams return to Boston for Game 6 Thursday night, which tips at 8:00 PM eastern time.
