Cavaliers Let Celtics Off The Hook As Boston Storms Back To Win 96-89 Lead Series 3-2

Sometimes you can the whole story of a game just by the numbers, that was the case in game five of the Eastern Conference Semi-Final series between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers. If you follow the string this series of numbers will tell you everything you need to know; the Cavaliers led the Celtics 43-29 in Boston with 3:49 left in the second quarter. LeBron James scored 23 points in the first half, and the Cleveland Cavaliers lead over the Celtics was just three points, 46-43. LBJ scored 35 points for the game, two of his teammates combined for 31 more yet the rest of the roster could only scrape up an additional 23. The Cavaliers knew this was the pivotal game of this series going into Boston, they had the Celtics on the ropes, but they let them get back into the middle of the ring and win the fight. Boston won the contest over Cleveland 96-89 Wednesday night, taking a 3-2 lead in the series. The defending Eastern Conference Champions are one loss away from going home for the Summer.

This was a game that Cleveland simply should have won. When you have your foot on your opponents jugular vein you can ease off you have to go in and take the victory. The Celtics looked punch drunk as they were being pummeled by the Cavaliers. But all of a sudden it screeched to a grinding halt, as Rajon Rondo started to bring Boston back with consecutive treys after LBJ had scored 8 straight for Cleveland. And although James was feeling it for the first time in the series in the first half, Paul Pierce shut him down for most of the second half. And nobody else from Cleveland except for Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak stepped it up.

As I wrote after the Cavaliers victory Monday night in game four, Cleveland knew that this was the game they had to take. With Boston having home court advantage, it came down to a three game series with two games in the ?New Garden? and one sandwiched in the middle in Cleveland. The Cavaliers saw what happened to the Atlanta Hawks in a game seven in Boston get slaughtered. Cleveland knew they had to win this game to control their destiny. The Cavaliers came out at the jump as the hungrier team as they held a 23-18 lead at the end of the first quarter. And it looked like they were heading back to Cleveland up 3-2 in the series as the half had less than four minutes left. Boston staging their comeback and cutting the deficit to just three points at the half, took away Cleveland?s momentum, and confidence. Boston quickly took the lead in the third quarter and had a 72-63 lead heading into the game?s final 12 minutes. Boston grabbed a 74-62 lead early in the fourth, but the Cavaliers had one more run left in them. Delonte West hit a pair at the line to make it just a four point game as Boston?s lead was down to 91-87. But that was a close as Cleveland could get, as the Green Team held on for the win.

The Celtics were led by Paul Pierce who scored 29 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, in the Boston victory. Kevin Garnett recorded a double-double as he scored 26 points, grabbed 16 boards, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals, Rajon Rondo also registered a double-double as he scored 20 points, dished off 13 assists, 2 steals, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks. Ray Allen scored 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block.

LBJ scored 35 points, as he shot 12-25 from the floor and 11-13 at the line, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block. Delonte West had another big game for Cleveland as he scored 21 points, 4 assists, 4 steals, 2 rebounds, Wally Szczerbiak scored 10 points, 4 rebounds. The rest of the team scored a total of 23 points in four quarters. They should be forced to give up their playoff shares for the game to charity! Game six will be Friday night in Cleveland.