LeBron seemingly still can't hit the broad side of a barn, but it didn't matter in last night's blowout win over the Celtics. Mr. James did hit 3-of-5 three-pointers, but was just 2-of-11 from inside the arc. But it should be pointed out that LeBron didn't exactly lay an egg -- he did rack up eight assists and five rebounds, and he led the team with four steals and three blocked shots to go along with his 21 points. He's still LeBron, even when he's not hitting his shots.
The midseason blockbuster Danny Ferry pulled off bore fruit in that game. The four guys he got were all keys to the strong performance last night.
- Delonte West had 21 points, five rebounds and seven assists.
- Joe Smith came off the bench to score 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting.
- Ben Wallace, who nearly didn't play at all because of an inner-ear infection, had nine rebounds and two blocks, along with nine points.
- Wally Szczerbiak put in 16 points in 43 minutes.
So the guys from Boston now have a 2-1 lead. They haven't lost a game at home yet in the playoffs, but they also haven't won a game on the road. If that trend holds, they'll win every series 4-3 because they have home-court advantage throughout the postseason. But the Cavs nearly stole Game 1 in Boston, and we have reason to hope they'll pull out Game 5 or Game 7, if they can get there.
There's one other thing I'd like to address. No matter what anyone else says, I say James Posey's tackling LeBron by the neck as he drove to the hole was a dirty play, and I cannot believe it almost wasn't called a flagrant foul. Yes, it seems clear he didn't mean to put a choke-hold on LeBron, but he clearly was trying to grab him, and he made no attempt at getting the ball away from him. I'm not going to say Posey should have been thrown out of the game or should be suspended for the next one, but there's no place in the sport for a play like that.
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