CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Celtics Bench Comes Up Big in 89-73 Win

Before the game, no one felt that Pierce, Ray Allen and LeBron would all shoot sa poorly as they did in game one and they were partly right. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce bounced back with good games while LeBron played almost as poorly as he did in the first game. Pierce ended the game with 19 points on 7-13 shooting to go with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Pierce left the game with a finger injury in the first half but came back and seemed to be fine. Ray Allen struggled early but came out strong to start the third and finished with 16 points (4-10), 1 rebound, 3 assists and 2 steals. LeBron had 21 points but 9 of those came on the free throw line where he was 9-13. He shot 6-24 from the field and had 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 turnovers.

The Cavs got off to a fast start putting the Celtics down 12 in the first quarter. The Celtics made a run with Sam Cassell, PJ Brown, Leon Powe, James Posey and Ray Allen on the court. They cut the lead to 24-17 at the end of the first quarter. They took the lead on a Posey dunk in the second quarter and never looked back. They clamped down on defense in the second quarter and turned a 7 point deficit to start the quarter into an 8 point lead at the half. They began the third quarter on a 10-0 run before Ilgauskas finally hit a jumper. Ilguaskas kept them in the game hitting 9-12 shots for 19 points. The score at the end of 3 quarters was 70-51 in the Celtics favor.

Leon Powe, James Posey and Sam Cassell all brought great energy off the bench and were key to turning this game around. Powe finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds in 28 minutes. Posey did a little bit of everything as he scored 7 points, pulled down 6 rebounds, dished out 1 assists and made 3 very big steals. Rondo played only 22 minutes and once again, Doc played Sam in the 4th quarter. Rondo finished with 7 points, all from the free throw line, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. Sam had 9 points and 4 assists in 25 minutes. The Celtics bench out scored the Cavs bench 34-17.

KG, who was so big in game 1, scored only 13 points in this game, but then again, he didn't need to score with 3 other players in double figures and the defense keeping the Cavs from scoring. KG concentrated more on defense and finding the open man. He pulled down 12 rebounds and dished out 4 assists. Ben Wallace left the game Perk had an off game and went scoreless in 20 minutes but still played good defense and pulled down 4 rebounds. He left the game in the first quarter after getting hit in the nose as it started to bleed again. Ben Wallace left the game in the first quarter with extreme dizziness and didn't return.

The Celtics were a bit sluggish to start the game and allowed the Cavs to shoot 55% in the first quarter. They then clamped down on defense and completely shut down the Cavs offense. The Cavs shot only 36% for the game while the Celtics shot 40%. The Celtics were also out rebounded in the first quarter but they ended up with a 45-39 edge for the game. The Celtics energy in this game was incredible. Even when they were up 20, the Celtics were still diving on the floor for loose balls and defending as though they were down 20. They moved the ball on offense and played great team defense. Now, the challenge is to get that first win on the road. I wouldn't bet on LeBron having 3 bad games in a row, especially at home, so the Celtics better bring that defensive energy and team mindset with them on Saturday.

[Box Score]
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