Cavs, Celtics Heading in Different Directions

CLEVELAND -- LeBron James' vision was fuzzy for a good 15 minutes after he took a shot to the eye from Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics on Sunday.

That didn't affect the Cavs, who saw clearly enough to spank the Celtics back to Boston with a 104-93 win.

As for the Celtics, they're still trying to see their future, both short- and long-term. Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are not getting younger, and coach Doc Rivers admitted he is trying to point to the playoffs.

"Our goal ... is to get us at our peak when the playoffs start and see where we are at," Rivers said. "But we've got to get there and we have to work there. We have a lot of work to do."

Especially since the Celtics were outworked on Sunday.



Share Rivers attributed the defeat to not getting loose balls and being outrebounded. The Cavs -- without Shaquille O'Neal -- had 27 second-chance points and 17 offensive rebounds.

"I told our guys it was frustrating for me because you could see in a lot of ways how close we are to breaking out to being really good," Rivers said.

The Celtics at this point would be the fourth seed in the East. The Cavs won their 52nd game and are well on their way to having the league's best record.

If one player epitomized the way the way the two teams are going, it was Anderson Varjeao.

"I thought one guy completely dominated this game and that was Varejao," Rivers said. "And that's the second time (against Boston). Loose balls, activity, getting under our skin ... he's doing what he's supposed to be doing."

The first big man off the Cavs bench provided the hustle and "energy" that Boston lacked. The easy solution would be to say it's a matter of age and injury catching up to a player like Garnett -- whose intensity and energy in his prime might have been unmatched. But it also might be a matter of ability and smarts. Varejao is simply an excellent fit with the Cavs.

"He's in a system and they have a nice rhythm with him," Garnett said. "He knows his place on this team and he doesn't come out of his role. At the same time, he's effective and aggressive. He's one of the keys.

"If you want to beat Cleveland, you have to definitely take care of Anderson."



Varejao played 30 minutes off the bench, scored 17 points, and grabbed 10 rebounds. He had numerous hustle plays for loose balls, and numerous savvy plays off the pick-and-roll that show how comfortable he is on the court with James (30 points, seven assists). Varejao has been in double-figures in nine of his last 10 games, when he's averaged 12.5 points (70.7 percent shooting) and 8.8 rebounds.

Rivers said the only way to stop quickness like Varejao possesses is to be more physical. That happened once, when Glen "Big Baby" Davis accidentally knocked Varejao into the front seats as the two were going for a loose ball.

"You don't want that," Rivers said. "But you want physical play. And we were not."

Before the game, James said he felt the Celtics would be a force in the playoffs, that they get bored during the regular season. When it ended, Rivers seemed to be wanting something from his team that it might not be able to provide anymore. He emphasized this was one game and there is time before the playoffs begin, but the Celtics aren't getting younger.

The Cavs? They are now 29-4 at home. They've won nine of 10. And they are 28-9 when playing teams with a .500 record or better. They also will get O'Neal back in the next two-to-four weeks.

They have yet to do what Boston did, and that's win a title two years ago. But for the second year in a row they head toward the playoffs looking like a team that will contend to win.

The one red flag came in the free-throw shooting: The Cavs made just 31-of-48 (yes, they took that many) and now rank 29th in the league in free throw percentage (72.3 percent).

"There's no trick to it," coach Mike Brown said. "We have some great shooters stepping up there and shooting it."

Free throws can be practiced. Players can improve.

Age, though, can't be changed, and it doesn't take 20-20 vision to see that.