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Cleveland Cavaliers Pregame Scribbles: Kevin Love and Boston's challenge -- Terry Pluto


By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer terrypluto2003@yahoo.com

BOSTON, Mass. -- Scribbles in my Cleveland Cavaliers notebook as they prepare to open the Eastern Conference Finals in Boston against the Celtics:

1. How hard will this series be for the Cavaliers? Tell me how Kevin Love will perform. I expect the Celtics to try to muscle and bully Love, much like Indiana did in he opening round of the playoffs. Boston has the guys to do it, especially 6-foot-9, 260-pound Aron Baynes. Cavs fans will probably start to loathe the New Zealand native by the end of this series.

2. Love averaged 11.6 points and 9.3 rebounds, shooting a dismal .333 percent from the field vs. Indiana. He had trouble holding his position near the rim in the low post. The Cavs had problems figuring out how to get him the ball. It was a mess. Love was the Cavs' second-leading scorer in that series, making it very difficult for LeBron James, who had to carry such a heavy load.

3. In Game 2 of the second-round sweep over Toronto, Love came alive. Part of it was the coaching staff using some plays where Love received the ball on the move. It also came from Love not settling for 3-point shots. He began to fake his jumper, then drive around the defender and find some surprisingly easy layups at the rim.

4. Love averaged 20.5 points and 11.5 rebounds vs. Toronto, shooting .475 from the field. That Kevin Love can help the Cavs close out this series quickly. But I doubt Boston will play the same soft Toronto defense against Love. If the Celtics don't use brute force with Baynes on Love, they could go with Al Horford - an excellent post-defender because he's quick and smart on defense.

5. I doubt much of anything in this series will resemble the matchup with Toronto. Look for Boston Coach Brad Stevens to take the grueling physical style played by the Pacers in the first round and ask his team to turn up the defensive heat. Boston tends to play that way anyway.

6. Lost in the praise of the Celtics for their unselfishness and toughness is the fact they have two very young and extremely athletic wing players in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

7. Tatum has scored a franchise record 20 points in each of the last seven playoff games - the only Boston rookie ever to do that. The 6-foot-8 forward is a cousin to Cavs coach Tyronn Lue. And get this -- Tatum's father and Lue's father have a close friend: Larry Hughes. Yes, it's that Larry Hughes, who played with the Cavs from 2004-08, when James was a young player.

8. Tatum is only 20. He has what post-season scorers need -- the ability to create his own shot when set plays break down. A second-year player, Brown can do the same thing. It's why the Celtics were about to shock Philadelphia and take out the Sixers in five games. Boston was more athletic than the Sixers expected.

9. So take a bow, Terry Rozier. The former Shaker Heights Raider has been starting at point guard for the injured Kyrie Irving. He is another quick, athletic player. The 6-foot-2 Rozier is averaging 18.2 points, 5.5 assists and shooting 43 percent. He has been making one huge shot after another in the postseason. He could be a major defensive problem for Cavs point guard George Hill.

10. Hill has emerged as a key player for the Cavs in the postseason. Love has credited Hill with helping Love get easier shots, especially in pick-and-roll plays. Hill is a veteran point guard who rarely makes turnovers. Lue and James trust Hill to set up the offense. Hill missed three games with a bad back in the middle of the Indiana series. When he returned, the Cavs won five in a row.

11. Can Hill stay healthy? He doesn't want to talk about the back issues. He did say he took several injections to be able to play Game 7 against the Pacers. He looked healthy in the Toronto series, even dunking twice in Game 4.

12. But Hill has a recent history of foot, toe and back problems. Look for Boston to pressure Hill as he brings the ball up the court.

13. In the playoffs, the Cavs like to "take out" the best scorer on the other team. In the Indiana series, the goal was to focus on Victor Oladipo. In the Toronto series, it was DeMar DeRozan. J.R. Smith usually was the main defender,

14. Boston is different. The Celtics have four guys averaging 16-19 points in the postseason: Tatum, Brown, Rozier and Horford. It's a balanced attack and that could create problems for the Cavs.

15. If the Cavs can split the first two games in Boston, they probably are in very good shape. The Celtics are 7-0 at home in the playoffs, 1-4 on the road. The Cavs have been a strong road team in the postseason ever since James arrived in 2014. Some of LeBron's best games have been in Boston.

16. I originally picked the Cavs to win the series in six games. I'm sticking with it. But the more I look at Boston -- especially the Celtics balanced scoring -- the more I believe this will be a very demanding series for the Cavs. And it should be the biggest test James has had in any Eastern Conference matchup since he returned to Cleveland in the summer of 2014.

http://www.cleveland.com/pluto/index.ssf/2018/05/cleveland_cavaliers_pregame_sc_32.html

GO CELTICS

Pretty slow pace to start the game early.

We are playing decent D but the shots aren't falling.

11-7 Celtics.

Yea, we are missing almost everything. Can't win like that.

We need our own toilet paper cause we are soft

Well we finally found a big softer than Horford, his name is love. Lebron doing nothing on either end

9 to 25, with 3:36 left in the first quarter. Horrible.

Just to show the difference between a coach making a difference or a great player making a coach. Look at Lue vs Stevens. Can you imagine this team without its top two players making it to the finals

It's just nerves. This team lacks confidence. Except for Lebron.

And I think they get really nervous once they all start missing their shots and end up in a hole, like they are now.

And the pace of this game is too slow.

On pace to give up 145 points. Great defensive game plan Lue

We have to win the second quarter to have a chance in this one.

Get it under 10 by the half and Boston will start to feel the pressure.

not an ideal start .. defense is literally crap

We missed a lot of easy shots in the first. That led to some laziness on D.

Rodney Hood with a nice and 1.

whya timeout? TT woulda won the jump anyways

0-7 from 3 right now.

boston is juiced up ... i'm not sure we can crawl back here

hood with an awul shot

So soft

We look really bad right now. Looks like "the other Cavaliers" showed up today.

putrid

Game, great team vs one player who doesn’t look interested

I'm stuck at the bar with Celtics fans.

>.>

35 - 61 at half, Cavs looking like you-know-what.

Well this one is over. 3 minutes into the 3rd the score will be 71-35 when we give up our obligatory 10-2 run to start the 3rd.

Celtics called us out pregame and we ran away with our tails between our legs. Lebron included

I think it’s time to see nance, osman and jose

I don't even know why this is still on my TV. They've dismantled us like a cheap toy.

Well down 1-0.

We need to steal game 2.

I just went down and mowed my dad's lawn for him. I'm glad I left.

Lazy effort. Reward Hoods insubordination with a bunch of minutes. Coach is a schmuck.

Lebron was owned this game. He acted like he didn’t care. Guess it’s harder to justify leaving if you go to the finals for 4th year

1-0 Celtics LeBron Looks Angry Winning Game Two Will Be Tougher ... JMHO

Well, I'm glad I took mom to dinner instead of staying home to watch this turd of a game.

game 2 is pretty important in this series

You weaklings. This game just prepared me for football season. We open at Pittsburgh, right?

Yeah had to turn that one off. Hopefully next time we can start making those threes if we're going to shoot them.

can't wait for game 1 but for now, GO CAVS!