BOSTON CELTICS 104, CAVS 86
at Quicken Loans Arena
Monday
Eastern Conference semifinals
(Best-of-seven series tied, 1-1)
Game 3 is 7 p.m. Friday at TD Garden
TV: TNT
RADIO: WTAM

WHAT HAPPENED: Cavs forward LeBron James is clearly not been himself in this series. If his elbow is not right, as it appears, then that levels the playing field.

That enormous edge the Cavs' possessed is no longer there.

But James is far from being the only problem. After all, he's averaging 29.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists.

Guard Mo Williams wants desperately to be the Cavs' second option. That's not been the case. He was fantastic in the third quarter of Game 1. In the other seven quarters of the series, he's been non-existent.

He was 1 of 9 from the field in Game 2. In the first two games in the series, he's still looking for his first 3-point goal. In fact, the Cavs are shooting 24 percent from behind the arc in this series (8 of 33).

It's not like Coach Mike Brown has many options. One would be to play Daniel Gibson.

What was uncharacteristic after the game was Brown's criticism of Williams. He rarely - if ever - does that. Basically, he said Williams must pick up his game. What he says is true, but it was surprising to see.

Brown must really be stoked. Instead of giving the Cavs off on Tuesday, which was expected, he said they're practicing at Cleveland Clinic Courts.

Center Shaquille O'Neal has also been a disappointment. He's averaged 10 points and 4.0 rebounds in the first two games. Some think the Cavs would be better off giving J.J. Hickson O'Neal's minutes.

Hickson is averaging 12 points in 16 minutes per game. Unfortunately, he's averaging 1.5 rebounds in the first two games. For those of you math-challenged, that's three rebounds in the first two games. That's almost a joke.

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BRIGHT LIGHT: The Cavs have never lost a playoff series after winning Game 1. They are 10-0 after winning the opening game of the series.

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SHEED AWESOME: The Celtics were trying to light a fire under veteran forward/center Rasheed Wallace, who has been almost non-existent as of late. Whatever they tried, must have worked. He had a playoff-high 17 points in Game 2.

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FUNNY REACTION: There wasn't much we could use here in the newspaper, but it makes a funny video. Here's my question after Game 1 to Coach Mike Brown on Williams' dunk and his reaction to it.



STARTING LINEUPS
SF LeBron James (6-8, 250) vs. Paul Pierce (6-7, 235)
PF Antawn Jamison (6-9, 235) vs. Kevin Garnett (6-11, 253)
C Shaquille O'Neal (7-1, 325) vs. Kendrick Perkins (6-10, 265)
SG Anthony Parker (6-6, 210) vs. Ray Allen (6-5, 205)
PG Mo Williams (6-1, 190) vs. Rajon Rondo (6-1, 186)
INACTIVE LIST
Cavs – G Danny Green, G Sebastian Telfair, F Leon Powe
Celtics - F Tony Gaffney, G Oliver Lafayette, F Brian Scalabrine
OFFICIALS
Dan Crawford, Dick Bavetta, Ed Malloy