Saturday, January 10, 2009

In Epic East Battle, Cavs Top Celtics


In a battle between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers might have shown why they are the best team in the conference. The Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics 98-83 in Cleveland, with forward Lebron James scoring 38 points. James also had 7 rebounds and 6 assists to go along with his 38 points.


After the Celtics started the season 27-2, they have started to go downhill fast. They have lost seven of their last nine games, including losses to the lowly Charlotte Bobcats and the New York Knicks. They even lost a home game to the Houston Rockets, a team with lofty preseason expectations who haven't lived up to those expectations yet. Forward Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 15 rebounds for the Celtics, and Paul Pierce and Ray Allen combined for only 23 points.


The Cavaliers are now 19-0 at home with that win, and now have the best record in the Eastern Conference with a 29-6 record. The Cavaliers got contributions from Anderson Varejao and Mo Williams, and they also got contributions from Daniel Gibson off the bench.


I believe the Celtics are reeling for several reasons. Lately, the talk has been about adding New York Knicks point guard Stephon Marbury to their team, which maybe a distraction. They also don't have a good bench to rely on, which makes it difficult to trust the players other than Garnett, Pierce and Allen. I believe the Celtics will get better, but it won't be better than the Cavaliers and they will be Eastern Conference champions.

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