And that is why we watch the games

An instant classic today in Boston, as the Cavs and Celts finished their best of seven second-round series with the only watchable game of the set -- but the entire second half was pretty damned fantastic. Paul Pierce and LeBron James conjured up memories of Bird-Wilkins with a duel for the ages, but at the close, the home team never trailed, though they were never comfortable. Boston 97, Cleveland 92.

A bunch of points from my notes from the game...

> Game started sloppy, with Pierce strong early in the first, and James keeping the Cavs in it. Notably early as well was the fact that Ray Allen never looked good, or even tolerable. If the Pistons beat the Celts -- and I'm picking them to -- it will be from Rip Hamilton eating Allen alive.

> People talk about how Kevin Garnett needs to be more assertive. Of course he does, but you might as well wait for Godot. He wants to make big rebounds, the right pass, and defend. Otherwise, he's not interested. He spent a Game 7 being defended by Joe Smith and Zig Ilgauskas, and took few shots. Give it up, Celts Fan -- your big 3 is a big 1, and his name is Paul Pierce.

> ABC / ESPN felt compelled to play Boston's "More Than A Feeling", while the Boston arena felt compelled to play "Rocky" music. Both can, um, suck a bag of something my advertisers would rather I didn't say. For the record, people, that's 30 years old and Philadelphia's Music, respectively. And you people wonder why people hate you?

> In the first half, in the middle of a scrum for the ball, suddenly Cavs coach and chief paste-eater Mike James was in the middle of the pile. Somehow, this wasn't a foul, or even worthy of comment from the Lemur announcing crew. And no, I have no idea how that happens, either.

> Wally Szczerbiak's day: 0 for 3 from the field, 1 rebound, 4 fouls, two turnovers, -14 in terms of plus/minus. His signature play of the day was getting out ran to a loose ball despite a five foot head start, failing to defend a pass from a man on the floor, then fouling and failing to stop the three point play. If he's an NBA player, I'm an airplane.

> The Celtics had any number of chances to take this game beyond drama in the first, but James simply wouldn't let the Cavs go away. He matched Pierce shot for shot for most of the day, but lost in the effort was that each man was the main defensive player on the other. In the NBA, good offense always beats good defense.

> Pierce went down hard late in the second and started the third slow, making me wonder if the Cavs were going to take the Spurs / Horry / Bowen path to victory today. He manned up, and while he was better in the first half, he was still pretty good in the second. Something to keep in mind for the next series, really.

> What turned the game up on the classic level was that a few of the Cavs -- very few, but some -- picked it up a little in the second half. Delonte West was the best non-James Cav, and Ziggy Ilgauskas shook off a useless first half to put up six unanswered. They still could really use a team; when you spend your day missing Boobie Gibson, that's not a sign of confidence for your GM.

> Ben Wallace... hoo boy. If there is going to be a worse contract in the league, I'd be amazed. You can't have him on the floor late because he can't shoot free throws. The Cavs felt compelled to double KG when Wallace guarded him, even though Garnett wanted no part of the ball late. His -15 was the worst of the day for the road team. He does nothing for you, at this point, that you couldn't probably get out of an NBDL kid, for 5% of the cost. Ye gads.

> As for the Celts, it's hard to see how they get past the Pistons with Allen being the worst player on the team, Garnett having big-game shyness that will only get much, much worse in comparison to Sheed, and a margin for error that says they have no chance in road games. But at least they showed some spine today, and were willing to keep driving to get to the line. Home crowd courage, that.

> If the Celts had lost today, the puling about the refs from Boston Fan would have been intense. James got away with a blatant jersey tug on one play, went to the line 19 times, and the flop posturing around drives was day-long. For the most part, however, it didn't detract from the game, and the players decided things.

> One of my constant harping points about the Association is how the teams are so close, that you can frequently win or lose games at the line -- and not just late, when everyone's watching. The Cavs missed 10 free throws today, while the Celts missed 6. Considering that Cleveland never led, and how the Celts have been such a front-runner team, those missed points were a killer. It's a simple game, really -- shoot more than your opponent by not turning the ball over, and make more free throws, and you're going to win a lot more than you lose.

> Oh, and here's one more sign that Cavs coach Mike James eats paste: James, who isn't great at the line, shoots the technicals. I have no idea why, and neither does anyone else, really.

> Is there a better crowd chant than "Bull S***"? I think not, really. It's easy rhythm, well understood, commonly used, comes through loud and clear on the game mics, and an easy respite for the home crowd. The Boston fans used it a lot today.

> When James is hitting from 3, he's got to be the scariest offensive player in the game. You give him that shot, of course, because he's away from the rim, not involving his teammates, and doesn't really make that many... but he's got an open look from there whenever he wants it, and if he starts making just a few more of them, he'll score 35 a game. Easy.

> Why the Celts won't win... well, when your coach goes to ice-cold guys (Allen and Eddie House) late in the game when he needs offense, that's just it, really. He also had ample opportunity to go Hack-A-Ben late in the game, and avoid watching James give the greater Boston area heart failure. On some level, Boston Fan, you really don't want to see what a Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich would do to your team. (To be fair, House played great in the first half... which makes you wonder why he sat for most of the second half before he was sent in late. Doc Rivers Is Special.)

> The big non-Pierce hero for the Celts today was PJ Brown, who added 10 and 6 in 20 minutes, including big baskets late when the home team looked like it was doing a collective windpipe job. All you need to know about KG in a clutch spot is that he passed up an open look to have Brown shoot from 20.

> Anyone expecting the next series to be more watchable than this one... well, I'm not holding my breath. Or expecting whatever team gets out of the East to win the Finals. But that's for another day. Today is the Celtics, who are now 29-0 in series where they were up 3-2. And adding more to it every few weeks.