Cavs-Celtics Game Two: Begin Panic Now

By the end of the third quarter tonight, the Cleveland home crowd was silent, LeBron James was seemingly unable to shoot, the Celtics led by 23, and the game was deader than a doornail. And honestly, it wasn't even that close. Cleveland had no life, no defensive intensity, no three point shooting, no nothing. If you hadn't watched hoops all year, you would never know that this was a playoff team, let alone a #1 seed.

James wasn't the worst star Cav, as Mo Williams started 1 for 9 and decisively lost his battle against Rajon Rondo (19 assists, ye gads), but the simple fact of the matter is that when you are the MVP and stink up the joint, it's going to be noticed. Hard.

With 6:50 left and the Celtics up 21, Williams was fouled by Rondo, grabbed casually by Paul Pierce, leading to a slip and fall, then jawed at by Wallace... as some idiot in the stands threw a beer bottle. Just in case this wasn't ugly enough for them, really. Williams then missed the tech to continue his bid to become the most hated member of the home team. And while the Cavs woke up a bit at that point, with the Celtics doing their usual fourth quarter offensive fold and Doc Rivers calling multiple timeouts while losing his fudge, it wasn't nearly enough. James and Jamison missed threes that could have cut things to seven, the Celtics finally made a few buckets, James and Co. kept missing free throws, and your final score was a double-digit Celtic win. Oh well. At least there was a little drama for a few minutes.

As for Boston, when they get quality minutes from Rasheed Wallace, well, the sky is the limit. Seriously, when one of the worst players in the NBA this year just isn't, we're just in a new world. One where the top seed is never in the game on their home court, and the grim specter of a very deep Boston run -- on a night where the moribund Sox offense put up big numbers in southern California, and the Bruins took a 2-0 series lead against the Flyers -- in what had been shaping up as a nice year for Masshole Hate. Sigh.

Can the Celts hold home court and pull off the upset? Well, if James keeps playing like this, the Cavs are incredibly vulnerable. Historically, he destroys the Celtics; no opponent has ever averaged more against them. And if Mike Brown ever wants to do the Kobe Trick of putting his best defensive player and star on the point guard that's killing them, he'd better have two working elbows to do it. At least, thanks to the ridiculous NBA playoff schedule, James will have some time to see if the elbow can get better.

But Cleveland Fan, if you are lookng to panic, feel free. I can't say I'd blame you for a minute.