Season ends in disappointment

Another herculean effort by LeBron James went by the wayside today, and for what seems like the millionth time, another Cleveland team is eliminated from the playoffs in dramatic fashion.

The King took on Paul Pierce shot for shot this afternoon, but in the end, the Celtics got more breaks in their favor then the Cavs, thus propelling them to the East Finals where the Detroit Pistons are waiting in the wings for what should be a giant bitch fest.

In the end, it was LeBron's supporting cast that killed the Cavs in this series.

Delonte West somewhat showed up today, but with 1:03 left and the Cavs down three, West had the chance to tie it with a wide open three pointer and absolutely bricked it, which is all I will remember from this game. A great effort by West, but he couldn't get it done when it counted the most.

Despite his best efforts to handle the ball like Magic Johnson, Wally Szczerbiak had two key turnovers in the game that basically warranted Mike Brown to bench him nearly the entire game in favor of Sasha Pavlovic. Pavlovic wasn't much better, although his three pointer with eight seconds left basically keeps him off my shit list for the time being.

Who knows what the future holds for this team. Before the playoffs started, it didn't look like the players brough over from the trade had gelled just yet with LeBron, Big Z, and everyone else on the team. But against and Wizards and Celtics, I think we saw them come together for the most part, and if Daniel Gibson, Anderson Varejao, and Sasha Pavlovic all come ready to play next season, the Cavs could possibly make another run to the NBA Finals. As for LeBron James, there's not much else you can ask of him at this point. He was terrible in the first two games of this series, but managed to bring the team back, forcing a game seven where he dropped 45 points on one of the best defenses in the NBA. He's definitely earned his nickname of The King, but at this point, I'm getting worried he's going to take it elsewhere if things don't change in Cleveland.

Cavs force game seven

It's all come down to one game.

Throughout the semifinals, the odds have heavily favored the home teams (21-2) and Sunday's game will be no exception. Despite not being able to win on the road, the Celtics have been absolutely dominant in Boston, having beat the Hawks and Cavaliers by an average of 18 points in seven games. Against the Cavs its only been a margin of nine points in three games, but defeat is one thing the Celtics have yet to taste in Boston.

It's going to have to be a team effort in order for the Cavs to take game seven on Sunday.

We all know what LeBron needs to do in order for the Cavs to win it, but it's going to come down to the role players on Sunday. Anderson Varejao and Ben Wallace need to do a better job defending Kevin Garnett. The past two games, Andy and Wallace have dropped the ball in defending the Big Ticket, and he's absolutely killed the Wine and Gold. Garnett probably had between eight to ten wide open looks last night, and that just shouldn't happen. Wally Szczerbiak has been stellar from the charity stripe, but with the injury to Daniel Gibson and the uncertainty of his status for Sunday, Wally needs to shoot the ball well from beyond the arc, as does Sasha Pavlovic.

Going into Boston and taking game seven is no easy task. They had the best home record during the regular season for a reason and they have yet to lose at home during the playoffs. As a Cavs fan, I would love to see another match-up with the Pistons. But more important than that, as a Clevelander, I would love see a Boston team ousted from the playoffs.

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Win or go (stay) home

So here we are.

The Cavs had every opportunity to take a 3-2 series in lead in game five, but instead, it is the favored Celtics who have a 3-2 lead going into tonight's game at The Q in Cleveland. The Wine and Gold were up as many as 14 in game five and it looked as if closing out the series in Cleveland was a lock. No dice.

In this year's NBA semifinals, home teams have a record of 20-1, that one home loss belonging to the Orlando Magic against the Detroit Pistons. So not only will the Cavs need a win tonight at The Q, but they will need to defy this year's odds and take game seven in Boston if they can take one tonight.

LeBron James had a breakout night in game five, but the team went from stellar in the first half to absolute crap in the second half, especially on the defensive end. Granted, Rondo had arguably one of the best games of his career in game five, but the Cavs' second half defense on Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce was terrible. I'm willing to accept the night Rondo had, but at least two of the Big Three need to be contained in order to win.

There's not much left to say about tonight's game. Win or the season is over and we begin another off-season with speculation about LeBron's future here, another off-season with Anderson Varejao drama, and another off-season thinking about what could have been. It's go time.