No lie, C’s get exposed
Surely Benjamin Disraeli would have made an addition to his most famous quote were he around today. But the former British prime minister shed his mortal coil in 1881, some 65 years before the NBA came into existence.
Had he stuck around for last night’s epic battle between the Celtics and Cleveland, promoted by ESPN as the “Showdown in Beantown” (ugh), Big Ben would have said, “There are now four kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, statistics and the Eastern Conference standings.”
The Celts were recently the sole legal occupants of first place until the Cavaliers moved in with them on Tuesday and evicted them last night. Evicted them with force. Evicted them with contempt.
The Celtics are now a game behind the Cavs numerically. But in RHD (real hoop distance), they are not even visible in Cleveland’s rearview mirror. The word “exposed” was actually uttered within the Celt sanctuary. The Cavs were playing on a back-toback and for the third time in four nights. The Celtics were playing to prove they are worthy challengers to the Cleveland throne.
They did not succeed in this effort.
And as hard as it may be to grasp after watching that 114-91 debacle, it may have been the best thing for the Celts in this moment. They have been doing a great job of repeating Brad Stevens’ mantra that it’s all about getting better, that if they do so the positive results will follow.
But nothing brings that lesson to life like a cold slap in the face. On your home court. On national television. Avery Bradley insisted afterward that the fall to second did not shake his club’s confidence.
“Of course not,” he said. “If anything, it brings us together as a team a little bit more, because we got exposed tonight, I guess you can say. We know that we need to do a better job, and the best thing about this league is we get a chance to do it (tonight in Atlanta).”
While Bradley and the C’s were being brutally honest, the Cavaliers were lying their derrieres off. They wanted to thrash the Celtics and act as if it was no big thing, a post-indignity indignity, if you will.
“We were just focused tonight,” said coach Tyronn Lue. “Used this game to get better.”
Lue claimed it wasn’t an important game for the Cavaliers.
“No, just another game to get better,” he said.
“We understand they’re a good team, second in the East. They’ve been playing very well, and, you know, we just wanted to continue to get better going into the playoffs.”
Really, Ty? Knowing how competitive your guys are, you don’t think they were upset that this team had knocked them out of first even for a while.
“You have to ask them about that. I’m not sure,” he said, breaking into a laugh. “I don’t know.” But you know your guys. “You saw tonight,” Lue replied.
Later, we caught JR Smith in an unguarded moment different from the unguarded moments he experienced on the court as he went for a dozen points.
You guys took this personally, he was told/asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “Of course we did.”
JR then nodded toward the other side of the dressing room where LeBron sat. “He took it personal.” Despite James’ too cool for school routine, he was very much into this one. And it is silly for him to say otherwise when it is abundantly clear that, even with his natural gifts, he could never have risen to the position of Best Player on the Planet if he did not possess a combative nature.
Bradley was thinking of James when he explained how he thought the Celts were exposed.
“I think just not talking on the defensive end,” he said. “We weren’t doing a great job helping each other out as a team. LeBron picked us apart. They ran the same play at least 10 times in a row, and he either scored or made a play for a teammate. We have to do a better job of containing him, trying to force him to take contested 2’s.
“He saw something that we couldn’t figure out. I mean, that’s why he’s LeBron James. He saw that he wanted to get Isaiah (Thomas) in pick and roll. He knew what guy he wanted to get in pick and roll so he could expose our defense, and as a team you have to cover each other. You have to talk. You have to have each other’s back, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
All of which leaves the Cavaliers at once close in those lying standings yet oh, so far away.