The season is approaching (but not quickly enough), so that means it’s NBA preview time. Starting with the league’s worst team and working our way to the top, we’ll preview one team per day.

Mo Williams has Mo' problems this year.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Last year’s record: 61-21
Head Coach: Byron Scott
Projected Starters: Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Antawn Jamison, Anderson Varejao

Outlook:

My cousin played basketball at Boston University a few years ago, and opposing fan bases had a great chant whenever they played his team. “Sucks to B.U.! Sucks to B.U.!” Get it? Well, that chant applies to all Cleveland fans. It really, beyond belief, sucks to B.U.

Suckers.

X-Factor:

I’ve got a real “Decision” to make here. I could choose Leon Powe, who averaged a whopping 4.0 points and 3.0 rebounds last year but should be better after a season of recovery; Mo Williams, who barely decided not to retire (how admirable of him!) after Lebron James bolted, but should now be the team’s star; Daniel Gibson, who stands to see more playing time in the post-Lebron stage; Jamario Moon, who could be the starting small forward by default; Antawn Jamison, who loves compiling impressive stats on bad teams; or Anderson Varejao, who should have started last year but had to wait for Shaq to depart. Whoever I pick, I doubt it will bring comfort to Cavs fans. Lebron James is not walking through that door.

Biggest Question Mark:

It sounds almost cruel to say it, but who will be the Cavs’ starting small forward: Joey Graham or Jamario Moon? Either way, they’re in great hands.

Just kidding.

Most important newcomer:

Ramon Sessions. I’ll be honest, though: he didn’t have very much competition, and I don’t know how he’ll fit in with Mo Williams. The other most important newcomer? Joey Graham. Let’s just say Joey probably won’t completely fill the shoes of his predecessor.

Key loss:

Duh. Lebron. Who did you think I was going to say, Sebastian Telfair?

Most compelling storyline:

Dan Gilbert’s comical guarantee. “I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE.” Clock’s ticking, Dan. I’ve got a feeling you’ll be proven a liar.

Player to watch:

J.J. Hickson. The one Cavalier to truly get excited about, Hickson’s the player the Cavs refused to part with in a potential trade for Amare Stoudemire. Hickson’s also the player who has never averaged more than 8.5 points or 4.9 rebounds per game and posted only 3.5 ppg and 0.8 ppg in last year’s playoffs. Is he ready to take the keys to the franchise? Nope. But, at least for now, Byron Scott doesn’t really have a choice. God knows Mo Williams and Antawn Jamison can’t lead a team to the promised land.

Descriptive movie quote:

“You know, in the ten years that I coached, I never met anybody who wanted to win as badly as I did. I’d do anything I had to do to increase my advantage. Anybody who tried to block the pursuit of that advantage, I’d just push ‘em out of the way. Didn’t matter who they were, or what they were doing. But that was then. You have special talent, a gift. Not the school’s, not the townspeople, not the team’s, not Myra Fleener’s, not mine. It’s yours, to do with what you choose. Because that’s what I believe, I can tell you this: I don’t care if you play on the team or not.” – Norman Dale, Hoosiers

I’m pretty sure that Norman Dale line isn’t what Byron Scott said to Lebron James. But you can imagine what it would have been like if it was.

Projected record: 27-55. In his letter to fans after The Decision, Dan Gilbert wrote, “Tomorrow is a new and much brighter day.” Too bad tomorrow, tomorrow, is always a day away.

Shaq's still a monster. But will he take that price down?

A lot of scouts have written Shaq off. A lot of them think he hurts a team. That he won’t be willing to settle for a pay cut (Howard Beck of the New York Times reports that Shaq wants $8 million per year — wait, $8 million???). As the days of the offseason pass by, Shaq is reportedly turning a lot of teams off.

Twenty-three days have passed since the free-agent market opened. Sixty-five players have signed new contracts, including 13 centers. Darko Milicic got $20 million. Johan Petro got $10 million.

Yet O’Neal — the Most Dominant Ever, according to the syntactically awkward title he gave himself — is unemployed. Is this the end? Possibly.

This limbo is largely self-created. O’Neal, according to team executives, is seeking an $8 million salary. He wants a two-year deal. He is 38. He has trouble staying healthy. He can be helpful in spurts, but he is no longer the menacing figure who once ruled the paint.

“I don’t know who takes him,” said an Eastern Conference scout, citing O’Neal’s diminished production.

Potential suitors keep drifting away.

There you go. That’s the bad side of Shaq right there. That’s the sober view without offseason beer goggles.

If he keeps asking for $8 million, Shaq is destined to be unemployed next season. So that price will come down. But will it come all the way down to the minimum? Or would the Celtics have to give up Sheed’s contract? I want him for the minimum. He’s worth rolling the dice at that price. But I don’t think I’d be willing to trade Sheed’s contract for Shaq, unless the Celtics could somehow finagle Anthony Parker into the deal. And the Cavs would likely have to be roofied to include Parker — with the loss of Lebron, Parker and Jamario Moon are their only proven wings. Umm, you know, if you really want to call those guys proven.

Plus, remember: Shaq is a free agent, so he isn’t on the Cavs salary. If I’m not mistaken, that means they wouldn’t get any cap relief if they traded for Sheed’s retiring contract. That contract holds zero value to them.

LeBron James’ recorded a triple-double–27 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists– but it was his 8-21 FG’s and 9 turnovers that sent the Boston Celtics on to the Eastern Conference Finals, with a 94-85 victory.

Once again, Kevin Garnett- 22 points, 12 rebounds– and Rajon Rondo– 21 points, 12 assists, 5 steals– led the Celtics attack. Defensively, Cleveland just couldn’t match up with Garnett or the Rondo-Garnett pick-and-roll offense. When Shaq guarded Garnett, KG popped out for the mid-range jumpshot, while Rondo attacked the hoop; when Jamison guarded Garnett, he posted up  Jamison and shot over him all night.

Paul Pierce (4-13 FG’s) and Ray Allen (2-8 FG’s) struggled with their shot, but Paul Pierce hit a big fourth quarter threes and the great play off the bench of Tony Allen and Rasheed Wallace made up for their poor shooting. Tony Allen scored 10 first half points while Pierce and Rondo sat with 3 fouls apiece, punctuated by a tomahawk, cock-back dunk over Antawn Jamison. Rasheed Wallace picked up three first half fouls, but scored 13 second half points, including two important three-pointers that kept the Celtics lead at a comfortable margin.

Mo Williams kept Cleveland alive with a spectacular first half, in which he scored 20 points, but he came back to earth, scoring only two points in the second half. Unlike Game 5, LeBron’s effort tonight was unquestioned, but Boston suffocated him defensively and his teammates–or his outside jump shot– could not provide enough assistance.

LeBron now becomes a free-agent, and Boston fans were all too happy to remind him. With LeBron on the free-throw line, and the game winding down, and perhaps LeBron’s tenure as a Cavalier winding down as well, chants of, “New York Knicks! New York Knicks!” filled the Garden. The creative chant, referring to LeBron’s most likely destination as a free-agent, was led by ESPN.com writer Bil Simmons, who created a special twitter account just for the occasion.

Boston moves on to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Orlando Magic, who defeated the KG-less Celtics in 7 games in last year’s playoffs. This year’s rematch begins Sunday afternoon on ABC at 3:30 ET.

Games 1-5, explained in one photo.

Some notes about Game Six:

For Boston

• Do what you’re doing – It sounds simple, but it isn’t.  The Celtics need to keep moving the ball, being aggressive off the bounce, and giving Lebron tranquilizers before each game.  Stay committed to the glass, defensive rotations and making the extra pass.  Feed KG in the post, run with Rondo in transition.  If the Celtics keep playing the way they are, they’ll be tough to beat.

For Cleveland

• Lebron might play point guard – Mike Brown says the Cavs are pondering lineup changes, and Lebron at point guard could be the answer.  I’m not sure how the Celtics should feel about that.  If Lebron’s in a backcourt with Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon, who the hell is Rondo going to defend?  I guess it would be Parker, but that’s a big disadvantage for Rondo.  Then again, if the Cavs start to run their offense through Parker in the post that’s probably not a bad thing for Boston.  So my “expert’s” verdict?  I have no fucking idea how that switch would work out.
• Jamison at small forward? – The other switch Brown might make is to play Antawn Jamison at small forward. The Celtics should be fine with this: if Brown puts Hickson in at power forward, KG still has a mismatch.  If Brown goes with Varejao, the Cavs put their weakest offensive lineup on the floor. 
• What I would do if I were Brown – Put Lebron at power forward.  Go small. If Lebron’s at power forward, who the hell is Garnett going to defend?  The Cavs are the best team in the NBA — the Celtics should have to adjust to them, not the other way around. 

Prediction: Lebron destroys the C’s from the start, but Boston weathers the storm.  Cleveland’s supporting task just doesn’t seem to be enough to handle Boston, suddenly clicking on all cylinders.

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

No fraternizing with the enemy, Paul. Especially not in a blowout loss. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)

Steve Aschburner, NBA.com – “Then there was the scene that played out moments before the second half began, as Pierce and Cavaliers center Shaquille O’Neal positioned themselves for the initial possession. There was small talk. Smiles. Pleasantries at a thoroughly unpleasant time — Boston was down 65-43 — for the home team and its fans. That got a lot of green boxers in a bunch, too, the sight of the Celtics’ captain chit-chatting with a hated foe when the task at hand was so grim. Frankly, it’s hard to blame them. Fans want players to die a little with each loss, same as them. Fans pay big money to see their teams at their best or at least laboring hard and grimacing as they fall short. Fans might like it, knowing that their favorites are grounded and stable and centered as human beings away from the court, but that really is not a priority for them in the 2-3 hours it takes to watch a game or the two weeks that a playoff series runs. Michael Jordan’s obsession with winning, every time, every place? Kevin Garnett’s woofing and chest-thumping, even at All-Star Games? Kobe Bryant’s facial contortions and megalomania? That might make them lousy neighbors — imagine putting your fence three inches beyond your property line — but it is fire, it is fuel, it is focus. Bottom line, the Celtics and their fans want Pierce to play better. Failing that, they want to see the struggle, the sweat, the strain, the anger, the frustration that somehow they just know they would be feeling in his shoes.”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – “‘I think right now, he’s the best player on our team,’ Perkins told WEEI.com following practice on Saturday. ‘Without Rondo, nothing goes. Pretty much we’ve got to play him the whole game because he just runs the whole team. Without him, we’d be dead.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “After Friday’s loss, Pierce suggested it doesn’t matter what he does offensively, given his defensive responsibilities with James. Rivers said he’s half right as Boston needs Pierce to be a factor at both ends of the court, just like James has been. ‘Obviously, we want him to be more efficient,’ said Rivers. ‘He’s right. We were fine in Game 2, but I think we lost Game 1. We do want to get him involved more, get his rhythm better. He has a big job; guarding LeBron is very difficult. It takes a lot out of him. LeBron gets the ball 101 times per game. He handles the ball, pushes the ball up the floor and posts. Absolutely, that’s going to take something out of [Pierce]. You still gotta do it on both ends.’ Echoed Kevin Garnett: ‘We need Paul to be aggressive at both ends.’ But Pierce’s teammates seem confident the offense will come before it’s too late. ‘I’m not worried about P’s,’ Perkins said. ‘I’ve been around with P’s a long time. I’ve seen P’s have a few bad nights and I’ve seen him come back and have a 35-point night. You just never know with P’s. I know he’s capable of having big games. He always steps up in big games. We gotta do a great job of getting Paul open and getting him good shots. And we need to help him on defense.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “After averaging nearly 20 points a night in the opening-round series against Miami, Pierce has been a ghost against the Cavs. His scoring average has dived to 12.7, he’s shooting 31 percent from the floor, and in the Game 3 loss Friday, he missed his first six shots, going 4 for 15 on the night. ‘We do want to get him involved more,’ said coach Doc Rivers yesterday. ‘He has to get his rhythm better. But he has a big job. Guarding LeBron is difficult and it takes a lot out of you. LeBron gets the ball 101 times a game. He handles the ball. He pushes the ball up the floor. He posts. So it will absolutely take something out of you. But you still have to do it on both ends.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “‘Last night you could pretty much point at anything as the problem,’ said Kevin Garnett. ‘So today was more of a fix-it day.’ But where to start. The Cavs shot nearly 60 percent, holding the Celtics to 42.7 percent. LeBron James showed off with Jay-Z and Beyonce sitting courtside. And it added up to the Celtics’ worst home loss in playoff history. The easiest way to deal with it is to completely erase it from the memory banks. ‘You kind of let that game go away,’ Kendrick Perkins said. ‘You kind of move on. You can’t live in the past. The good thing about it is we’ve got a chance to tie it up 2-2 going back to Cleveland. So I fee like it’s a must win for us tomorrow.’”

Jodie Valade, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “The Celtics have been unhappy with the amount of fouls assessed this series, as Boston has had 78 fouls, compared to 57 on the Cavaliers. ‘[Friday], I felt like we were playing on the road, to be honest,’ Kevin Garnett said. ‘And that’s a rare feeling. You tend to think that the team that’s aggressive, the team that’s at home is the team that gets calls. But that’s not always the case and it’s out of your hands. So you’ve got to continue to be aggressive and put yourself into positions and situations to get fouls called.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Halfway into the second quarter, Rondo was the only Celtic with multiple field goals, and at that point Cleveland was up, 46-27, its lead still growing. He took nine shots in the first quarter, but Cleveland almost welcomed the idea of Rondo as a score-first player rather than pass-first point guard. For a player who holds the keys to the series, it’s a delicate tightrope walk. ‘He does it at times where he becomes a scorer instead of a playmaker,’ Celtics coach Doc Rivers said yesterday. ‘You want him to be both all the time, but playmaking is key. I thought early on he really went at [Anthony] Parker and got everything he wanted, but no one else was involved. So you’ve got to be careful. That’s a fine line for a point guard.’ [...] ‘He had a matchup where he was attacking,’ said Ray Allen. ‘We’ve got to make sure that we keep moving the ball around. We can’t allow them to lull us into that idea that we have a great matchup because Kevin [Garnett] had a great matchup, I had a great matchup, Paul [Pierce] had a great matchup and we’ve got to move it around. We find the matchups that we like, get the ball moving around and become unpredictable. That’s when we get easy looks.’”

Dan Duggan, Boston Herald - “‘He has a cape, there’s no doubt about that,’ Rivers said of LeBron James. ‘A lot of guys play through his cape. That’s with every great player. You can’t name a great player, especially the Kobes (Bryant) and the LeBrons of the world – when they get it going, they make you feel pretty much like Hercules as well.’ James’ supporting cast flexed its muscles Friday with five players reaching double figures, thanks largely to the MVP’s 21-point first quarter. ‘Their whole team feeds off LeBron,’ Kendrick Perkins said. ‘He came out and he had 21 in the first quarter. He was setting the tone, he was knocking his jumper down, his confidence was high, his swagger was high and all the rest of those guys feed off of him. If LeBron doesn’t do that then the game pretty much could go either way. He came in and he set the tone early.’”

Brian Windhorst, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “Ten months later, [Anthony] Parker is sacrificing some dignity to help the Cavs stay ahead of the Celtics. It has not and will not be obvious or beautiful, but Parker’s willingness to be a cog has been vital to the efforts so far. He’s drawn the task of defending Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo and it hasn’t been fun. Rondo’s had an amazing three games, averaging 19.3 points and 13 assists. But despite being at a disadvantage, Parker’s battled Rondo to enough to help the Cavs in both their wins in the series. ‘I’d never claim to be as quick as him and I think everybody knows that,’ said the 6-7 Parker, who has six inches on Rondo but much less foot speed. ‘If I can make him work a little harder then I’ve done my job.’”

Terry Pluto, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “It’s tempting to dwell on the Xs and Os, the nuances of forcing Rondo to take jump shots rather than drive to the basket — along with playing smothering chest-to-chest defense on shooters Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Or we can talk about how the Cavs have more athletes and can run Boston ragged. Or how James needs Mo Williams (yet to make a 3-pointer in the series), Delonte West and Anthony Parker to be reliable outside shooters. We can dissect the matchup of Kevin Garnett vs. Antawn Jamison. But it comes down to this comment from Jamison: ‘We can ill afford to let the things we did in the first two games happen again as far as not coming out being aggressive on both ends of the floor.’ It doesn’t have to be like that, the momentum shifting from game to game, team to team. After 82 regular-season games and eight more in the playoffs, the Cavs are the superior team. They are more talented, deeper, healthier and nearly as experienced as the Celtics. This game is opportunity to also prove they are hungrier.”

Bud Shaw, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “Rivers may think it’s a single nagging injury. But you know better. Through forces unrecognized outside of “Hot Tub Time Machine,” James’ elbow bone is somehow connected to Jim Chones’ ankle bone and every near miss since. The fact that it seemed to crop up as unexpectedly as, say, a late-game fumble or a last-gasp jumper by the other team might seem like a coincidence in Boston. But what do those people know about not winning championships? They got the gout when it comes to titles from living too well. The fuss over The Elbow speaks to the delicate balance of hope and masochism still at work in the Cleveland sports scene even in the face of the uncapped promise of the James Era. Maybe expressly because of the uncapped promise.”

Ross Siler, Salt Lake Tribune – “As amazing a finish as Saturday night’s game offered, the ending couldn’t have proven more agonizing for the Jazz, now facing a historically insurmountable 3-0 deficit to the Lakers after three losses decided by all of 14 points in this Western Conference semifinal series. The Jazz’s season was left on life support after a 111-110 loss at EnergySolutions Arena, with Deron Williams missing a potential winning jumper over Ron Artest with 1.8 seconds left and Wesley Matthews’ Cinderella tip-in at the buzzer bouncing away. As much of a stand as they’ve tried to make against the defending champions — falling 104-99 in Game 1 and 111-103 in Game 2 — the Jazz are left with a 3-0 deficit from which no team in NBA history has. ‘It’s a tough loss, period,’ Williams said. ‘We again were in the game, we had a chance to win the game. Just things keep going the other way.’ ‘I thought we played well enough to win the game,’ Carlos Boozer added. ‘A couple of bounces here, a couple of bounces there and we do. We just didn’t get the bounce we needed tonight.’ The Jazz will host Game 4 on Monday night with their season in danger of coming to an end with the first four-game playoff sweep in franchise history. The Jazz were swept 3-0 by Golden State in the 1989 first round.”

Mike Bresnahan, LA Times – “The Lakers, who have won five games in a row, were stuck in a fight with a Utah team that had beaten them here in Game 3s the last two playoff seasons, and the game ended in a flurry, Deron Williams missing a long two-point attempt from the top, Wesley Matthews missing a tip-in at the buzzer. Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak congratulated each Lakers player as they went to the locker room. This was a big one, in many ways, a revelation that the defending champions didn’t want to be pulled back into another tight series (think Oklahoma City, first round). The Lakers now seem to be on a collision course with the Phoenix Suns, who have a 3-0 lead in their West semifinal against San Antonio.”

Jeff Schultz, Atlanta Journal Constitution – “Let’s start with the obvious: The Orlando Magic are better. They have a center. They have a point guard. They have a roster of players with complete sets of working organs, and isn’t that a novelty? But sometimes things happen in sports that make you declare, ‘Push the button and blow the whole damn thing up.’ This was one of them. In a home playoff game, in an obvious desperation game, in a game where the Hawks had an opportunity to show us what substance they were made of, they collectively screamed, ‘Goo.’ They didn’t score. They didn’t defend. They didn’t rebound. They didn’t compete. We saw better performances when bodies were being jettisoned and the roster was all about 10-day contracts and cap space. Down 2-0 in their second-round playoff series against Orlando, the Hawks tossed on a little seasoning, propelled themselves onto a rotisserie and told the Magic, ‘Flip the switch.’ They trailed by 10 points after one quarter, 19 after two and 24 after three. A small gathering of fans at Philips Arena stuck it out until the end of Saturday’s 105-75 loss, perhaps hoping it would earn them some sort of refund. Sorry. Payback will have to come in the afterlife. If you need to know what that’s like, just ask the Hawks. They’ve flat-lined. They’re down 3-0. Their backs aren’t against the wall. They’re on the floor. Wait. It gets worse. Al Horford, the best hope this franchise has for a leader, openly questioned his teammates’ heart.”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.