Oops, Varejao and Shelden’s brother-in-law, we’ll see you later. Thanks for playing. Goodbye, good luck, and adios.

Where I’m from, they call this the Dream Shake. (When they decide not to call it a travel, of course.)

In other, possibly related news, Varejao is listed as day-to-day with back spasms.

(h/t Hardwood Paroxysm)

Effin Mo Williams.

What the Boston Celtics need Rajon Rondo to do isn’t easy.  Not in the least.

He needs to seize the torch from the Big Three as the go-to Celtic, and he needs to do it in the playoffs.  Not only that, but he has to do it against the Eastern Conference’s best team and the galaxy’s best player.  Because, while Rondo has been the baddest Celtic all season long (bad meaning good), he has also shown a disappointing tendency to fade down the stretch of games and defer to his older, more famous and — suddenly — less talented teammates. Rondo, as Mo Williams says, is the Celtics’ engine, but does too much sputtering when the game is on the line.

Just like he has all season, Rondo looked brilliant for long stretches of Game One but weakened down the stretch.  He didn’t quite disappear, but his dropoff in aggression was more than noticeable.  His star teammates, especially Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, got more touches in the fourth quarter but did less with them and Boston lost a very winnable game.

“I should have called maybe more pick-and-rolls for myself,” Rondo said, “but at the same time I didn’t want to keep on calling plays for myself.”

But if the Celtics are to reach their potential — if they are to derail Mr. MVP, his supporting cast and that goddamn elbow we keep hearing so much about — then Rajon Rondo is going to have to call his own number more often.  I’m not trying to say he needs to be selfish — far from it.  Rather, he needs to be aggressive.  There is a huge difference between being selfish and aggressive.  Steve Nash is one of the league’s most aggressive players — always probing, always penetrating — but also one of its most unselfish.  Nash is always attacking, but always trying to improve his teammates.  That type of unselfish aggression is exactly what the Celtics need out of Rondo.  And especially down the stretch.

The fourth quarter is where so many Celtics games this season have gone to die.  Three times this season, including Game One, the Celtics have allowed the Cavaliers big fourth-quarter runs.  Two resulted in Celtics defeat, and the other an all-too-close win after a 20-plus point lead evaporated.

The Celtics are statistically a very good first-half team but only average in the second half of games, and Rondo leads the second-half fizzle.  I couldn’t find the statistics but Rondo seems to always play second fiddle to the Big Three come crunch time, even when he has huge games until that point.  In fact, ever since Rondo missed two pivotal free throws after having his number called in the waning moments of a Dec. 27 bout with the Los Angeles Clippers (a game Baron Davis would win with a buzzer-beating jumper only 1.5 seconds after Rondo two missed free throws could have given Boston a lead), Rondo seems to have been almost non-existent in the final minutes of games.

Now, part of Rondo’s late-game disappearance is that neither he nor Doc Rivers have faith in Rondo’s jump-shot and scoring ability.  Understandable.  Rondo can’t be relied on to score at the end of games because, well, he’s not a natural scorer.  Even when compiling 19 points in Saturday’s first half, Rondo wasn’t being “a scorer;” he just took what was open and dished out 8 assists to go with all them points.  While he can occasionally put up big numbers in the points column, the Celtics can’t rely on Rondo to score down the stretch because he struggles to put the ball in the hole against half-court defenses.  In the final minutes, when play inevitably slows down and open space becomes limited or non-existent, Rondo has a tougher time putting the biscuit in the basket than players with more diversified offensive games.

But that doesn’t mean he’s useless. Rondo can still get past his defender and make a play.  Whether that ends in Rondo scoring or an open shot for somebody else, Rondo’s penetration generally ends with good results.  Especially against the Cavs, when neither Mo Williams or Anthony Parker could stay in front of Rondo even if Rondo had anvils attached to each of his shoes, he can get to the lane at will.  He can create offense as easily as you can say “fast as lightning,” and has a distinct speed advantage that should allow him to get into the lane even in halfcourt sets.

It’s not as easy as Rondo knowing he can get into the lane, though, or knowing he can create plays.  Rondo is one of the most cocksure players in the league, a guy who already considers himself the game’s top lead guard and knows what he can do.  The problem instead lies in the fact that there’s also the not-so-little task of stealing crunch-time glory from the more established Big Three. As far as stars go, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are rather ego-less but, even for such selfless studs, it’s tough to see a 22-year old steal crunch-time touches and take control of the team.  It’s bad enough that the Big Three has become shells of themselves — now, you expect them to step aside and allow a 22-year old with a hockey player’s jumpshot lead the way?  I’m sure they’re willing to do whatever it takes to win, but to do so would be to acknowledge their own slipping games and, for players as competive as the Big Three, such an admission is tough.

That’s the conundrum for this Celtics squad: Rondo is the best player, but he’s not the one in control.  He still concedes touches, and especially down the stretch, to the Big Three though the Big Three has shown signs of no longer being able to carry the team in the clutch.

“It’s a tough one for Rondo at times, because he’s really conscious of trying to get Paul and Ray (the ball),” said Doc Rivers.

But for the Celtics to play their best and finally close out the Cavs with an impressive second half, Rondo’s going to have to be conscious of getting someone else the ball.  That someone else should be clear:

Himself.

One of the mid-game adjustments given some credit for Cleveland’s dominant Game One second half was Mike Brown’s decision to have Anthony Parker, rather than Mo Williams, defend Rajon Rondo.

Doc Rivers disputes the notion that Parker guarding Rondo had any negative effect on the Celtics. (WEEI)

“Honestly, it didn’t really affect us much,” Rivers said. “I thought Rondo’s fourth foul affected Rondo far more than Parker guarding Rondo. I think Rondo likes that matchup in a lot of ways. But that’s what you do. That’s what teams do. That’s what I would do. It’s always better to put a longer guy on a quicker guy. We actually thought it would be LeBron more.”

I’m with Rivers here. It’s not like Rondo disappeared in the second half; he had 8 points and 4 assists. We can’t expect him to score 19 points and notch 8 assists (his totals in the first half of Game One) every half, can we? It was more that the Celtics didn’t get stops, so Rondo couldn’t demonstrate his open-court brilliance as often. Believe me, it wasn’t Anthony Parker’s stunning speed or mind-boggling length that slowed Rondo down.

The Celtics are also in agreement that they need to be tougher in Game Two.

“We do have to be more physical,” Kendrick Perkins said. “We have to take it to them tonight. We have to be the more physical team. Last game they were, so tonight we just got to go out there and do what we got to do to get the win.”

And, uh, Mike Brown thinks Shaq’s Game One takedown of Rajon Rondo wasn’t a foul.  Brown actually sent tape of the play to the league office for review.

Perhaps the light was shining off Doc Rivers’ ring and into Brown’s eyes?

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.

He doesn't look so bad, does he?

Chris Gasper, Boston Globe – “Essentially, what the Celtics have been presented is a do-over of the 2009 playoffs, but with Garnett a go and Cleveland standing in for Orlando. The team is virtually identical because the additions of Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels, and Nate Robinson have had no impact. Last year, the Celtics were ousted in the second round by Orlando in seven games. If that happens at the hands of Cleveland this year, then their run has run its course, and they’re the 1991 Detroit Pistons, who coincidentally went 50-32, to LeBron’s Michael Jordan. We were hard on the Celtics because we expected so much of them, but now they’re in a position to finally fulfill those expectations. Bring on LeBron.”

Bill Livingston, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “Hopes will have to wait that the Big Shillelagh will immediately break out the whuppin’ stick on the Boston Celtics, who begin their second-round series with the Cavs Saturday night at The Q. It was Celtic reserve Glen “Big Baby” Davis whose perfectly legal play on the ball led to Shaq’s torn thumb ligament — and whose tugging on the thumb afterward was both repulsive and typical of the Celtics. After the Bulls had been sent to their rooms, O’Neal fielded questions about Davis’ play with blandness. The two do share a background of playing for LSU, but old college ties mean nothing now. ‘Nothing bothers me,’ said the Big Serenity. ‘I don’t think [that the play was dirty]. I’m just glad I got my thumbs back. You need your thumbs. Your thumbs are very, very important.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Jamison averaged 19.3 points in Cleveland’s five-game first-round series against the Bulls, and he took nearly a third of his shots from 3-point range (7 of 23). He was spelled by Varejao, the sixth-year power forward who plays as if he’s never heard of inertia, making a living off hustle plays and feasting on the Celtics during the regular season by being quicker to get to open spots on the floor. It’s a matchup problem for the Celtics’ big men, who will have to flip the switch from guarding the post to jumping out to the perimeter, chasing Cleveland’s pseudo-bigs. Glen Davis put it this way: ‘Imagine if you had to bump Shaq [coming off a pick-and-roll] and then close out on Antawn Jamison when he just hit two in a row. Or with Rashard Lewis, you’ve got to bump Dwight [Howard] and get out to Rashard and force him left instead of right. You’re closing out to him and he can make you do anything he wants to, really. You’ve just got to have a feel for the game and just got to have a will to do a lot of things out there on guys like that.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “There is the Davis who made all of the hustle plays Tuesday night, from drawing two huge second-half charges on Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem to grabbing most of the big rebounds down the stretch. And then there’s the young player who is still a little too intoxicated by the memory of his game-winning 20-footer in last May’s Game 4 in Orlando. That’s the player who doesn’t always make the extra pass. But he seems to be coming around. ‘He’s just got to stay there,’ coach Doc Rivers said. ‘We tell all of our players this: ‘You don’t need a parade out there every game. You’ve just got to continue to play. And then your body will work when it’s all said and done. Then you can have the festivities.’ And that’s Baby in a nutshell. He is so talented, and his IQ is ridiculous. It really is. But he lets up at times. He starts thinking about what he’s done well, instead of just keep playing. And he’s a young kid still. That’s the maturity part that is growing. And I think it’s getting better and better. He has proven over the long haul, though, that in big games he tends to play well. He did it in college and he’s done it here.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘I’ve maintained that I like this team,’ Rivers said. ‘You know, when we were struggling, no one wanted to hear that. I got that. I understood that, but I knew what I had, and I knew that my goal was to get them healthy. And if that meant . . . you know, I didn’t want to lose games, but you had to take that risk during the regular season. We had to choose health over anything, and I understood that. The first thing Erik (Spoelstra, the Miami coach) said was, ‘Boy, you had a hell of a fight trying to keep these guys healthy.’ And I said, ‘It was brutal.’ But it was the right move. It was. I mean, you had to. That’s our only chance. So now we’re healthy, we’re rested and we’re ready.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “”You definitely had your doubts at times because of the inconsistent play, injuries just seem to be mounting and mounting,” said Pierce, who was sidelined for 11 games this season. But he’s not griping. In fact, he embraces those times as moments that showcased this team’s character and resiliency. ‘The losing teams tend to point the finger, go to the media, says this guy need to do this better or do that better,’ Pierce said. ‘And we never held grudges with one another.’ Kevin Garnett also addressed some of the struggles Boston has endured this season, and it’s impact on the team moving forward. ‘If you want something to happen, you have to gather everybody and it’s a group effort,’ Garnett said. ‘But if you want something to work, you have to actually grab everybody, get everybody on the same page and work towards that goal.’”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “The Cleveland Cavaliers have the best record in the NBA and the best player in the world on their roster. Of course this was the exact same scenario for the Cavs last season, and they ultimately lost to Orlando conference finals. General manager Danny Ferry bolstered his team with additions big (Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison) and small (Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon) and found improvement from within in young forward J.J. Hickson. Noted Celtic killer Anderson Varejao had the best season of his career, Mo Williams continued to shoot over 40 percent from 3-point range, effectively ending the necessity for Daniel Gibson to get playing time, and Delonte West re-emerged as a key third guard. Then, there is LeBron James, who has shattered the best player in the league argument and seems poised to truly rule the world if he can deliver a championship to his hometown team before engaging in the most frenzied free-agent courtship the league has ever known. Ah, but the Celtics have other ideas.”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – “‘My role since I’ve been here really hasn’t changed. I can just be a little bit more vocal now that I’ve been here for a while,’ Finley explained. ‘I just didn’t want to come here right away and be the loud mouth of the locker room. But now the guys feel a little more comfortable with me. I’m able to pull guys to the side, tell them different situations, especially in these playoff series that are important, not only to them, but to our team. And they’re listening and they’re being receptive, and that’s been good.’ The 37-year-old is happy to share the veteran wisdom he has accumulated over the last 15 years, and the C’s are just as happy to receive it. ‘Mike is big,’ said Ray Allen. ‘Most people don’t realize the things that he’s saying, just his advice, just some of the things that he says coming out of timeouts, coming to the bench. You can always tell he wants to win. Even though he came here later on in the season, he’s invested now in what we’re doing. So he’s always making sure, ‘Look for this, this is what’s going to go down,’ or, ‘Ray, you need to do this,’ or ‘Paul you need to make sure …’ So that’s great coming from the bench and you know that he’s fielding us more information so when we go out there, we’re prepared.’”

Charles F. Gardner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – “Keep counting ‘em out, all you National Basketball Association experts. These Milwaukee Bucks will just keep fighting to the end. The Atlanta Hawks found that out the hard way on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the teams’ Eastern Conference series, as the Bucks got off the mat to grab a stunning 91-87 victory at Philips Arena. The Bucks have won three straight games against the third-seeded Hawks while taking a 3-2 lead in the first-round series, and Milwaukee can eliminate Atlanta in Game 6, scheduled for Friday night at the Bradley Center. Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova showed his trademark hustle while grabbing offensive rebounds, and Milwaukee went on a dazzling 14-0 run in the final 4 minutes to erase an 82-73 deficit and end the Hawks’ 14-game home winning streak. ‘This is by far the biggest win of the season,’ said Bucks guard John Salmons. ‘We’ve still got business to take care of, so we’ve got to stay with it.’”

Mark Bradley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution – “This was the Falcons blowing the lead against Danny White and Dallas in January 1981. This was Mark Wohlers hanging the slider to Jim Leyritz in October 1996. Only it wasn’t. It was worse. Those opponents were top-class. The Hawks just blew a 13-point lead and probably a playoff series to Milwaukee, which is a No. 6 seed missing its All-Star center. They trail 3-2 in a series they led 2-0. They face elimination on the road, a place they’ve won once in 11 tries over the past three postseasons. Yeah, theoretically they could still pull this out, but how can you win in the Bradley Center when you can’t hold a nine-point lead inside the final four minutes with the series lead on the line? How can you put this colossal choke — I hate that word, but it applies here — behind you? Up nine, and here’s what happened: Josh Smith missed a dunk by hitting the ball on the underside of the backboard; Jamal Crawford short-armed a layup, the first of his five misses down the stretch; the Hawks watched as Ersan Ilyasova grabbed every loose ball and Joe Johnson fouled out on a charge. Nine points up with 3:55 left, the Hawks saw the lead disappear in 116 seconds. I say again: One hundred sixteen seconds. There are no excuses for this game, this series. The team with the better players is the one with one foot out the exit door. The Bucks have two chances to win once. The Hawks are down to their final shot.”

Benjamin Hochman, Denver Post – “Help? Melo got it. Selfish? Not the Nuggets, at least not this night. Game 6? A reality. For one night, all was right with the Nuggets, who played poised and possessed Wednesday during a 116-102 victory over Utah at the Pepsi Center. Overcoming the loss of Nene because of a knee injury, Denver forced Game 6 to be played Friday in Salt Lake City, with the Jazz leading the first-round playoff series 3-2. A source familiar with the situation said the Nuggets are fearful Nene tore the ACL in his left knee. He is scheduled to have an MRI on Thursday.”

J.A. Adande, ESPN – “Not only did Anthony receive the assistance from his teammates he all but Bat-signaled for from the dais last Sunday, he delivered 25 points and 11 rebounds. He managed to involve his teammates without too much dropoff of his own from his 39-point, 11-rebound Game 4. Sure the point total declined, but the number of turnovers also went from nine to one. A team official told Anthony he was as proud of him as he’d ever been after this game. If the Nuggets are going to exit the playoffs, apparently their disappearance won’t be traced back to Anthony. He already double his double-double total from all of last playoffs (anyone else craving In-N-Out Burger after that sentence?). And he’s put up a better resistance to elimination. In Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers last season, in what turned out to be the finale of his breakthrough playoffs, Anthony scored 25 points but shot only 35 percent and grabbed two rebounds.”

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

I’ve spent a long time on Twitter debating the great Dan Shaughnessy’s latest article for Sports Illustrated.  Shaughnessy writes that the Boston Celtics will beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round, backing up his opinion with a few reasons. (Down below, Sports Illustrated emails the controversial piece to at least one Cleveland sports blog.)

Shaughnessy’s Reasons

"Mom, can you believe this Shaughnessy dude?"

The Celtics have the same starting five as the championship team of 2008.

Very true, Dan.  Also valid is that Rajon Rondo is better, to make up for the declining Big Three. Unfortunately, Cleveland DOESN’T have the same starting five.  The Cavs no longer have Wally Szczerbiak or Ben Wallace in their starting lineup; in the NBA, subbing those two guys for Anthony Parker and Antawn Jamison is known as “a very good thing.” On top of that Shaq, as old as he is, gives them the added dimension of a go-to low-post player and still commands a double-team. And Anderson Varejao is approximately 2,742 times better than he was in 2008.

“No back-to-back games and plenty of down time — helps the old bones of Boston.”

Again, true. Boston is peaking at the right time, and part of that is the downtime of the playoff schedule. Of course, Cleveland doesn’t mind the rest, either. Shaq-tis’ old bones will be just as revitalized by rest as the Big Three’s. Still, the downtime helps the Celtics more than Cleveland because their stars are aging, while Cleveland’s star is a 25-year old combination of an airplane and a Mack Truck.

“But the Celtics know they can beat LeBron. And they know they can win in Cleveland (see Oct. 27, 2009).”

This was my favorite point of Shaughnessy’s.  The Celtics have done it before, and they’ve done it as a unit.  As accomplished as Lebron James is and as dominant in the regular season as the Cavs have been, they’ve never won when the lights shine brightest.  “Deep down,” Shaughnessy wrote, “the Cavaliers know the Celtics can beat them.” I’m not sure how true that is, but I DO KNOW that the Cavs have never won a championship. King James has already been crowned, but never earned his throne. That’s not to say he won’t this year, but the Celtics have come through when it counts and the Cavs haven’t.  That much is true.

“The Celtics have added veteran snipers Michael Finley and Rasheed Wallace. As much as it hurts to say this, the mercurial ‘Sheed might be the difference against the Cavs.”

First off, I’m not sure how Rasheed Wallace qualifies as a “sniper.”  That’s like saying Shaq is “a pure shooter.”  Secondly, Sheed won’t be the difference against the Cavs any more than he has been against the Heat.  Third of all, the best Shaughnessy does to back up his prediction of Sheed being the difference is, “We haven’t seen much of ‘Sheed during the Miami series, but the Heat have been so bad, it’s hard to notice any Celtics’ shortcomings. Maybe ‘Sheed will finally shine at the Q.” Look, I’m fine with him saying Sheed will make a difference against Cleveland, so long as he backs it up.

Shaughnessy did nothing to back it up.  Literally nothing.  John from Red’s Army agrees that Sheed will play a bigger role in the potential Cleveland series, and backs it up by saying Shaq and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are immobile enough to overshadow Sheed’s own immobility.  I can see his point; it’s weird, but Sheed will actually be more athletic than the Cleveland frontcourt.  I disagree that Sheed will make a difference, but at least John has a reason.That’s more than Shaughnessy gave us.

I don’t think Sheed will give the Celtics anything against Cleveland.  Doc Rivers has lost all faith in him.  Sheed can’t hit the broad side of a barn, and can’t slide his feet for the life of him.  If Doc Rivers doesn’t have the confidence to play Sheed against Jermaine O’Neal and Joel Anthony, do you think he’ll have the confidence to play him against the Cavs?  No chance.  Not unless Sheed gets hot one game.   Unfortunately for Sheed and the Celtics, he has about as much chance of getting hot as I do winning the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.  (Okay, maybe that’s a bad example… even though I can’t dunk, I could have won this year’s slam dunk contest.)

Sports Illustrated emails piece to Cleveland blog

Not only did Shaughnessy write an attention-seeking piece probably designed to piss off some people and infuriate others, but Sports Illustrated actually wrote at least one Cleveland sports blog an email to notify them of the article. I’m not even kidding.  Here’s the email from Time Inc., as received by Waiting For Next Year, a very good Cleveland sports blog:

I wanted to let you know of an article that appears on SI.com today that takes a close look at the likely matchup between the Celtics and Cavaliers in the second round of the NBA Playoffs. SI.com contributing columnist Dan Shaughnessy believes that the Celtics can exploit Cleveland’s weaknesses despite the NBA’s reigning MVP and the Cavaliers astounding record at Quicken Loans Arena during the regular season.

Shaughnessy writes: “The Celtics have the same starting five that won the championship two years ago. OK — Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen are not better than they were two years ago, but Rajon Rando is a much better player than he was in 2008, and Kendrick Perkins is two years stronger. Glen “Big Baby” Davis contributes much more than he did two years ago and the Celtics have added veteran snipers Michael Finley and Rasheed Wallace.”

If you have any questions or would like any other information, please feel free to contact me. The article is on SI.com now. Thank you.

Really, Sports Illustrated, you are THAT interested in stirring the pot?  THAT interested in driving a little extra traffic to your website?  You’re Effing Sports Illustrated, aren’t you a little beyond that?  You shouldn’t have to stoop to that level.  You’re better than that, SI, come on. I think we can all agree that Sports Illustrated should be A LITTLE past the point where it has to stir up the pot by personally emailing articles to sports blogs that might be offended by them.

Alas, this Shaughnessy piece wasn’t that bad.  As far as predictions go, it’s a bold one, but most of his points make sense (clearly excluding the Sheed one). I’ve certainly written worse articles, I’m sure.

Shaughnessy is now the clear-cut leader of the Celtics bandwagon, and Sports Illustrated the clear-cut leader of hyping controversial articles via email.  But I’ve got a plea for Shaughnessy and everyone else talking about Cleveland…

Let’s just get by the Heat first, eh?

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.

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “No one questions whether Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are the team’s leaders. But how effective they have been is debatable. Remember, this is a team that talked about winning 72 games before the season started. At this point, they’ll be lucky to finish with the third-best record in the East. While coach Doc Rivers still believes his team ‘is close’ to being with the likes of Cleveland, there lies part of the problem. They are close, but have shown no signs of getting any closer.”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The Celtics entered yesterday’s game nine games behind the Cavaliers, and were the fourth seed themselves. To get to back to the Finals, they’ll likely have to get through the Cavaliers, and whether they want to or not, they find themselves wondering how they measure up. Yesterday, after the Celtics took their second loss to the Cavaliers in just three weeks, the dif ference between the teams wasn’t the monster-sized center Cleveland added in Shaquille O’Neal (at home nursing a surgically-repaired thumb), it wasn’t the shooting they added in Anthony Parker and Jamario Moon, and it wasn’t even James and his 30-point, 8-rebound, 7-assist performance. ‘The glaring difference,’ said Boston’s Ray Allen, echoing everyone’s thoughts, ‘was just their effort.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Kendrick Perkins is the Celtics’ truth serum. His doesn’t have the arrogance or bravado to believe things suddenly will heal themselves as some of his teammates and coaches do. He lives in Realityland, where he watches opposing teams repeatedly chase down loose balls and take charges and block shots. It’s time for he and Rajon Rondo to assume more of the direction of the team because they have watched the Big Three fall short for too long. ‘You just have to find it within,’ Perkins said. ‘You can’t point fingers. You have to look in the mirror. There were a lot of things today we all messed up on. Just the effort plays.’ When asked if it was time for him to take more of a commanding role, Perkins said, ‘I think maybe a different guy gotta try to step up and be a leader. I think sometimes you try to feed off your All-Stars, but maybe somebody else gotta step up. I’m talking about leading by example. One spark or positive energy on the court and guys tend to feed off that. Maybe it’s gotta be me, Rondo, ’Sheed, somebody.’”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – The Celtics had made the argument that the Cavaliers are better without Shaquille O’Neal, who has been out since spraining his thumb last month in Boston. Even though the Cavs give up size, they make up for it in versatility and speed. On Sunday, however, the smaller Cavs team played bigger than the Celtics. Playing without O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who had averaged 5.3 rebounds for the Cavs in 53 games, the Cavaliers outrebounded the Celtics, 51-43. They grabbed six more offensive rebounds and scored 10 more points in the paint. ‘I thought they were the more physical team, and they were the smaller team,’ Rivers said. ‘Without Shaq, they’ve gone small a lot and we’re big — that’s who we are. But if we’re going to be big, we’re going to have to act big. And we didn’t do that tonight. I thought they did. I thought they really took the fight to us more tonight.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “But Rivers didn’t want to dwell too much on regular season drivel. ‘Two years ago, we swept Atlanta in the regular season and went seven games,’ he said. ‘When the playoffs start, it’s a new thing. We understand that, but what we have to do is just keep improving so, when the playoffs start, we’re ready.’ His point is well taken, but it can’t be soothing to Celtics [team stats] followers when the 2007-08 Hawks are being held up for inspiration.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “That’s also a good indication of where the Celtics stand right now in the eyes of the NBA. Their 104-93 loss to Cleveland once again illustrated how far from 2008 form the C’s have fallen. Coach Doc Rivers continues to say that his Celtics are close to hitting stride, but evidence continues to pile up on the other side. Yesterday’s loss dropped the Celtics to 1-2 against the Cavs, with an April 4 date at the Garden remaining in the regular season series. The loss also dropped the Celtics to 2-9 against their three chief conference rivals – Cleveland, Orlando and Atlanta. There’s another way of looking at that number – the Celtics no longer belong in the foursome.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Anyone who thought Kendrick Perkins handed the Cavaliers some bulletin-board material with his, “They still haven’t done nothing we haven’t done,” comment would be disappointed. The Cavaliers, like their leader, are too even-keeled. If any offense was taken, it was internalized. ‘Well, he’s right,’ LeBron James said before the game.”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘Leon was spectacular for us,’ said coach Mike Brown. ‘Antawn (Jamison) picked up his fourth foul, and we put Leon in the game and I thought he was the difference maker.’ Indeed, Cleveland was ahead by two when he came into the game, and up 13 when he left with 8:08 to play. Powe deflected the praise afterward, and before the game was crediting someone else with a huge assist that he is still in the NBA – and that was a member of the Celtics organization. Powe was in many ways on his own when he got hurt in the first-round playoff series against Chicago last year. He was heading into a free-agent summer, meaning a successful surgery was critical if he hoped to get another contract. Given a choice, he decided to stick with Celtics physician Brian McKeon.”

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