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.

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.

Ben Wallace, what up?

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Playing without home-court advantage for the first time since the 2004 playoffs, winning on the road already was a must for the Celtics. But dropping a very winnable series opener to the Cavaliers puts them in a position in which they’ll need to do it sooner rather than later. ‘Your sense of urgency has to go up,’ Pierce said. ‘You don’t ever want to go down 2-0, put yourself in that type of hole, especially against a team like Cleveland. The urgency is definitely there. Game 1 was important and we let it slip away. Hopefully, we can clean those things up, come back with the same type of mind-set, same type of energy, a little more perfection to our game and I think we’ll be all right. But definitely, we have to play Game 2 like it’s a Game 7.’ [...] ‘I think we’re going to create more [opportunities],’ Rivers said. ‘We let an opportunity go, but we’ll have more.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Now here’s another thread Boston hopes remains common between the two teams: The 1969 Celtics were one of only two Boston squads ever to lose Game 1 of a best-of-seven series on the road, then rally to win the series. Boston is a mere 2-6 in that situation, and 8-14 overall when losing Game 1 of a best-of-seven series regardless of home-court advantage. What’s more, teams with home-court advantage that win Game 1 of a best-of-seven series are 256-40 overall in the history of the NBA playoffs, a sterling 86.5 winning percentage. All of which is to say that the Celtics find themselves in an undesirable situation after Saturday’s Game 1 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a conference semifinal series. Yet, Boston is hardly pressing the panic button. ‘If we take it to seven games, we’ll have three more opportunities to play here,’ point guard Rajon Rondo said before Sunday’s practice. ‘[Game 1] is behind us. We wish we could have had it back, but that’s yesterday.’”

Jodie Valade, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “The last time the Celtics won an NBA title, they held home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. This season, as in last, the Cavaliers hold home-court advantage each round. That’s what makes Boston’s goal for the first two games in Cleveland modest — just win one. Of course, after losing Game 1, the pressure is higher for Monday’s Game 2. ‘We’ve got to play Game 2 like it’s a Game 7,’ Pierce said Sunday. ‘Your sense of urgency goes up. You don’t want to go down 2-0 and put yourself in that kind of hole, especially against a team like Cleveland. The urgency is definitely there. We feel like [Game 1] is a game we let slip away by little things. So we’ve just got to clean those things up, come back with the same type of mindset, the same type of energy and with a little more perfection to our game and we’ll be OK.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘I thought the jumpers we did get were good looks, but it gets to the point when the jumpers aren’t falling that Doc says to take the ball to the bucket,’ said Pierce. ‘That’s part of the game. You’re going to have shots that aren’t falling, then you have to get to the hole. I was disappointed with only going to the free throw line twice, so I have to be a little more aggressive. I’d still take the shots that I took in that game, though.’ Pierce may have felt good about his shots, but that doesn’t take away from the Celtics’ closing thud. They missed nine of their last 10 shots, including four misses by Pierce. The Big Three combined for two fourth-quarter baskets – a Pierce 3-pointer and a Kevin Garnett put-back off his own miss. Overall, Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen shot 20-for-51 in Game 1, not too efficient. ‘I think we settled, but it boils down to being patient,’ said Allen. ‘It’s one thing to take what they give you, but sometimes you have to force the action.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “When asked if he loses aggressiveness once he gets into foul trouble, Davis responded: ‘Most definitely. You get three fouls in the first half it hurts,’ he said. ‘You have to work on getting your rhythm and timing back. It never helps. Just have to see the way the game’s being called. You can’t foul. Whatever the ref thinks you’re doing, you can’t do it. You just have to learn from mistakes.’ Davis is also resigned to accumulating a generous amount of hacks every night. ‘I’m not trying to take my fouls with me anyway,’ he said. ‘Four or five fouls are nothing to me. We have so many guys who can play. We just have to step up.’ Doc Rivers likes the sound of a liberal-hacking policy. And the coach is not just talking about the time-proven, hack-a-Shaq tactic. ‘Honestly, LeBron (James), Mo Williams, all of them,’ he said. ‘They got layups last night and stood. We got layups last night and were on the floor.’”

Rich Levine, CSNNE – “The loss of focus and purpose in the second half is a problem that plagued them all season. ‘It’s definitely frustrating,’ said Paul Pierce, who scored only three second-half points on Saturday, and was 1-for-7 from the field in the fourth quarter. ‘I don’t know the explanation of it, but I think it’s something we’ve gotten better at as the season’s winded down, and in the playoffs. We’ve been a better second-half team. You know, I don’t even think about that. It’s the playoffs now. Obviously, you’re going to struggle with certain areas in certain quarters but I think as the series wears on, we’re gonna get better in the second half, regardless.’ The chance to prove that comes on Monday night, as the Celtics and Cavs reconvene at the Q for Game Two. And when they do, the Celtics expect to see the same level of intense, trapping and ball-hawking defense that gave them fits late in Game One. But after watching the film, Rivers believes his team now has a better grasp on how to cope. ‘When they load up on the ball, you catch, and then you put the ball back on the floor. And I thought we caught, and just shot,’ Rivers said. ‘There were so many openings where we should have caught it and put the ball right back onto the floor, right back into the paint, and we didn’t do that. ‘”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘I’m keeping it simple, just energy,’ Wallace said. ‘I ain’t trying to say too much. I ain’t trying to get fined again. Just energy.’” (Editor’s Note: LOL)

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “It wasn’t that Ray Allen wasn’t getting shots in the Celtics’ 101-93 loss to the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Saturday night. But the looks, said coach Doc Rivers, could have been better. Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce all had opportunities to put the Celtics ahead in the final minutes, but Rivers said the team could have made a better effort to get Allen open. ‘Ray, we’ve got to get him better shots,’ Rivers said. ‘We’ve got to get Ray shots. Paul’s got to be more aggressive. But that’s on us with Ray — on our team, on our bigs. Ray should have gotten better shots and we didn’t get him open. There were ample times to get him open and we didn’t do a good job. Ray’s going to get open.’”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “Garnett scored 18 points on 9-for-20 shooting. The last time Garnett took that many shots in a game was back in November against the Suns in a helter-skelter offensive-minded game. It was also the only time he took that many shots. ‘No doubt,’ Rivers said when asked if they would keep working Garnett down low. ‘He’s just got to be aggressive. I thought he started the third quarter being a passer. He’s just so unselfish that it’s really difficult, but he understands that.’ So, once again, we are faced with the eternal paradox of Kevin Garnett. He is a great passer and he and Rondo have worked the two-man game down low as well as any duo in the league at times. He’s also a very good shooter from 20 feet and that opens up all kinds of driving lanes for Rondo, Pierce and Allen. But in this series Garnett has to be a little selfish. ‘It was really good because he was aggressive and he was attacking but he’s got to stay on that,’ Rivers said. ‘He fights his own self because people don’t get that. They criticize him for being unselfish, which is the craziest thing on earth, but that is who he is.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “When Rondo collided with Shaquille O’Neal in Game One, it took Rondo a minute or two to get to his feet. As painful as the thought of his lithe frame colliding with O’Neal’s 300-plus pound frame, Rondo said that wasn’t what really hurt. ‘It’s not him. It’s the floor,’ Rondo said. ‘I’m taking the hit from him. It’s when I hit the floor. The floor is the hardest thing I hit.’”

Terry Pluto, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “An assistant coach at St. Vincent-St. Mary during the James Era, Steve Culp also noticed that James stayed away from self pity. ‘When things went wrong, he’d get very quiet, a little sad,’ said Culp. ‘He’s smart. He was thinking about it. But he was not the kind of kid who lashed out, and a lot of kids who grow up in his circumstances are angry.’ Men such as Dambrot, Joyce, Culp and Cotton have watched James mature, but they still marvel at his ability to hit the right notes in public with the same ease that he makes the proper decisions on the court. ‘He has never been afraid to carry the torch [of leadership],’ said Cotton, whose son, Sian, played with James in youth leagues and at St. Vincent-St. Mary. Dambrot said, ‘He wanted to have the award ceremony at Akron, doing it in front of his people in his city.’ James brought his entire Cavs team on stage when he was handed the MVP trophy — just as he did last season. But you can go back to the night of the NBA lottery when Cleveland won his draft rights — all of his high school teammates came up on stage that evening at a local hotel for his press conference. ‘LeBron has made it hard for me to coach all these other guys after him,’ said Dambrot. ‘Not because of his talent, but he was such a great teammate, so unselfish. He respects his coaches. He just gets it.’”

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

It's time for Rasheed to get some splinters on that fat rump of his. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

Rasheed Wallace did not save anything for the playoffs — it has become abundantly clear that there is nothing left in those old, lazy legs of his. Despite his promises of possessing a gear saved specifically for the playoffs, Sheed has — if anything — down-shifted in the postseason. As the general level of play gets tougher, Sheed stays the same; old, lumpy, and useless.

He’s gotten so bad I’m begging Doc Rivers to play Shelden Williams. Shelden, a 6’8″ center with hands made of bricks, is a better option off the bench than Sheed, and it isn’t even close. Not only did Sheed brick four of his five shots last night, racking up more personal fouls than points, but he was helpless defensively. This is a guy who has been lauded time and again for his high basketball IQ, but he can’t guard a simple pick-and-roll.

When Sheed was in the game Mo Williams ran several pick-and-rolls in a row with Sheed’s man, and Williams started killing. All us scribes, after the game, gave credit for Williams’ quick scoring outburst to his crowd-pleasing and energy-inducing dunk, and I’m sure that played a part in it. But there was something else that went largely unnoticed; after the timeout that came after Williams’ dunk and a following Williams jumper, Rasheed Wallace checked into the game. From that point Williams picked on Wallace, toying with him on the pick-and-roll. Sheed simply doesn’t possess the foot speed to keep up, and Williams scored on three straight possessions as Wallace failed to properly defend a simple screen-and-roll.

Notice how I am advocating for Shelden Williams to play Sheed’s minutes but have yet to offer a single thing Williams brings to the table. To be honest, I don’t HAVE TO offer anything Williams can do but simply have to explain what he WON’T do. Shelden Williams WON’T brick ill-advised three-pointers. He WON’T get a rebound snatched straight out of his hands by Anderson Varejao. He WON’T get outworked every single possession he’s on the floor. He WON’T fail for lack of effort. He WON’T give anything less than a true playoff resolve.

At this point, that’s all I want from my backup center. I don’t care if Shelden Williams scores a single point the rest of the series, I’m still going with him to play Sheed’s minutes. Sheed has been given his opportunity all season and, besides an odd ability to murder the Toronto Raptors, has earned approximately $0 of his contract.

It’s time for Sheed to sit and, though Shelden Williams isn’t an ideal replacement, at least Williams will try.

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.

Anderson Varejao, goofy as usual. Sheed, sleeping during games as usual. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “In fact, Kevin Garnett went so far as to suggest the team was more confident following the game. ‘We felt like we had this game,’ said Garnett. ‘We have a lot of confidence now. When you’re at home, you play your hardest; you play your best basketball. We all know they’re a good team at home. We’ll go back to the drawing board, watch the film, and try to get Game 2. We come in here with confidence, we’re not lacking that. We just have to be more consistent coming down the stretch.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “‘I just thought we went away from our game plan,’’ said Rivers. “We didn’t sustain 48 minutes of focus. Give them credit, they turned the heat up and we didn’t handle it very well.’ The Cavaliers outscored the Celtics, 22-15, in the fourth, making another Boston lead disappear as they had three times during the regular season. ‘It’s over with now,’ Rajon Rondo said. ‘We definitely lost an opportunity to sneak a game . . . But it’s over with and we have to move on.’”

Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe – “‘We were winning because we were attacking,’ said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. ‘In the second half we went away from what we were supposed to do. I was really upset with our guys and the execution. In the second half, I thought we settled. We’re playing a good team. We knew they had a run in them. It happens. This is not going to be easy for either team.’ The Celtics have made it particularly tough on themselves because they must win a road game to advance and last night was a golden opportunity. It was a game they should have won.”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “Rajon Rondo has an interesting perspective on the man who’s guarding him: He doesn’t see him. ‘I look at the second defender,’ he said. ‘I don’t really look at my man really.’ During the first half, his man didn’t see him either. Rondo turned Williams inside out and put him through the spin cycle with a variety of finishing plays, one more spectacular than the next. When he didn’t finish at the rim, he finished at the free throw line where the notoriously suspect free throw shooter made 12-of-14 shots. ‘Shorty was aggressive,’ Garnett said. ‘Not only aggressive, but he was finding guys. He controlled the huddles, which is rare for him. You love to see it. He’s very, very locked it. That’s what we’re going to need. We need everybody’s contributions to defeat this team.’”

Duane Rankin, Boston Globe – “When Cleveland coach Mike Brown was asked if he thought Williams could dunk, he must have laughed for 10 to 15 seconds before answering. ‘That surprised me,’ said Brown. ‘Yeah. Mo jumped and the ball went [in] and I didn’t even know what happened, you know. I just kind of figured he had to dunk . . . but that was a heck of a play by Mo. Heck of a play, boy.’ Williams did more than dunk, though. He had 10 straight points to trim Boston’s 11-point lead to 5, 73-68, with 3:12 remaining in the third. The Cavaliers ended the quarter on an 11-5 run to take a 79-78 lead heading into the fourth quarter. ‘When he picked it up, it kind of gave the whole team a lift with that dunk,’ Cleveland second-year forward J.J. Hickson said.”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “The end was a series of errors during which time the Celtics were tentative and unsure of themselves. Varejao ripped a rebound out of Rasheed Wallace’s hands. A sprawled James reached up from the floor and took the ball from Paul Pierce. Then Shaq applied the coup de grace with a third-chance tip-in between Garnett and Kendrick Perkins for a 98-93 lead with a minute left. ‘I think we stopped being aggressive and they turned it up,’ Rondo said after 27 points and 12 assists. ‘It was tough. You know, we’ve been there before. We were up at halftime again. We lost a double digit lead – again. And we didn’t get the win.’ Again. ‘Yeah, it was,’ said Perkins of the regular season reprise. ‘The last three minutes of the third quarter we started going downhill. We didn’t take their punch very well. They punched us and we just kind of . . . I think we gave in just a little bit.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “But, truth be told, the Celtics weren’t that upset after Saturday’s game and likely bit their tongues enough to avoid any $35,000 requests from the NBA offices. Even the Celtics admitted the referees didn’t decide the outcome of the game. But they certainly didn’t make things any easier on Boston. ‘It had an impact, but not that big,’ said Rivers. ‘It was with us. Maybe mentally, guys were worried about fouls. I told them at halftime, I don’t care if everybody fouls out by the third quarter — don’t change. We were winning because we were attacking. [The Cavaliers] won the game because they attacked in the second half. You can’t worry. We had enough guys. I told the bigs that. I told [Davis], ‘I don’t care if you foul out in the first half. You have to be energy guy. I’m using Baby as an example, but he went away from being an energy guy because he was concerned about his fouls. I thought, overall, in the second half, we just went away from what we’re supposed to be.’ Echoed Rondo, Boston’s offensive spark plug all night: ‘We stopped being aggressive. Not just offensively, but defensively as well. We stopped our pressure, they started attacking us, and we fell back on our heels.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Of the 17 Cleveland fouls, nine were on Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison, meaning the other eight players amassed a total of eight fouls in 183:17 of action. That allowed for more aggression, more ability to use hands and arms when chasing rebounds or contesting shots. The Cavaliers didn’t win because of the officiating; they won because they were allowed to be the more physical team in the second half. And the Celtics, who spent too much of the regular season barking at officials, were at it again, but with good reason this time. ‘You are on the road man, you are on the road,’ forward Kevin Garnett said. ‘I have never been in the series where you have been on the road and the refs have given the road team anything. You gotta play through it. It’s not the time to be [expletive] and complaining to the refs. If they are going to let you play, you gotta play. You say your two cents and your peace and you gotta keep it moving.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Rondo, who had 27 points and 12 assists – 19 and 8 came in the first half – was dominating action in the first half because he was getting out and running, which often created scoring opportunities for himself or whoever was on the floor running along with him. But that all changed in the second half. Of course Rondo’s foul trouble had something to do with that. But even when he was in the game and looking to run, often he had no one to pass to because no one was really running with him. After the game, Celtics coach Doc Rivers was quick to praise Cleveland for their play defensively. But even he acknowledged that Rondo’s teammates were conspirators in his struggles as well. ‘We walked the ball up a ton (in the second half),’ Rivers said. ‘We stopped spacing the floor and we stopped sprinting up the floor. A lot of it wasn’t Rondo’s fault. I thought Rondo kept pushing the ball up the floor, but there were three guys behind him.’”

Chris Sheridan, ESPN – “It was an odd game for James. Not odd in that he wasn’t productive — he posted 35 points, seven assists, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks — but odd in that, until late in the game, he eschewed the jump shot. Playing with a strained and bruised right elbow, he drove to the hoop or posted up almost exclusively in the first three quarters, through which he took only three jump shots. James admitted he wasn’t playing his normal game until Williams cornered him in the third, effectively saying ‘Be yourself.’ ‘I stayed close to the rim,’ said James, who made 12 of 24 shots. ‘I tried not to hyperextend it any worse than it was. Did I come out a little tentative? I thought about [my elbow] a little bit too much. Mo could see me thinking about it. It’s kind of the first real injury I’ve had to play with, especially with it being on my shooting hand. I came out tentative, but if I’m on the court, then I have to be productive.’”

Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports – “When had a Cavalier ever had to snap James out of something – never mind in the playoffs? Truth be told, no one had heard him talk this way, because nothing has ever bothered him. James had come out like the boxer protecting his ribs, measured and cautious and babying that right elbow. He feared hyperextending it, so he stayed with his dribble and drove to the rim. Whenever possible, he used his left hand – even when it was awkward and going back across his body. He still scored on the move, still made it to the free-throw line, still played productively. With one hand behind his back, James still can be a force. With two, he’s untouchable. Perhaps James wasn’t himself until the fourth quarter, when he would score 12 of his 35 points, block two shots and hit two crushing 3-pointers. Eventually, resistance was futile for the Celtics. They used to have a defense that could clog him, contain him, but those days are long gone. James fears his elbow will still be an issue, that it has lingered too long to just go away. He refused to take a cortisone shot for the pain Saturday night, insisting, ‘I don’t like needles.’ Two armfuls of tattoos offer evidence to the contrary, but whatever: The King is the King here, and his proclamations seldom are met with skepticism. As much as James seems oddly willing to discuss the elbow – an open invitation for Celtics bullies like Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davisto pound away at it – coach Mike Brown shrugs and plays the innocent. ‘I didn’t think he was favoring the elbow. There was not one thing said to me by him, by our trainers. …’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “General manager Danny Ainge confirmed yesterday that the Celtics associate coach, considered one of the NBA’s premier defensive strategists, has drawn feelers from the Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Hornets regarding their head coaching vacancies. Both the Clippers and Hornets have asked Ainge for permission to interview Thibodeau, though no meetings have been scheduled.The Philadelphia Daily News also reported that Thibodeau, who interviewed last year for positions with the Sixers and Sacramento Kings, is once again on Philadelphia’s list.”

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

KG played well, but when he was out Cleveland ran the pick-and-roll to perfection. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Mo Williams streaked down the right side, Lebron James down the left, Paul Pierce the only Celtic back on defense.  Though Williams had the ball, Pierce did what any human being with half a brain would; he shaded toward Lebron.  Williams could either a) lay the ball in himself or b) leave it off to Lebron. Unfortunately for the Celtics, he picked answer c) none of the above.

What Williams did next stunned the world and humiliated Pierce; he turned the ball over and dunked on Pierce’s late-rotating face.  It was like Shaq pulling up for three, Mike Brown substituting himself into the game, or Nate Robinson posting up on 12 straight possessions.  And it turned the entire game around.  An easily winnable game for Boston turned into nothing but a missed opportunity and a 101-93 loss.

Before Williams’ dunk, his first as a Cleveland Cavalier, the Celtics were in control.  Rajon Rondo looked like the best point guard in basketball.  Paul Pierce scored 8 quick first-quarter points.  Kevin Garnett had his way with Antawn Jamison.  Kendrick Perkins limited Shaq. But Williams’ dunk, and his ensuing hot streak from the floor, was exactly the spark the Cavs needed.

The Celtics looked great for a half, but halftime adjustments by Mike Brown changed the game for the worse.  Anthony Parker started guarding Rondo.  Cleveland decided to exploit Boston’s pick-and-roll defense.  Lebron James continued to do Lebron James things.  And Paul Pierce started tossing bricks.

After this one, I don’t know whether to be encouraged by the fact Boston easily could have come away with a W or devastated by the fact they might have just let their best opportunity to steal one in Cleveland slip right through their cracks.  Boston was completely in control for 30 or so minutes of this game, but the last 18 minutes were all Cleveland.

P.S. Lebron had the quietest 35, 7 and 7 in history.  The Celtics can’t play much better defense on the two-time MVP.

*****

Game Notes:

• Rondo finished with 27 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds.  Straight killin’.
• Perk had 9 points and 11 rebounds, and did a good job on Shaq.  Nice game by the Beast.
• I stick by what I said before the series: Kevin Garnett can abuse Antawn Jamison.  18 and 10 for KG, 7 and 9 for Jamison.
• Pierce started off burning hot, but cooled down quickly.  He finished with 13 points on 5-17 shooting.
• Boston’s bench was thoroughly atrocious. Cleveland’s wasn’t.

In case you were wondering, that's Perk's armpit. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Doc Rivers made the claim yesterday after practice that Rajon Rondo will be the Celtics’ key in round two. (ESPNBoston)

“I think Rondo is the key to the series,” said Rivers, who, over the past two days, has also pointed to rebounding, defending the 3-point shot, limiting the Cavaliers’ bench, and keeping James in check as other ‘key’ factors.

“His speed has to be a factor. He has to be disruptive defensively with his speed and ball pressure. They are going to help off him and he’s got to handle that well. Really how well he handles them dropping off him and not guarding him will be the key to us winning. When he’s effective, our whole team is effective.”

But is Rondo really the Celtics’ key?

To me, it depends on how you look at “key”.  If you look at it as the best player, then yes.  Matched up against Mo Williams (and, apparently, Doc Rivers expects Lebron James to spend a lot of time defending Rondo too), Rondo should have his way.  He has developed into Boston’s most consistent threat and the one player the C’s can rely on to have big games night in and night out.

But, in that same manner, is Lebron James the key for Cleveland?  Absolutely not.  The Cavs know what they’re going to get from him.  He’s their best player, by far, but he’s not the key to beating Boston.  It’s the supporting cast coming through that’s the key.  Lebron is going to get his 30, 8 and 8 (or maybe more), but the supporting cast remains the wild card and thus the key.

I’m not comparing Rondo to Lebron, they aren’t even in the same stratosphere, but the Celtics know what they’re going to get from Rondo.  To me, the other guys are the key.  Can Kevin Garnett expose Antawn Jamison’s lack of length in the post?  Can Paul Pierce limit Lebron and score on him too?  Can Ray Allen avoid a slump he had last time the two teams met in the playoffs?  Can Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace meet Anderson Varejao’s energy?

Those are the keys, not Rondo.  The Celtics know what they’re going to get from him, every night.  It’s up to everyone else to hold up their end of the bargain.