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Cavs fail to make shots in final minutes
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
Published on Monday, May 19, 2008
BOSTON: The final buzzer sounded, and he turned and walked directly off the court.
A couple of teammates offered pats on the chest, but LeBron James just kept walking.
Right to the locker room, where, when it opened to the media, he sat with his head down, ankles soaking in ice, stomach wrapped in an ace bandage.
James had just scored 45 points and had done all he could — short of making one more shot — to help the Cavs win Game 7 against the Boston Celtics.
James scored four more than Paul Pierce, as the duo put on a duel to remember. But James' efforts were not good enough in a 97-92 loss that ended his and his team's season.
Danny Ainge, the Celtics' president/general manager who had traded the Celtics to this point, stood in front of James, his arms on both of his shoulders.
Ainge left soon after, and James stared ahead — occasionally talking in hushed
tones with Daniel Gibson.
Several Cavs sat at their lockers, staring down, their feet in tubs of ice.
Nothing needed to be said, really.
Game 7 had gone to the Celtics, despite an effort from the Cavs no one could question.
There were blips in the game when the Celtics had the edge, but the Cavs overcame the blips and had chances at the end to win.
Their shots simply did not go in.
The Celtics got huge baskets from P.J. Brown — yes, P.J. Brown — and then Pierce ended a tremendous game with a free throw that hit the back of the rim and bounced high before falling in with 7.9 seconds left.
''The ghost of Red [Auerbach] looking over us,'' Pierce said.
Whatever.
The thing the Cavs did not do Sunday was make a shot in the final minutes when they needed one.
Down one, James missed an open 3-pointer on a shot that looked like it was going right in.
Down three, James set up Delonte West for an open 3. He missed.
James then missed on a drive.
By the time Sasha Pavlovic made a 3, the Cavs were down six and only 8.6 seconds remained.
That's when Pierce bounced in the clinching free throw, and he followed with another.
The Cavs' season ends, abruptly, with a guy named P.J. Brown getting not one, but two air balls in the final quarter and turning them into baskets. And Brown getting a key rebound tip that kept the ball in the Celtics' possession. And Brown making a 20-foot jumper with 1:21 left and the Cavs down one.
P.J. Brown.
After James and Pierce had played a game to behold, with each going back and forth carrying their team, P.J. Brown made the key plays in the fourth quarter to win for the Celtics.
By the time James got to the podium, he was more composed and able to assess the game.
Most of the questions dealt with his scoring 45 points and Pierce, 41.
Pierce had not been a huge factor in the series before this game, but in the most important game, he came through in a big way.
Folks likened it to the duel Larry Bird had with Dominique Wilkins when the Atlanta Hawks played the Celtics in 1988.
James said he looked at Pierce during the game and said the fans had come to see something like that, let's see who could lead his team to a win.
In the end, it was Pierce.
Why?
Well, one could say it's because James didn't get much help, because West was the only other Cavs player in double figures (15).
But the same was true of the Celtics. But they had one of the players you'd least expect to come up big in a Game 7.
Pierce had 41 and Kevin Garnett, 13 (5-for-13).
But Brown had 10.
Brown is 38. He has been in the league 14 years. He has played for six teams. He played 18 games for the Celtics this season.
He was the guy in the fourth quarter who made the key plays.
One could say that given the Cavs' struggles this season and given the huge change in personnel at the trading deadline, it was amazing they had taken the Celtics to seven games.
It's not an unfair statement.
James said that the Cavs figured things out in the postseason, and that they became a good team. Just not quite good enough.
''The tough thing for me was watching LeBron put the team on his back and be a leader like he was doing, and we allowed it to get away,'' Cavs forward Ben Wallace said. ''He worked hard for it. He came out and gave it everything he had.
''It's just disappointing, for me, that we didn't get him a win.''
James said he left quickly merely because he was disappointed at losing, not disappointed in his teammates or coaches.
''All I could think about was I was trying to get a win and advance,'' he said. ''I was trying to do everything I could to try to get our team over the hump.''
When Ainge was finished talking to James, he went to the hallway outside the locker room and did some interviews.
He said the usual things, and concluded by calling the game ''a classic.''
Guess he can say that.
His team won.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/.
BOSTON: The final buzzer sounded, and he turned and walked directly off the court.
Get the full article here.
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