Posted on Fri, May. 09, 2008

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS | CELTICS 89, CAVALIERS 73

Pierce, Allen lift Celtics to 2-0 lead

Chargeless Cavaliers catch James' offensive funk

JIMMY GOLEN

Associated Press

BOSTON --

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen found their shooting touch. LeBron James can only hope he left his in Cleveland.

Pierce scored 19, Kevin Garnett added 13 with 12 rebounds, and Allen broke out of a seven-quarter scoring drought with 16 points to help the Boston Celtics beat the Cavaliers 89-73 on Thursday and take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

One game after going 2-for-18 from the field and missing his last six shots, including a layup to tie the game with 8.5 seconds left, James missed his first three tries and finished with 21 points on 6-for-24 shooting.

"I'm a little shocked that he's 8-for-42, but this is what we work on. We work on trying to contain him," said Pierce, who was 2-for-14 in Game 1. "LeBron is what makes them go. And if we can somehow control him, we control their team. And with the help of the guys around me, we've been able to do that."

Game 3 is Saturday night in Cleveland.

"Being down 0-2, that's a tough hole to dig yourself out of. But if we want to win the series we've got to do it," James said, noting the Cavaliers lost the first two games to Detroit in last year's playoffs but won four straight to reach the NBA Finals.

"We've been in this situation before," said James. "I've got to let them know that I'm not frustrated."

The message was not received. "He's got to be frustrated," Cavaliers guard Wally Szczerbiak said. "He's such a good player. He puts so much on his shoulders."

James will have a more welcoming crowd for the next two games than the Boston fans who serenaded him with a chant of "Over-rated!" as he went 1-for-11 over the second and third quarters. This time, the poor shooting was contagious: The Cavs shot 35.6 percent in the game, hitting 11.8 percent in the second quarter as Boston turned an eight-point deficit into a nine-point lead. From early in the second quarter to early in the third, a span of 13 minutes, 41 seconds, Boston outscored Cleveland 36-10.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 19 points for the Cavaliers.

Pierce and Allen (0-for-4 in Game 1) snapped out of whatever ailed them. Pierce did it right away, with seven points in the first quarter, but Allen took a little more time.

The third member of Boston's Big Three hadn't scored since hitting a 3-pointer with 8:48 left in the third quarter of Game 7 against Atlanta. Boston finished off the Hawks with just seven points from the Allen, who shot 3-for-12 in the first-round finale.

He missed his first four shots Thursday but scored 11 points in the third quarter, including the first four of the second half as the Celtics scored 10 straight to take a 54-36 lead. The Cavaliers cut it to 12 on James' only basket of the quarter, but they spent most of the fourth quarter trailing by 20.

CLEVELAND: James 6-24 9-13 21, Wallace 0-0 0-0 0, Ilgauskas 9-12 1-2 19, West 1-5 1-2 3, Szczerbiak 4-11 4-4 13, Varejao 1-5 1-2 3, Smith 2-7 0-0 4, Gibson 0-2 2-2 2, Pavlovic 2-4 0-0 5, D.Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Dw.Jones 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 26-73 19-27 73. BOSTON: Pierce 7-13 4-6 19, Garnett 5-9 3-3 13, Perkins 0-2 0-2 0, Rondo 0-6 7-7 7, R.Allen 4-10 7-8 16, Powe 4-7 3-6 11, Cassell 4-12 1-2 9, Posey 3-6 0-0 7, P.Brown 2-3 0-0 4, House 0-2 0-0 0, T.Allen 0-0 1-2 1, Davis 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 29-72 28-38 89.

Cleveland	24	12	15	22	--	73
Boston	17	27	26	19	--	89

3-Point Goals--Cleveland 2-13 (Pavlovic 1-2, Szczerbiak 1-4, Gibson 0-1, West 0-1, D.Brown 0-1, James 0-4), Boston 3-14 (R.Allen 1-3, Posey 1-4, Pierce 1-5, Cassell 0-2). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Cleveland 52 (Varejao 10), Boston 56 (Garnett 12). Assists--Cleveland 18 (James 6), Boston 20 (Rondo 6). Total Fouls--Cleveland 27, Boston 26. Technicals--Cleveland defensive three second, Boston defensive three second 2. Att.--18,624 (18,624).