CLEVELAND -- The NBA's best rivalry needed this. The home team had won the last 16 meetings before the visiting Celtics broke that spell Tuesday with an opening night 95-89 win over the Cavaliers (RECAP | BOX SCORE). After two years spent bear-hugging each other like wrestlers, a new dynamic has momentarily separated them.
At issue is Cleveland's recast style, based not only on the arrival of Shaquille O'Neal and two other newcomers but also the absence of troubled Delonte West, who was on the sideline while Ray Allen (16 points) was beating his defenders off the dribble or downcourt for threes in transition. The Celtics came into this game with the advantage of having fewer new parts to integrate, with Rasheed Wallace (12 points) and Marquis Daniels (7 points and 2 assists) fitting in as snugly off the bench as anticipated.
It would be a mistake to make too much of one result; but it would also be wrong to ignore the advantage the Celtics have seized toward a potential tiebreaker in April. "It's great psychologically to go in here and get a win,'' said Paul Pierce, who led the Celtics with 23.
The acquisitions of Rasheed and Shaq promise to elevate a rivalry that has no peer in the NBA. As much as everyone refers nostalgically to the age-old meetings of the Celtics and the Lakers, their disagreements come along twice a year apart from the occasional NBA Finals; and while Lakers-vs.-Spurs is often important it tends to fall short of creating the necessary emotional tension. That leaves the Celtics and Cavs to create a feud important enough to crowd both lockerrooms with reporters here Tuesday in the pregame hour, like a playoff game in May.
Pierce recognized the impact O'Neal had made. "You know how excited y'all get when Shaq comes to town,'' he said, sitting at his locker near the door of the visitors dressing room as the press wandered in and out.
"It's true,'' I admitted. "We just can't help ourselves.''
Across the room Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo was pulling on his jersey. "I don't think I've ever won in Cleveland my whole career,'' he said.
True enough: The Celtics had lost 11 straight here. I mentioned that some of them had been close losses.
"And some blowouts too,'' he answered quickly, as if he needed to put more pressure on himself.
The short of it is that this was more important than an opening night in Memphis or Philadelphia. The Cavs began the game playing like the younger and livelier team while hitting six of their first seven shots on their way to a 21-7 lead. But they have too many loose parts to tighten so early in the season, and by the second quarter the Celtics bench was ratcheting the defense to help set up a 51-45 Celtics lead by halftime.
LeBron James was typically spectacular with 38 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists to go with four blocks, including two that snuffed out Celtic breakaways (in the opening quarter he cleanly pinned a Rondo dunk against the glass as if upon a ladder putting up decorations). But too often the offense degraded into James needing to go one-on-one to beat the shot clock. "They took us out of a lot of our sets,'' he said of the Celtics.
There were several noticeable differences since last year. Both Rondo and Anderson Varejao looked much smoother shooting the ball, a sign of how hard both worked over the summer. More obvious was the presence of Shaq, who in the opening minute came out to set a high pick and obliviously shouldered Kevin Garnett (13 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in 33 minutes) almost off his feet. Later when KG went up with the ball high he was met again by Shaq, who wrapped both arms around the ball and incidentally Garnett's head, before he slid hard onto his back. But from that and all other predicaments Garnett recovered instantly, a promising sign that he has recovered from his knee injury that cost Boston a chance at defending its championship last year. "Physically I'm OK,'' said Garnett. "I'd like to be better, and during the course of the season I'm sure I will be.''
Midway through the third the Celtics were up 62-47 and shooting 55.3 percent. Their efficiency dwindled to 44.4 percent overall by game's end, and so did the lead. James had brought the struggling Cavs within 87-83 when Garnett set an extremely high pick enabling Pierce to weave around LeBron and Shaq on his way to a layup with 1:03 remaining. Moments later Pierce canned a fallaway jumper over Varejao to rebuild the Celtics lead to 8.
The Cavs have some work to do. Shaq and Zydrunas Ilgauskas did not look good on the floor together, and their bench was outscored 26-10. Most important, perhaps, is that they'll miss the versatility of West's aggressiveness at both ends of the floor as well as his playmaking. But they are the younger team, and as the year wears on they'll certainly grow better while the Celtics may look older.
Or, more likely, the Celtics will also improve from this night as Garnett grows more comfortable -- he missed an uncontested dunk, apparently because he wasn't quite as high off the floor as he will be later in the year -- and Glen (Big Baby) Davis recovers from thumb surgery and the vise of their defense tightens. "I told them we have to be better than we played today,'' said Doc Rivers.
The Celtics coach was late coming out of his lockerroom after the win. "We were in there watching the ring ceremony,'' he said of TNT's coverage of the Lakers' opening-night championship celebration in Los Angeles. But his players didn't want to end a good night on such a bad memory. "They told me to turn it off,'' said Rivers. "No one wanted to watch it.''
Shaq, Cavs need time to create chemistry Wallace, Celtics already have
CBSSports.com
CLEVELAND -- It was early in the third quarter when Kevin Garnett tried to dunk on Shaquille O'Neal, which by Shaq's count would've been only about the third time someone's done that to him in 17 years. O'Neal contested the shot, and Garnett bounced off his body and landed with a thud.
Paul Pierce didn't flinch, because what he saw next was exactly what he expected.
"I just saw Kevin bounce back up and pound his chest, like typical Kevin," Pierce said. "I've seen him take those type of shots before. We know Kevin is gonna get back up. If he stays down, then I'll worry."
Nothing to worry about on this night for the Celtics, who used the occasion of Shaq's anticipated debut as LeBron James' teammate to record the first win for a road team in this rivalry in 17 games.
It was the most anticipated NBA regular-season game in years, and it had all the trappings -- if not the quality -- of a playoff game in May or June. Shaq & LeBron, the reunited Big Three, the debut of Rasheed Wallace and his Afro. Five certain Hall of Famers on the same court. A measuring-stick game on opening night.
The Celtics' 95-89 victory against the Cavaliers on Tuesday night ultimately will have very little to do with what happens seven months from now in the playoffs. But it taught us a few things. The most important one is this: The Celtics added Wallace, whose smooth shooting and scrappiness fit them perfectly. The Cavs added O'Neal, whose plodding style and fading impact clearly doesn't.
Not yet, anyway. Not even LeBron could deny they have a long way to go.
"If you're not on the same page offensively," James was saying at his locker afterward, "it can be difficult to score at times, no matter who's on the floor."
It's early, but you had to remind yourself as you watched these heavyweights open the season that Cleveland had the best record last year and Boston limped through the playoffs without Garnett. The Cavs, living in abject fear of LeBron's impending free-agent experience, swung for the fences and added Shaq, who needed a season-and-a-half to become effective in Phoenix. The Cavs have time to get this right, but not that kind of time.
"There's some things that we still need to work out," Cavs coach Mike Brown said, "and it starts with me. We're not where we want to be. I felt it before the game, but I still felt we're good enough if we defend and do some of the little things."
With Delonte West held out by what Brown called "the support staff" and GM Danny Ferry to deal with his personal issues, Brown's options were limited. He held O'Neal to 28 pedestrian minutes -- he had 10 points and 10 rebounds and made it clear that he could've played more -- and reverted to his most effective coaching technique when the game was on the line in the second half. Brown played James for the final 24 minutes, explaining afterward, "I wanted to see if the young fella could carry us."
He also wanted to see if Shaq and Zydrunas Ilgauskas could play together -- which they could, but not as long as Brown let them.
Despite 38 points, eight assists and four blocks -- two of them highlight-makers in transition -- LeBron could not carry Cleveland on this night. The Cavs are expected to sign Antonio Daniels, fresh off his buyout from Minnesota, to fortify the backcourt in West's absence. But until all of these "little things" Brown spoke of get resolved, James better get used to nights like this.
"It's really a transition period for us," James said.
It's a transition period for Boston, too -- back to 2007-08. With Wallace (12 points, 3 for 6 on 3-point attempts) and Marquis Daniels (seven points and plus-11 when he was on the floor), the Celtics' bench could be better than it was when they won the title two seasons ago. Garnett doesn't have his lift yet after knee surgery, but his defensive presence helped the Celtics hold Cleveland to .414 shooting from the field. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo looked awfully familiar, too. Pierce had 23 points and took over in the fourth. Rondo had eight points, 10 assists and three steels
"Any time you get a chance to play Cleveland, Orlando, L.A. [Lakers] -- it's definitely a measuring stick," Pierce said. "You want to play the best if you want to be the best. It gives a team confidence to know you can play with anybody in the league."
So on opening night, Garnett took Shaq's best shot and bounced back up. The Celtics cleared an important psychological barrier by finally winning a game on the King's home court. Through one game of 82, the Celtics' addition of Wallace trumps the Cavs' addition of Shaq.
"He just fits the mold of this ballclub," Pierce said. "He's a defensive presence, talks on defense, he's loud, he's scrappy, he can knock down shots. You talk about Celtic basketball, you talk about a defensive squad, a grind-it-out type of team, he fits the description."
Watching Wallace spread the floor with his jump shooting, giving Pierce another option out of pick-and-rolls, reminded me of something Doc Rivers said as the Celtics wrapped up training camp in Newport, R.I., a few weeks ago.
"We didn't upset our culture," Rivers said that day. "We kind of just added to what we had with our core."
This is why the Cavs' addition of Shaq was such a risk -- and a necessary one, all affected parties agreed, if Cleveland was going to get past Boston and Orlando to the Finals. It will take weeks, maybe months, to determine if the move upset the Cavs' culture.
For now, O'Neal wasted no time letting Brown known he was upset about his 28 minutes. When asked if he wanted to play more, Shaq said, "Yeah, I'd rather stay in and look over and tell him I need a rest. But we're still learning each other. He's the coach. You know, whatever the coach says, we always just have to deal with it."
That quote was Shaq's best work of the night. His debut as the man who would bring Cleveland its championship -- the man who would keep LeBron here -- left plenty to be desired.
"We'll be fine," Shaq said. "I've been at it 17 years -- 0-1, 0-5, 5-0, 10-0. Nothing matters unless you win the whole thing."
That part, he understands perfectly.
1 Celtics Show Cavaliers They Aren't On Their Level
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CLEVELAND -- By the hundreds -- no, make that by the thousands -- grimaces, glum looks and blank stares adorned the faces of the Cavaliers' faithful as they streamed through the exit doors of the Q Arena, all of them having borne witness to an inalienable truth.
Their team was clearly and decidedly the second-best on this floor on this first night of the 2009-10 NBA season, and that dream of a championship parade -- a dream that has gone unfulfilled in this Rust Belt city since 1964 -- will end up being no more than a pipe dream if this is how the Cavs are going to measure up against the Celtics this season.
Quite frankly, they don't measure up. Boston was deeper, Boston was more fluid, Boston was more confident. Practically any way you looked at it, Boston was just plain better.
And those were just the cold, hard facts on a night when the winter chill that lasts on the shores of Lake Erie from November and into May hadn't even made it to town yet, a night when folks were struggling to recall when -- or if -- a challenger had made a team coming off a 66-win season look quite so secondary.
Led by Rasheed Wallace, whose first basket as a Celtic was a 3-pointer over the outstretched, lunging arm of 7-foot-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Boston's reserves outscored Cleveland's 26-10 as both coaches used only four reserves apiece.
Wallace (12 points and three 3-pointers) and Marquis Daniels (seven points and two assists) were the catalysts in the second quarter when Boston erased a 14-point deficit, and the Celtics were able to play from ahead throughout the third and fourth quarters led by Pierce (23 points, 11 rebounds), Garnett (13 points, 10 rebounds), Ray Allen (16 points) and Rajon Rondo (eight points, 10 assists, three steals).
And when it got to crunch time in the fourth, the Cavs' defenders were unable to efficiently contain the high picks Boston kept setting, luring Shaquille O'Neal out of the paint and letting Pierce use him as a screen to give himself enough room to create something on offense.
Yes, many of those possessions ended in misses. But with Boston playing the same stifling defense that was its trademark two seasons ago when banner No. 17 was won, the Cavs could never make a sustained finishing push.
Truth be told, the energy to make that push probably got sucked out of them when Boston, trailing 13-2 just 3:06 into the game, got an earful from Rivers during a timeout.
"I told them in that timeout that we wanted the lead back by halftime," Rivers said.
That was exactly what they did, Boston looked like a different team from that point forward, and the life got sucked out of the building before intermission even arrived.
The Celtics' lead grew as high as 15, and reality was staring Cavs' fans in the face.
Their team was not the equal of the visitors who came into their home and acted like they owned it, and with a few exceptions, all those Ohioans left the building feeling a whole lot worse about the chances of winning a title in the waning months before James can become a free agent and bolt town -- a move that could very well usher in another 45 years of misery.
2 O'Neal Gives Garnett A Welcome Back Tap
CLEVELAND -- With one thunderous bump from Shaquille O'Neal, Celtics forward Kevin Garnett spilled to the floor during Tuesday night's season opener in Cleveland.
Not that Garnett enjoys the bumps and bruises that come with crossing paths with O'Neal, but that collision was just another step in his recovery from offseason knee surgery.
Shaq's own little way of saying, "Welcome back, KG."
"That's the Diesel," Garnett said to reporters after the game. "I'm sure if any one of y'all ran up against the Diesel, the same thing would happen."
After missing 25 games last season, Garnett returned to regular-season action with a quiet 13 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots over 33 minutes.
Not eye-popping numbers, for sure, but combined with the emotional lift of having No. 5 back on the court, it was enough to help the Celtics emerge with a 95-89 win over the Cavaliers, another Eastern Conference superpower.
Garnett admitted after the game he's not where he wants to be physically, but -- don't start fretting about the knee -- it's more about getting in game shape.
3 Agent Zero Returns As A Low-Key Hero
DALLAS -- He drove fearlessly to the bucket. He drained a few clutch contested jumpers. He even talked to the media.
It would be a stretch to say that Gilbert Arenas dazzled Tuesday night in the Wizards' season-opening road win over the Mavericks, but he certainly turned in a complete game.
After all those knee problems that allowed him to play in only 15 games over the past two seasons, Arenas announced his return to prominence by ringing up 29 points and nine assists without a lot of highlight-reel material, capitalizing on vulnerabilities he sensed in Dallas' pick-and-roll defense with a steady performance that looks gaudier in the box score than it did in person.
Not that the Wizards mind steady.
"He did his talking on the floor," Wiz coach Flip Saunders said. "Gil showed glimpses of ... that unbelievable burst of speed and his ability to weave through people and score at the rim. I thought he ran our offense great as far as getting the ball to people.
"I think that anyone that had questions about where he's at ... he's just going to continue to get better and better."
Arenas didn't want to say much after Washington's impressive 102-91 triumph over the retooled Mavs -- keeping with his well-chronicled determination this season avoiding the media -- but eventually conceded that this return to prominence "feels great."
"Coach told me to be myself," Arenas said. "Don't let the outside world dictate how I play."
And he didn't.
Logging 38 minutes, Arenas instead managed to control the tempo throughout, with Dallas forced to scramble from behind for much of the evening after the Wizards rung up 35 points in the second quarter. The only displays of his old showmanship were nods in approval after a couple jumpers and teasingly leaving his shooting hand in the air after one late dagger from the perimeter.
In crunch time, Arenas' driving layup and that dagger snuffed out any hopes of a Dallas escape.
As for Arenas' newfound desire to keep his name out of the media game, Saunders said: "He talks to me. That's all that matters ... I think he's gotten to the point that no matter what he says, it doesn't matter, because everybody is going to judge him by what he does on the floor. I think at this point he says, 'I'm going to play and how I play is going to be first line of defense of what's going to be said about me."
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