Friday, May 16, 2008

(1) Boston Celtics (3-2) at (4) Cleveland Cavaliers (2-3), 8 p.m.

The Cleveland Cavaliers attempt to force Game 7 against the Boston Celtics in their Eastern Conference semifinal series, as the clubs meet tonight at Quicken Loans Series.
Boston leads this set 3-2. If necessary, Game 7 is scheduled for Sunday at TD Banknorth Garden. The home team has won all five games in this series.
The winner of this series will face the second-seeded Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals.
On Wednesday, Paul Pierce scored 29 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and hit some clutch free throws down the stretch as the top-seeded Celtics rebounded from an early 14-point deficit to beat No. 4 Cleveland, 96-89, in Beantown.
Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Celtics, while Rajon Rondo had 20 points and 13 assists for Boston.
LeBron James scored 35 points on 12-of-25 from the field, but only had two points in the third quarter when the Celtics took control. Delonte West added 21 points for the Cavaliers, who shot a miserable 3-of-16 (18.8 percent) from beyond the arc (18.8 percent) and 28-of-41 (68.3 percent) from the free-throw line.
On the injury front for the Cavaliers, guard Daniel Gibson is expected to miss the next 1-2 weeks of action due to a shoulder injury, possibly keeping him out the remainder of the playoffs.
Cleveland has won three straight Game 6s in the postseason. The Cavaliers are 4-1 at home in this year's playoffs. They have lost three in a row when facing elimination from the postseason.
The Celtics are 0-5 on the road in this year's postseason. Boston, which has split its last four Game 6s in the playoffs, has dropped two of its last three games when it has the chance to eliminate its opponent from the playoffs.
The last time the Celtics clinched a playoff series on the road was in 2002, when they defeated Detroit in Game 5 of the East semis.
This is the fourth time these teams have met in the postseason. Boston defeated the Cavaliers in six games, 4-2, in the 1976 East finals, and in four contests, 3-1, in the first round of the 1985 playoffs. Cleveland knocked out the Celtics in seven games in the 1992 East semis.
Boston has made it to the East semis for the first time since 2003. That year, the Celtics were swept by the New Jersey Nets, 4-0. The last time the Celtics won in this round was in 2002 when they knocked out Detroit in five, 4-1, before losing to the Nets in the East finals, 4-2.
The Celtics survived a scare in the opening round, as they knocked out the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks in seven games. The home team won every game in the series. Boston won its four contests by an average of 25.3 points.
The Cavaliers, who are the defending Eastern Conference champions and knocked out the Wizards in round one, are 3-2 all-time in the semifinals. They defeated the Washington Bullets in 1976, Boston in 1992 and New Jersey in 2007. Cleveland lost in the semis to Chicago in 1993 and Detroit in 2006.

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