Time to get a move on
Rivers runs team harder in practice
CLEVELAND - A lot of time has passed since the Celtics had training camp in Rome and London. But in hopes of getting their focus back after the worst loss of the season, they had a training camp-like practice yesterday.
The Celtics were drilled, 108-84, by the Cavaliers in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series Saturday night. Boston has a 2-1 lead in the series, with Game 4 tonight at Quicken Loans Arena.
Coach Doc Rivers held a tough practice at the arena that lasted about an hour and included scrimmaging, although he claimed, "It wasn't hard, [heck] we went for one hour."
"We [were running], there was no doubt about that. We needed to, though," he said. "We've been doing a lot of film and a lot of [walkthroughs] and I felt like we needed to do a lot of movement today. Sometimes you can run it out of them."
Before practice, the Celtics watched only the first quarter of Game 3. Boston was outscored in the first, 32-13, and never got any closer than 12 the rest of the game. Shot selection, defense, intensity, and throwing the ball into the post more were some of the points Rivers stressed.
"It was the toughest film session I've watched this year," Rivers said. "It was out of character. But we're better than that and they know it."
Forward Paul Pierce said, "It was all about our start, playing better, not turning the ball over, executing, coming out with the intensity we needed to start the ballgames. You can't just ease into the games and expect these guys to lie down, especially on their home court."
The Celtics won an NBA-best 31 road games in the regular season. Boston, however, is now 0-4 on the road in the postseason and 0-3 overall in games at Cleveland.
"We all need this win on the road," Pierce said. "It's like a gorilla on our back trying to get this road win. I'm sure [my teammates] want it as much as everyone in the state of Massachusetts wants it. So, we're going to play better basketball from here on out on the road. I guarantee that."
"I always feel like we're going to get the next one regardless to where we play," Pierce added. "I'm not looking up at history, although we haven't won a [playoff] game on the road. There's always the next one. I feel like we'll always play better the next game. A lot more urgency. A lot more fight."
Double standard?
Pierce recently was fined $25,000 by the NBA for making a "menacing gesture" with his hand during Game 3 of the first-round series vs. Atlanta. While some thought the gesture possibly was a gang sign, the Celtics have described it as meaning, "blood, sweat, and tears." A players' union official said if Pierce appeals the fine NBA commissioner David Stern would be the arbitrator.
Pierce said he believes there has been a double standard toward him, since other players haven't been fined for making hand gestures. Pierce mentioned that Lakers forward Ronny Turiaf made hand gestures that weren't questioned when teammate Kobe Bryant recently was given the MVP award from Stern.
Pierce also said no one questions players, most notably Cleveland's LeBron James, for occasionally displaying rapper Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records hand signal, too.
"You can interpret it any way you want, so that's why I thought it was unfair that I got fined," Pierce said. "Every game someone is doing something with their hands."
Tunnel vision
Just how focused is Rivers on this series? Until he was told about it by a reporter yesterday, he didn't know that Mike D'Antoni had left the Suns to coach the Knicks Saturday.
"I didn't know. Really? That's great. Congratulations," Rivers said. "This is the first I've heard it."
After being told that it happened Saturday, Rivers said, "He's a good coach. It will work wherever he goes. But I'm surprised because I thought he was going to Chicago. But I didn't know that. That caught me off guard. Congrats. Welcome to the East."
Dizzying start
About 75 minutes before Game 3, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown didn't think Ben Wallace would play because of a recent bout with dizziness. But Wallace was cleared after warmups. Because of the loud noises during introductions, he went into the locker room in hopes of not aggravating his dizziness. When Wallace was announced in the starting lineup, however, a confused Anderson Varejao ran onto the floor since he assumed he would play for the absent Wallace. Wallace returned, and had 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks. "There was nothing sinister about it," Brown said. "It was my bad." . . . The Cavaliers practiced at their suburban facility yesterday. The team said Wallace, who also has been dealing with an inner-ear infection and allergies, is day-to-day and Varejao (right knee contusion) is questionable (50-50 chance of playing).
No mental block
Although they were played endlessly on the highlight shows, Celtic Rajon Rondo said James's pair of blocked shots against him did not merit any video review - they were clean. Rondo said, "The [first] one with the backboard? I didn't see him and he came from behind and blocked it." What about his attempted dunk on James? "That was clean, too," Rondo said. Asked if he was trying to send a message to James on the dunk attempt after getting blocked, Rondo replied, "I was just trying to complete the play, really. If I go up and lay it up, he'd probably block it. I wanted to go up strong and attack him. I was just trying to stay aggressive." . . . When Kevin Garnett said Saturday night that perhaps too much attention was paid to James, leaving the back door open, Ray Allen agreed. "There's a fine line, and you have to know when LeBron's attacking and when he's passing," Allen said. James had eight of Cleveland's 29 assists. 