There was no bite to this cast
When it came to support, Cavaliers hit a big snag
The sign taped to a wall near LeBron James's stall in the visitor's locker room at TD Banknorth Garden seemed to say it all. It was a summons to attend a team chapel service at 2:25 p.m., an hour before yesterday's seventh game of the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Celtics and Cavaliers.
It read: "Thankful! What have you done for me lately."
Yesterday, the sermon could have served as James's plaintive plea to his teammates.
What have you done for me lately?
As valiantly as he played in an epic shootout with Paul Pierce, James could not get a single witness from the rest of Cleveland's starters, who, save for Delonte West, seemed to take refuge in the Cavaliers' witness protection program and watched as King James went off for a game-high 45 points on 14-for-29 shooting from the field (and 14 for 19 from the line).
As for the rest of King James's Court? Well, the "other guys," as his fellow starters euphemistically came to be known during the series, wound up scoring a combined 26 points on 7-for-20 shooting in the 97-92 loss. West was the only other Cavalier in double figures with 15 points on 4-for-8 shooting (including 2 for 4 from the 3-point arc).
"The tough thing for me was watching LeBron put the team on his back and be a leader like he was doing tonight and we allowed it to get away," said Ben Wallace, who had 3 points (making just one field goal, a backdoor dunk that pulled Cleveland within 61-58 with 5:14 left in the third quarter), 4 rebounds, and 5 fouls in 30 minutes.
"He worked hard for it," Wallace said. "He came out and gave it everything he had. It's just disappointing, for me, that we didn't get him a win."
For Wally Szczerbiak, who along with Wallace, West, and Joe Smith joined the Cavaliers in February in one of the biggest deals in franchise history, the loss was particularly painful. Szczerbiak was held scoreless (0 for 3 from the field, 0 for 2 from the arc) in 15 minutes.
"They're a good defensive team and took us out of what we wanted to do," Szczerbiak said of the Celtics, who held the Cavaliers to 45 percent shooting (30 of 67) and forced 14 turnovers that led to 16 points.
"We had to resort to LeBron bringing the ball up the floor most of the game and playing pick-and-roll with them. They did a good job."
In the last three games of this series, James outscored "the other guys," 112-93. He converted 35 of 77 shots over that stretch, compared with 28 of 79 for the rest of Cleveland's starters.
"It's not just getting out of his way," West said. "It's learning how to get out of the way and get open and be ready to take your shot or be ready to make a play if the ball comes to you."
Asked what disappointed him most about the loss, James remained the consummate team leader, refusing to throw anyone under the bus.
"I always want to win," James said. "I'm not disappointed in any of my teammates, or any of my coaching staff. I have always been a winner, and I am a winner.
"You're just disappointed that the season is over, you work so hard throughout the offseason, and prepare yourself through the preseason and the regular season to get to the postseason."
All James knew was that the Cavaliers, who advanced to the NBA Finals last year before being swept by the Spurs, need to improve in order to keep pace with the rest of the league's elite teams.
"If that means some personnel changes need to happen, then so be it," he said. "We know we need to get better."
Asked specifically what changes he was recommending, James said, "I don't know. I'm not thinking about it right now, what we need personnel-wise.
"But we need to get better. The teams around us in this league are continuing to get better. New Orleans is very good, the Lakers got better, Boston got better, Detroit got better, Orlando got better, so we need to continue to get better."
Witness that.
Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.
