That's a beautiful trophy LeBron, sorry to ruin your evening

LeBron James celebrated his second straight MVP trophy last night at his home court, Quicken Loans Arena, by laying a stinker in front of the hapless Cleveland fans.

The Boston Celtics blew out the Cavs, 104-86 in Game 2 to tie the Eastern Conference Semifinals series at 1. Game 3 isn't until Friday night back at TD Garden, giving King James and his teammates plenty of time to wonder what happened as they lost the all-important home court.

Six Celtics scored in double figures, led by Rajon Rondo who tied a team playoff record (Bob Cousy) with 19 assists and 13 points. Rasheed Wallace also had his best game in a Celtics uniform, dropping 17 points on a smoking 7 of 8 shooting. Ray Allen had 22 points, Kevin Garnett added his second straight double double (18 points, 10 rebounds), Paul Pierce notched 14 points and Kendrick Perkins had 10 points and nine rebounds.

LeBron had 24 points and seven rebounds but he didn't do anything until it was too late. Boston led by as much as 23 points in the third quarter before Cleveland cut it to 10 (92-82) in the fourth quarter. Only two other Cavs scored in double figures: Antawn Jamison (16 points) and J.J. Hickson (13 points).

The Celts led 26-22 after the first quarter and 52-48 at the half. They broke it wide open with an awesome third quarter (31-12) and were able to withstand's Cleveland's inevitable fourth quarter run (26-21).

Boston shot 51.3% to Cleveland's icy 40.0%. They made five more 3-pointers (9-4), outrebounded the rugged Cavs (43-32) and spread it around much better (30-17 assists).

Nobody thought the Celts had a chance in this series but they've put themselves in great position to at least make this go six or seven games. LeBron and the Cavaliers are a bunch of frontrunners, as proven by their choke job last season in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Orlando Magic. It would be a beautiful thing to see the Cavs fall apart with LeBron due to become a free agent this summer.

Can't wait to watch the Cavs lose in the playoffs, again

I can't pinpoint when it happened exactly but I hate LeBron James now. It's not on a Kobe, A-Rod or Peyton Manning level but it grows by the day.

I used to love him, but somewhere between the constant media coverage and the way he so pathetically went out in the playoffs last spring, I realized that he's a complete fraud, just like most professional athletes.

Yesterday's game of the Cavaliers at the Celtics had basically no meaning for Cleveland (60-17) since they locked up the top seed in the East and the NBA already but it was still deeply satisfying to watch the Celts (48-28) beat a good team, 117-113 at the TD Garden on Easter.

LeBron had his usual absurd performance with 42 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and the Celts nearly choked away a 22-point lead but they held on to put an end to their three game home losing streak.

Ray Allen scored a team-high 33 points, including six 3-pointers, Kevin Garnett added 19 points and eight rebounds, Paul Pierce scored 16, Rajon Rondo had 16 points and 14 assists while Kendrick Perkins had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Boston was up 33-24 after the first quarter and 64-49 at the half but LeBron and Co. are never out of any game since he gets every single possible call (he took 22 free throws, making 14).

Mo Williams scored 17 points for the Cavs while Antawn Jamison (16 points, 10 rebounds) and J.J. Hickson (14 points, 11 rebounds) had double doubles. Anthony Parker and Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 10 in the loss.

The C's took the third quarter 34-32 but LeBron and the Cavs dominated the fourth (32-19). James even had a chance to tie it with a basket but he chose to be a hero and pull up for a 3-pointer with a few seconds left. He missed it, not surprising since that's his one weakness (going 0-for-9 on threes yesterday) and Garnett hit two free throws to let Boston breath easier up four.

If things stay the way they are, Boston and Cleveland will meet in the second round, assuming both win in the first round of the playoffs. I'd still rather see the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals but hopefully that matchup happens this spring.

Enough already

Based on a busy past few weeks (going to a bachelor party in DC, heading to the Cape for a few days), I haven't been blogging lately about the Bruins and Celtics. The real underlying reason however for my lack of posts has been the fact that these teams are too depressing and flawed to mention.

I realize that's no excuse but there hasn't been anything in the last few weeks (months really) to get excited about from either of these painfully flawed squads. The Bruins can't score goals and didn't stand up for themselves when their best offensive player-Marc Savard-was knocked out with a cheap shot last weekend in Pittsburgh. The Celtics just can't beat good teams and sometimes they don't bother showing up against garbage like the Nets or Pistons.

The C's took on the Cavs in Cleveland yesterday and it played out exactly like you'd expect: Boston (41-24) hung around for a while before LeBron James (30 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals) and Cleveland (52-15) decided to start playing. End result: a 104-93 Cavs win.

For once, the Celtics' starting five wasn't too blame. Ray Allen had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists while Kevin Garnett (7 rebounds) and Paul Pierce each scored 18 points. Rajon Rondo added 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Boston's bench was weak sauce to the max with 15 total points. When you play the Cavs, particularly at home, you know LeBron will do his thing. The key is limiting the clowns surrounding him; yesterday Anderson Varejao had 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Antawn Jamison added 15 points and 12 rebounds while Mo Williams (14 points, 6 assists) and J.J. Hickson (12 points) played their roles to perfection.

The Cavs jumped out to a 24-18 lead after the first quarter and held serve at 54-48 for the first half. Boston made a run in the third quarter to tie it up but a long drought buried them. They can hardly comeback against the Wizards so doing that in Cleveland is impossible.

The Cavs took the third (26-24) and the fourth (24-21) as LeBron and his cronies danced non-stop.

Detroit comes to the Garden tonight. If we've learned anything this season, it's that the Pistons will hang around for way too long before the Celts will barely squeak it out. Who knows, maybe they'll lose?

See you next summer Obama

The Celtics let the good times roll last night in our nation's capital, surviving 104-102 against the Wizards for their ninth straight win.

Ray Allen scored 18 points, which helped him go over 20,000 for his career. Rajon Rondo led the C's (18-4) with 21 points (including a sick dunk late in the fourth quarter) and 11 assists. Kevin Garnett had 17 points, Kendrick Perkins added 16 points and 11 rebounds while Paul Pierce notched 12 points.

The Wizards (7-13) can still talk with the best of them but at the end of the day, they're just not very good. And I don't think having uberbozo Flip Saunders on the bench will do anything to change that losing atmosphere.

Gilbert Arenas led Washington with a game-high 25 points and eight assists. Brendan Haywood and Andray Blatche both scored 17, Antawn Jamison had 16 points and Caron Butler was held to 10 points.

The Wizards led 28-27 after the first quarter but Boston looked to blow it open with a 37-22 second quarter. Washington outplayed the Celts in the third (24-19) and the fourth (28-21) but they had nothing to show for it.

Winning was a direct result of good work at the free throw line (26-14) and on the glass (40-34). It wasn't pretty but it was a road victory and those are always tough to come by in the NBA.

The C's visit another underachieving team tomorrow night when they take on the Bulls.

The Wizards (for some reason) Own the Celtics

The Washington Wizards beat the Boston Celtics last night at the Verizon Center, 109-95.

With that, the Wizards won the season series, 3-1. Washington (41-37) is trying to get the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference (and home-court) but wherever they end up, they would most likely meet the Celtics in the second round of the playoffs. In other words, don't worry about it for now.

Paul Pierce led the Celtics (62-16) with a game-high 28 points, seven assists and six turnovers in 37 minutes. KG had 22 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes and Ray Allen was the only other Celtic in double figures with 13 points in 37 minutes.

Antawn Jamison led the Wizards with 27 points and 11 rebounds. DeShawn Stevenson added 14 points while Caron Butler (11 assists) and Gilbert Arenas (4 steals) both scored 13. Brendan Haywood had 12 points and even Darius Songaila posted 10.

The Celts return to the Garden tomorrow night and face the Bucks once again. Should be a hell of a game.