Super Stars Too Much for Boston Celtics to Handle in Game 1

The Boston Celtics went into their series against the Cleveland Cavaliers knowing that they would have to deal with the most talented trio in the entire NBA. The Cavaliers are carried by their star power more so than any other team in the league and the Celtics got a real nice taste of what they are capable of in game one.

Led by Kyrie Irving who was absolutely unguardable, the Cavaliers big three combined for 69 points and and 9 of their 13 three pointers made. Irving’s 30 points were a game high and he was most devastating from beyond the arc, shooting 5-9 from three.

Apr 19, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) shoots against Boston Celtics center Tyler Zeller (44) in the first quarter in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Neither LeBron James, nor Kevin Love put up the kind of staggering numbers that Irving did, but they were both more effective in other phases of the game.

Kevin Love actually had one of his worst games just from a shooting stand point. Love shot a measly 5-14 but still managed to put up 19 points, and more importantly he collected 9 rebounds. Love is one of the bigger factors that truly exposed the Celtics’ lack of a presence in the paint.

For a great deal of the season it appeared as though the Cavaliers would be using Love primarily as a three point shooter. Against the Celtics, Love changed gears as only 4 of his 14 shots were from beyond the arc. The Cavaliers recognized that the Celtics would struggle to guard bigs in the paint and even if Love did not shoot well he had as big of an impact as anyone else.

Apr 19, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jared Sullinger (7) and forward Jae Crowder (99) defend a shot by Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) in the second quarter in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

LeBron James statistics also appeared to be a disappointing output. While James was limited to just 20 points he was also borderline unguardable during the game. Perhaps if James was used more he would have had a more impressive output. James avoided falling in love with a jump shot and decided to take whoever was defending him into the paint and every time he did that he had success.

The Celtics have some solid defenders but none of them were any match for LeBron James, Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love.

The Cavaliers may not have all three of their stars explode during a game but tonight they showed why they don’t need all three to take over. Irving had the largest impact and because of how good he was Love and James did not have to carry as much of a load.

Having three players at that caliber is such a tremendous challenge as all it takes is one of them to catch fire and there is very little that can be done to stop them. In game one it was Irving who stepped up and carried the load. While they did not explode like Irving did, both James and Love played stellar complimentary games and did more than enough to secure a victory.

The Celtics will never be able to match the star power of the Cavaliers and it would be unrealistic to expect all three of them to have a bad game. The problem for the Celtics is that it was a combination of Irving playing spectacular and the other two playing solid.

None of the big three had what could be called a bad game and with the likes of Evan Turner and Avery Bradley having one of their worst games of the season the Celtics could not counter the Cavaliers’ big three.

The only way the Celtics will be able to overcome the Cavaliers star power is with a complete team effort and literally no liabilities on the court. Isaiah Thomas had an uncharacteristic 5 turnovers, Turner looked absolutely lost for the majority of the game and Bradley had multiple air balls.

The Celtics lost the turnover battle and were obliterated on the boards. They lost their offensive rhythm for long stretches and with Irving scoring while being perfectly defended, the Celtics never managed to get a hold on the game.

Apr 19, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) drives against Boston Celtics center Kelly Olynyk (41) in the first quarter in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The good news is that the Celtics have an incredible amount of room to improve from their game one performance but they also know that both Love and James were far from their best. The Celtics will have to find a way to account for the Cavaliers star power as they were light years away from their best in game one.

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