Preview: Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers Game Two

With game one behind the Boston Celtics it is time to look forward to how the team can improve and look to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in a crucial game two of the series.

Very few have given the Celtics even a remote chance against the Cavaliers and if they fall down 2-0 there may be no believers left. The Celtics played no where near good enough in game one and they will need to vastly improve in order to back to Boston with the series tied.

There are a lot of Celtics players that will need to step up their game.

First there is Isaiah Thomas. Thomas had a frustrating game one because he had all kinds of success scoring the basketball. Thomas was all over the court and most importantly he was driving to the rim and doing a lot of his damage at the free throw line.

The problems for Thomas came when he decide to dish the ball out on his drives, rather than try to finish at the rim. It is not just that Thomas had 5 turnovers, it is that during the majority of those turnovers Thomas looked completely overwhelmed. The Cavaliers started bringing more help into the paint and as a response Thomas tossed out lazy and ill advised passes that were intercepted on more than one occasion.

Apr 19, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) drives between Cleveland Cavaliers center Timofey Mozgov (20) and forward Kevin Love (0) in the third quarter in game one of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Thomas will have to maintain his aggression as the Celtics will always lean on his scoring but he needs to clean up the turnovers. The Celtics offense functions with ball movement and efficiency and Thomas destroys both of those with his wild passes.

The Celtic with the most room for improvement is probably Avery Bradley. It was not as though Bradley was taking shots and they were just barely rimming out. Instead, Bradley was continually missing the hoop entirely. Bradley shot a pathetic 3-10 and was even worse going 1-6 from beyond the arc.

Having 6 of 10 shots being from beyond the arc is uncharacteristic of Bradley. While he has been a three point threat all season long he has usually opted for more of a mid range game. Changing the depth of the shots may help Bradley but he has a lot more improving to do from game one.

Apr 19, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) steals the ball from Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley (0) 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

One of the only experienced Celtics looked nervous and overwhelmed. Bradley never found a rhythm so look for him to revert back to his mid range back so that he can return to his prime form and get comfortable.

Even Turner was nothing short of disastrous in game one. His decent stats do not even touch the surface of what his performance was like. He looked completely lost on offense, played with absolutely no flow and was making bad decisions all game long.

It is difficult to fault Turner for being completely useless at defending LeBron James in the post but that was a key problem in the game. Turner will have to find a way to positively impact the game or Brad Stevens is going to have to look elsewhere.

Apr 19, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) drives to the basket against Boston Celtics guard Evan Turner (11) 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

Stevens gave Turner a team high 34 minutes which shows how committed he is to establishing Turner. I would certainly not expect much less of Turner in this game as he is clearly a huge part of Stevens’ plan. That being said, losing this game leads to desperation and Turner cannot afford to have even one quarter that is as bad as the first game.

As Important as it is for the individual players to improve, now is the time for Brad Stevens to make necessary adjustments.

Kyrie Irving was the main reason the Celtics lost game one but I would not expect the strategy on him to change very much. The Celtics fell victim to an unguardable player, whose offense was going to be better than any defense that may have been put on him. Irving hit a lot of contested shots and if he is going to hit shots when he is perfectly defended there is very little Stevens can do to stop him.

The most glaring problem for the Celtics was the lack of any decent rebounding presence. The Cavaliers are tough enough to beat with one opportunity but when they are dominating second chance points the Celtics will have no chance.

Jared Sullinger saw limited minutes in game one but you can expect that to increase. Sullinger is a threat from three point range but he is also arguably their best player in the paint. Sullinger will be able to get up and hopefully slow Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love down on the boards.

The other option the Celtics have to improve their rebounding is Tyler Zeller who saw his minutes shrink down to 15 in the first game. Kelly Olynyk got hot and is a more dynamic scoring threat but Zeller’s ability to rebound should lead to more minutes in game two.

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

The biggest advantage of Zeller is that it is not as if he is a liability on offense. Zeller has the highest shooting percentage on the team and even though he does not have the ability to shoot the three he can cause a lot of problems for the defense.

While the Celtics have plenty of room to improve the scariest thought about game two is that LeBron James had a below average game one. James was not needed to carry the load and he took a stop back as Irving took over.

While Irving may not be capable of sustaining his shot making ability from game one, James will be there to pick up the slack if the shots are not falling. The Celtics really have no individual option for guarding James so they will have to disrupt him with their team defense.

The Celtics will have to find a way to win the turnover battle and win the rebouding battle and if they can do that they will have great chance at escaping Cleveland all tied up.

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