Boston Celtics have to expect great response from LeBron James

BOSTON, MA - MAY 13: Boston Celtics Terry Rozier III, (12) Marcus Morris (13) and Jayson Tatum (0) celebrate after Rozier III hit a shot that made the score 96-68, and forced the Cavaliers to call a fourth quarter timeout. Cleveland's LeBron James is in the backGround at far right. The Boston Celtics hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers for Game One of their NBA Eastern Conference Final Playoff series at TD Garden in Boston on May 13, 2018. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - MAY 13: Boston Celtics Terry Rozier III, (12) Marcus Morris (13) and Jayson Tatum (0) celebrate after Rozier III hit a shot that made the score 96-68, and forced the Cavaliers to call a fourth quarter timeout. Cleveland's LeBron James is in the backGround at far right. The Boston Celtics hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers for Game One of their NBA Eastern Conference Final Playoff series at TD Garden in Boston on May 13, 2018. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

The Boston Celtics have to expect a great response from LeBron James after being decimated in game one

The Boston Celtics just had their most complete and dominant victory of the playoffs in a game one dismantling of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Celtics jumped off on a massive run, and the Cavaliers never got it closer than 14.

The Celtics had an uneasy third quarter, where the Cavaliers made some progress. The lead, however, was more than enough and the moment the fourth quarter started they pulled away and shut everything down.

This was one of those games where the Celtics did everything right, and the Cavaliers did not get anything going. Every player on the Celtics knew exactly where they needed to be and exactly what they needed to do, and everyone executed.

The Cavaliers shot miserably, and had no answer for the best defense they have played this season. The Celtics were prepared to disrupt LeBron James, and that is exactly what they did. The rest of the Cavaliers tried to hit enough step back contested jumpers to compensate, but that will never work.

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The Celtics could not feel better about the result of game one, but they also know that they cannot get complacent, and know that they need to get better in every game this series. They cannot sit back and think they they are at a place where they can keep doing the same things to have the same success, because James is going to find a way to throw something off for the Celtics.

This was one of the worst playoff games in recent memory for James, and for all the things he did wrong in this one, you can expect him to be better in game two. It would be the shock of a generation if Marcus Morris outscores James again, and he has to be thinking about how he will get the rest of his teammates involved.

The Celtics clearly found a way to disrupt the Cavaliers, because they could not handle the relentless pressure and energy from the Celtics, and they are not a good enough shooting team to get by hitting contested shots all night.

James is a true mastermind of the game, and as good as this Celtics defense is, you have to expect James to figure out ways to get himself, and his teammates going. It is abundantly clear that James has to instigate everything, because no one else is going to make the rest of the players around them good.

James knows better than anyone how to bounce back in the playoffs, and the Celtics know they have to stay ahead of him. The Celtics are not going to want to mess with something that worked so well, but they have to prepare for a game two where James throws off a lot of what they did so well.

The best part of that game for the Celtics was the consistency. We have seen these crazy runs all season long, but it usually evens out and has the Celtics trying to close in clutch. The Celtics were much better in the clutch than the Philadelphia 76ers, but they do not want to get in that battle with James.

The Celtics want to make sure these games are not within reach for James to steal in the final moments, and that means being prepared to counter everything else that James is going to bring to the table in game two.

We saw the Cavaliers start like this against the Indiana Pacers, and no one is going to question James’ confidence. Everyone knows that James is capable of blowing things up, but he now knows how much more difficult it is going to be against the Celtics.

James will never get anything easy, and he knows that you do not beat the Celtics as an individual. James needs to figure out a way to bring this Celtics team down a notch, because they were truly overwhelming, while at the same time putting his teammates in stronger positions.

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If it were any other player in the league, this Celtics team would be too much to overcome. With James, the Celtics need to be ready for the most difficult game of their season, with a different kind of monster in James in game two.