For the Boston Celtics, Game 2 was exactly what the doc ordered.

Head coach Doc Rivers had his veteran team motivated, and they came away the victors with a 104-86 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Quicken Loans Arena.  The win tied the Celtics and Cavs at one game apiece.

The two rivals played a relatively close first half, with the road team ahead at intermission, 52-48.  But Boston used a 31-12 third quarter to decisively shift the game into their favor, giving them a 23-point advantage at the end of three.  Early in the fourth quarter, Boston extended the lead by 2 points to provide Cleveland with the biggest deficit that it has faced at home all season (91-66, 25 points).

As they did in the final regular season meeting between the two teams, the Cavaliers put together a furious run in the final quarter.  Cleveland countered with a 16-0 run that brought them within 10 points with about four minutes left in regulation.  For the Cavs, it proved to be a case of too little, too late as the Celtics hit enough buckets down the stretch to keep them at bay.

After such a tense Game 1, this game was lopsided in just about every possible aspect.  But what went wrong for Cleveland? 

1.  Something Bothering LeBron James – It was pretty obvious that the newly-crowned 2009-10 NBA MVP didn’t have his track shoes on tonight.  To be quite honest, he almost looked disinterested for the majority of the game, and very much like a – gasp – regular player.  Don’t get me wrong – the Celtics played good defense on LeBron.  There were a couple of occasions that James was putting a move on his defender, and after two dribbles a defender would come to help.  This timing by the Boston defense was impeccable, because it proved to be enough time to keep LeBron from exhibiting his usual strong burst to the basket, but not enough time for him to find his other open Cavalier teammates.  The main defenders responsible for James – whether it was one of the Allen’s (Ray or Tony), Paul Pierce or even Kevin Garnett – did a nice job of keeping him at arm’s length and away from the front of the rim.  However, James has seen many gimmicks to try and control him.  He turned it on a bit late in the fourth, but make no mistake about it – James did not look like his normal self at all.

K.G. got several easy buckets in the paint on Monday night.

2.  Antawn Jamison Guarding Kevin Garnett? – Since I’m local to the Washington D.C. metro area, there’s one thing that a know without a shadow of a doubt – - Antawn Jamison, toughness and defense are three words that cannot be used in the same sentence.  Perhaps I should have sent (Cleveland head coach) Mike Brown some footage from Comcast Sports Net.  I don’t know whose idea it was to put Jamison on former MVP Kevin Garnett – but whoever it was should get the game ball from the Celtics.  On four different occasions in the lopsided third quarter, Boston cleared out the weak side and point guard Rajon Rondo threw lob passes to K.G.  Four lobs led to 4 made field goals for Garnett, and Jamison couldn’t even manage to commit a foul on any of them.

3.  Rondo Gone Wild - Anyone paying a modicum of attention to the Celtics this season wouldn’t be startled by the following statement.  Rajon Rondo is the best player on the Boston Celtics.  The first time All-Star has been the best player (on both teams) in the series so far.  He played a stellar Game 1 (27 points, 12 assists), and then came back with a masterful performance tonight (13 points, 19 assists).  Rondo’s ability to get others involved led to a total of six Celtics scoring in double figures.  Someone – I’m looking at you Mo Williams – is going to have to keep him from getting into the paint at will.

4.  Rasheed Banging the Three’s – In addition to all of the Celtic starters hitting double figures in points, Rasheed Wallace had a great night.  ’Sheed was 7-8 from the field including three from downtown, totaling 17 points in only 18 minutes.  Getting that type of production from anyone on their bench early in the game (almost all of Wallace’s damage was done in the first half) is a big complement to your starters.  It enables the team to rest its heavy-minute players, which is extremely important to a veteran team like Boston.   

5.  Boston Won the Three-Point Contest – The Celtics got multiple three-point makes from Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Rasheed Wallace, contributing to a 9-19 effort from beyond the arc.  Conversely, the Cavs were only 4-21 from deep.  Much of Cleveland’s shooting struggles can be attributed to James’ rough night – he finished with a 2010 postseason low four assists.