In Game 5 at “the Q” in Cleveland, a team came away looking awfully bad.  Unfortunately, that team didn’t have a long trip home to think about where they went wrong.

It was a game that Boston definitely felt couldn’t end soon enough.  In the end, the visiting team plastered the Cavaliers, 120-88, to take a 3-2 edge in the most entertaining conference semifinal series of 2010.  The Cleveland Cavaliers suffered their worst playoff lost at home ever.

The contest started on a somewhat promising note for the Cavs.  As we’ve seen him do many times before, MVP LeBron James spent the first quarter getting his teammates involved.  He didn’t score any points, but had four assists in the opening period.  At one point early in the second quarter, Cleveland held a 29-21 lead.  The Cavs seemed to be on their way and then, suddenly, the wheels began to fall off.

The Celtics began an extended run over the next two quarters that put the game out of reach.  Over the second and third quarters, the Celtics outscored the Cavs 60-40.  During this span, Boston received contribution from all of their key players.  Ray Allen (25 points, 6-9 3FG) started scorching the net – and hit five three-pointers over the course of Boston’s game-changing run.  Paul Pierce (21 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists) went to work in the post against some smaller defenders, and even took the ball right at James on a 2-on-1 fast break.  He converted the play and was fouled by James in the process.  Kevin Garnett (18 points) was effective, providing a strong paint presence for the Celtics.  Rajon Rondo (16 points, 7 assists), the huge catalyst for Boston throughout the series, was scoreless in the first half.  But he began to take control of the game in the second half, aggressively attacking the basket and distributing the ball effectively to his teammates.

We’ve seen Cleveland pull this number before, but this time Boston assured that there would be no comeback.  During a timeout near the end of the third quarter, the “wired” segment caught Boston head coach Doc Rivers exhorting his team to keep playing and not to let up.  After several regular season and postseason big lead collapses which allowed Cleveland back into the game, Rivers made it clear that he wanted a 48-minute effort from his club.

Paul Pierce and the Celtics left Cleveland with their third win of the series.

And what about LeBron James?  Well, he obviously had his problems tonight.  James didn’t convert a field goal in the first half.  He never got it going, and finished the game 3-14.  LeBron hit several free throws which lifted his point total to 15, and he also had six rebounds and seven assists.  But when the score is so lopsided in the other team’s favor that the MVP is sitting on the bench with four minutes left in the game, that’s undoubtedly a bad sign.  It’s hard to fathom, but LeBron’s performance looked like he wasn’t fully into the game.  The Q was empty very early tonight. 

The series shifts back to Boston on Thursday night, and we all know the scoop.  Kevin Garnett said that they (the Celtics) need to treat Game 6 as if it were their Game 7.  They want to seal the deal at home, and not make that trip back to the Q.

But Cleveland has to do some work to pick itself up off of the deck to prepare mentally for Game 6.  They certainly didn’t expect the Celtics to wipe the floor with them.  It’s time for Mike Brown and his assistants to do what they get paid to do – coach.

How do you come back from such a loss?  It starts with LeBron, and ends with LeBron.

The MVP has to deliver two MVP-caliber games in a row for Cleveland to have a chance to advance.

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