He goes the last three playoff games without playing.

Now Cleveland coach Mike Brown goes to Zydrunas Ilgauskas ith 3:41 left in the first quarter.

Wow. And Ilgauskas hits first shot. That’s the side note.

Here’s the mainbar.

LeBron James hasn’t scored, has four assists, three rebounds and has taken only two shots. As for Rajon Rondo. His line is worse: 0 points, 1 rebounds, 0 assists for the Boston Celtics.

As for Shaquille O’Neal, he has seven points. The Cavs went to him early and he’s 3-for-3 from the line.

Rajon Rondo is averaging 17.9 points and 11.4 assists for Boston in the playoffs.

1. Cleveland coach Mike Brown and Boston coach Doc Rivers fielded more questions from the media before Game 5 at Quicken Loans Arena about Rajon Rondo than about LeBron James or James’ injured right elbow.

2. When asked what current or former NB A player does Rondo remind him of, Brown said Rondo may be in a class all bnly himself.

3. People were in the visitor’s watching him lay on his back while trying to stretch.

4. When asked if Boston would change their offense if James guards Rondo, Rivers said the Celtics wouldn’t.

5. Want some stats? In the playoffs, Rondo is leading the Celtics in scoring at 17.9 points a game, in assists at 11.4 and is econd in rebounds behind Kendrick Perkins at 7.1.

 By the way, Perkins is 6-foot-10 and 265 pounds. Rondo is 6-1 and 186 pounds.

Rajon Rondo has had his way with Cleveland's guards so far in this Eastern Conference semifinals series.

This is guy is not Derrick Rose or Chris Paul.

He’s not Deron Williams or Steve Nash, either.

What Rajon Rondo is, though, is a guy the Cleveland Cavaliers better figure out or else the Boston Celtics are going to make them sweat this series to the brinking point.

Rondo had 29 points, 18 rebounds (he’s 6-foot-1 folks) and 13 assists in Boston’s 97-87 home win to even this Eastern Conference semifinals series at 2-2.  Game 5 is Tuesday in Cleveland, Game 6 is Thursday in Boston and if there is a Game 7, it will be Sunday in Cleveland.

Honestly, Cleveland doesn’t have any guards who can check Rondo. So the Cavaliers have to either one, figure Rondo can’t continue playing that way or two, make him score 40 and shut everyone else down.

Well, Cleveland does have a third option.

Push the pace. Get it in the 100s. Make the older Celtics keep up with them.

His elbow may be hurting, but it didn’t stop LeBron James from scoring 35 points Saturday night in leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 101-93 win past the Boston Celtics in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at Quicken Loans Arena.

That’s a nice way to go into receiving the MVP award later today at the University of Akron. James won’t need help hoisting the trophy, but he got some much needed help Saturday night.

Mo Williams dropped in 20 points that included a one-handed flush on Paul Pierce to turn the game around. The Cavaliers were down 11 before Williams dunked on Pierce and they wound up taking a 79-78 lead at the end of third quarter.

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That right elbow of LeBron James in the white sleeve there is the talk of this series.

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers (4-1) vs. (4) Boston Celtics (4-1)

Series schedule: Game 1 – Today at Cleveland 8 p.m. ET (TNT); Game 2 – Monday at Cleveland 7 p.m. ET (TNT); Game 3 – Friday at Boston 2 p.m. ET (ESPN); Game 4 –Sunday 5/9 at Boston 3:30 p.m. (ABC); Game 5 – Tuesday 5/11 *at Cleveland TBD (TNT); Game 6 – Thursday 5/13 *at Boston TBD (ESPN); Game 7 – Sunday 5/16 3:30 p.m. *at Cleveland (ABC). *If necessary.

Series keys: For Cleveland: Stop Rajon Rondo from penetrating (When he does, Boston’s offense opens up to the fullest). 2. Establish inside presence (Make Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett work defensively). 3. Speed up the pace (Test the older legs of the Celtics by scoring in transition). For Boston: 1. Test LeBron James early (If his elbow is good, find out early by going to the rim on him and guarding him tough). 2. Pick and pop (Put Shaquille O’Neal in situations where he has to stop Garnett or Rasheed Wallace from hitting jumpers. 3. Defy age (Many say the Celtics are too old. Prove them wrong.).

Series outcome: Cavaliers will win the series in six games, but if Boston splits the first two, it’s going seven.

Series stories

1. LeBron creating elbow room – Boston Globe
2. Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James’ ‘elbow‘ is talking on Twitter – Cleveland Plain Dealer
3. Cavaliers, Celtics just don’t like each other – Toronto Star

The Boston Celtics will not have power forward Kevin Garnett for Tuesday's Game 2.

It’s official.

Kevin Garnett has been suspended for Game 2 for elbowing Miami forward Quentin Richardson in Boston’s Game 1 win Saturday against the Heat.

With a 1-0 first-round series lead, the Celtics will likely lose Game 2 on Tuesday, but to me, Miami doesn’t have enough to beat the Celtics in a seven-game series.

Yes, Boston is old.

Yes, their best player is a point guard in Rajon Rondo, who for all his talents, is not the guy who’s going to hit enough big shots to make his team a championship contender.

Yes, their coach,Doc Rivers, is mulling over the idea of returning next season and may not even do so because his kids are reaching a point in their lives as athletes he wants to be a part of.

With all that being said, the Celtics are still better than the Heat so yes, they’re going to win this series. 

Then the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to mash the Celtics, but that’s for another blog post.

He's not an All-Star anymore, but Allen Iverson is still one of the game's most popular players.

19 games. 1.4 ppg and  4.4 assists per game.

Those don’t look like All-Star type numbers, but that’s what Allen Iverson has delivered this season.

Isn’t startling, but the fans love him. So much so that they voted Iverson a starter for the upcoming All-Star game next month in Dallas.

I go back and forth on this.

Iverson is a future Hall of Famer, but he’s on the down end of his career and seemingly quit on Memphis before rejoining the 76ers this season.

However, he isn’t playing too bad for Philly and other than Rajon Rondo of Boston, what other guard in the East is worthy of being a starter in the All-Star game?

I’m waiting.

“That’s what happens when you start busting somebody’s (expletive). They get upset like that and resort to bush league tactics.” – Eddie House after Boston’s Game 2 win.

Eddie House didn't back down from Rafer Alston on Wednesday night.

If scoring a game-high 31 points off the bench wasn’t enough Wednesday night, Eddie House decided to give Boston’s Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Orlando Magic some juicy juice.

House not only helped the Celtics tie the series, he called out Orlando guard Rafer Alston, who slapped him in the head after House hit a jumper on him, in a post game interview done by TNT NBA analyst David Aldridge.

Now let’s recap.

Whether it’s Dwight Howard elbowing Samuel Dalembert or Rajon Rondo hitting Brad Miller in the chops, the referees have had their hands full trying to keep the rough play at a minimum in the playoffs. Now NBA commissioner David Stern recently said the referees are 90 percent right, maybe up to 93 percent.

So it will be real interesting to see if Alston is suspended for Game 3 in Orlando.

Should he?

Derrick Rose denied Rajon Rondo and the Boston Celtics in Game 6.

Joakim Noah made the play.

Kirk Hinrich almost became the goat.

Then Derrick Rose saved the day.

Rose blocked Rajon Rondo’s short fading jump shot with 12 seconds left and then scooped up the loose ball to help the Chicago Bulls outlast the Boston Celtics in tonight’s 128-127 Game 6 home win to force a decisive Game 7 Saturday night at Boston.

So who’s ready for a Game 7 Saturday night?

After playing seven overtimes so far in this series, don’t think the Celtics are even though it will be in Boston. However, the defending NBA champions will likely come with just enough to outlast the Bulls.

Maybe.

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The hometown crowd loved how Paul Pierce came through in the clutch for the Boston Celtics in their Game 5 win Tuesday night against Chicago.

With Game 5 between the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics tied 104-104 in overtime, drama was sure to ensue.

It did.

With the series tied 2-2, Boston took the ball out on its end. Ray Allen was on the bench after fouling out in the fourth quarter. Kevin Garnett has been out all series due to injury. So somebody needed to make a shot.

Paul Pierce made the shot.

With the ball in the middle of the floor, Pierce dribbled right and hit the 17-foot jumper over the shorter John Salmons to put Boston ahead with 3.4 seconds left.

Two questions I have here:

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