Rondo did not run 'wild' in this game, as he was held scoreless until the third quarter. He ended with 16 points (seven assists), as Ray Allen (25) hand Pierce (21) led the Boston in scoring (it was Pierce's best game of the series). It was a total team-effort by the Celtics, as they shot 55.0 percent from the floor, including 8-of-15 three-pointers. One could credit Boston's defense with holding the Cavs to 88 points (Celtics are now 7-0 this postseasons when holding an opponent to less than 100 points) but one could also point to an absolutely brutal effort by the Cavs as the culprit.

Only Shaq played well (21 points were a playoff-high for him in 2010), with LeBron going just 3-of-14 from the floor for 15 points. The Bulls stopped LeBron's streak of 24 straight playoff games with 20-plus points in Game 5 of Cleveland's first round series but he's now managed to barely average 20 points (20.3) in the Cavs' three losses to the Celtics in this series. James has made just 17-of-47 shots in the three losses, including going 0-of-13 on threes! Jamison's averaged just 13.2 PPG vs Boston after averaging 19.4 vs the Bulls plus PG Williams' play is no longer erratic, it's just downright pathetic. After scoring 20 points in Game 1 (13 of those in the third quarter), Williams has averaged 9.5 PPG while shooting 32.4 percent (11-of-34) the last four games.

The Cavs led 23-20 after the first quarter but the Celtics scored 30, 30 and 40 points over the final three quarters, respectively, with LeBron leaving the game with 3:58 left and the Celtics leading by 27 (many fans had already left). The city of Cleveland last won a major sports championship back in 1964 when the Browns beat the Colts 27-0 in the NFL championship game (how many remember Gary Collins, who caught three TD passes from Frank Ryan?) and the day after Game 5, speculation was ripe regarding LeBron's future in Cleveland.

I won't add to the speculation regarding LeBron's future but will say that his Game 5 effort was pretty sad. His post-game comments were even sadder. "I spoil a lot of people with my play," James said. "When you have a bad game here or there, you've had three bad games in a seven-year career, then it's easy to point that out." He's really gotta be kidding, right? As I've pointed out a number of times these last few weeks, the winner of Game 5 of a best-of-seven series tied at two-all has gone to win that series 128 of 154 times (that's 83.1 percent). Tuesday's game was not "just any game" and LeBron just didn't play poorly, he didn't "show up!"

Boston's Game 5 win chalks up yet another win for the visiting teams in this second round of the postseason. Road teams have now gone 8-1 SU and ATS the last nine games and home teams now find themselves sub-.500 in the second round at 8-9 SU and 7-10 ATS. Home teams fell to 40-22 (.645) since the beginning of the playoffs and 36-26 (58.1 percent) ATS. There have been 30 overs, 29 unders and three pushes after 62 games and those following the Zig Zag theory continue to get 'burnt,' falling to 22-28 ATS or minus-8.8 net games.

Game 6 of the Cle/Bos series is set for tonight in Boston at 8:05 ET (ESPN). A Boston win sets up a rematch of last year's seven-game semifinal series between the Celtics and the Magic (Magic trailed 3-2 but won Game 6 at home and then Game 7 in Boston, 101-82 ), this time in the conference finals. It would also set off a 'fire storm' surrounding the LeBron "situation" which would threaten to knock the never-ending Tiger Woods saga off the front pages of most sports sections. A Cavaliers win sends this series back to Cleveland for a Game 7 on Sunday. Boston is a one-point favorite and the total is 196.

Good luck...Larry

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