Paul Pierce scored 24 points, no Cleveland Cavalier scored more than 15 and the Boston Celtics romped over the league's worst team 112-95. Boston opened up a 24-point lead late in the second quarter; the Cavaliers never made a serious run. The Celtics' starters blew out their counterparts; the Celtics' bench easily outplayed their counterparts. This was a game between one of the league's best and one of the league's worst, and despite the Celtics' penchant for dropping games against weak opponents, that just wasn't going to happen here.
Cavaliers Vs. Celtics: Paul Pierce Leads Boston Blow-Out Over Cleveland
The storyline to follow was the season debut of Kendrick Perkins, who hadn't played since Game 6 of the 2010 NBA Finals. He had torn his ACL in the Finals, and was forced to miss a deciding Game 7 won by the L.A. Lakers. Perk played 17 minutes in relief of Semih Erden, who had been starting in place of a dinged-up Shaquille O'Neal. Needless to say, despite Boston's impressive frontcourt depth, Perkins is a vital piece that can only help.
In this match, he scored seven points and six rebounds; his value, however, comes almost completely on defense, and it’s hard to judge defense against a team with an offense as awful as that of Cleveland. Better tests will come later this week against Portland and Phoenix.
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