As the Cavs dominated, humiliated, and danced all over their arch nemesis from Boston yesterday, the Celtics were left with a bitter taste in their mouths. Particularly, Ray Allen, who promised that his team will not forget this loss (and the way Cleveland acted when the result was no longer in doubt) should the two teams meet once again in the postseason.
Allen also admitted that his elbow to Anderson Varejao’s groin was a cheap shot, but according the Celtics All-Star, the situation called for it. From the Plain Dealer:
“It was a dirty play, he threw me to the ground,” Allen said. “I’m not going to lie, I’ll always stand up for myself and anyone on this team. It’s in my nature. They’re not going to just walk all over us. I had to make a stand. It was embarrassing for us to get beat this way playing on national TV.”
It got worse in the fourth quarter when James, Williams and West were shown on the videoboard dancing to the Cavs’ latest tradition, playing 1980s Rick Astley hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” complete with music video in blowouts. Allen didn’t like that either.
“I’m always going to remember that,” Allen said. “If I beat a team, as happy as I may be in victory, I’m always going to stay humble…We play each other too much. Those are just great motivational thoughts for me.”
The best reaction, though, came from Varejao: “He doesn’t like Brazilians or maybe he doesn’t like my hair,” Varejao said. “You don’t hit a man in his [groin]. But I’m OK.”
Can we simply forego the formalities, and just get the Eastern Conference Finals started already?
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