5 Things to Keep an Eye on: Cavaliers at Celtics, Game 1 - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Cav-Celtics Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 1 this evening.

1. Three On One: Let's not kid ourselves. You're not tuning in to watch Kendrick Perkins, or Anderson Varejao, or Wally Szczerbiak. You want to see Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett versus LeBron James. And typically, a three-on-one superstar match would be lopsided. But as evidenced by the Atlanta series, Boston is not firing on all cylinders right now, and Paul Pierce, who is supposed to be the offensive juggernaut for the Celtics, has been "eh." Conversely, LeBron is averaging a lot of points but still hasn't had a game where you pile on the superlatives. The Celtics are superb at home, but the Cavs are playing a bit better than the Hawks. Still, with Rajon Rondo covering West and Gibson, LeBron is going to have to pull one of his Kingly acts to get the win tonight.

2. West. No, the Other West: Delonte West was huge for the Cavs in Round 1. West had 10 points and 5 assists per game against the Wizards. He has to continue that against the Celtics. The frontcourt is where the battle will be fought, but the backcourt is where it will it will be won. If Rondo and Allen limit the Cavaliers perimeter shooters and keep West from producing baskets, the Celtics can make quick work of them, LeBron or no LeBron.

3. Clean Glass: The Cavaliers are the third best rebounding team in the playoffs. The Celtics? The 11th. Granted, the Cavaliers don't have the athletic freaks of nature that Atlanta did, but they do have more consistent rebounders and defenders in the paint. The Celtics have the bodies and should be able to get that kind of advantage, but, like many parts of their game in the first round, they just didn't for whatever reason. If the Cavaliers can create second opportunities consistently, that will help to counter Boston's stellar defense.

4. Don't Hold Out Hope For A Barnburner: The Celtics held their opponents to just 41.9% this season. The Cavs to just 45%. And they've both either maintained or improved in the offseason. This is not going to be a pretty series. There won't be lots of accurate shooting. This is going to be a slugfest with some superstars thrown in. So if you love defense and missed tap-ins, this is your kind of game. Honestly, though, the matchups should be interesting, with the Cavs' secondary scorer being guarded by Garnett and primary scorer guarded by Pierce.

5. Unnecessary Swagger: So Boston pops its jerseys and runs it mouth after beating the 8th seed in 7 games. What will they do if they beat LeBron, even in a Game 1? Expect a lot of KG screaming and Pierce jersey popping. These guys live to exhibit which jersey they wear. I'm not anti-Boston, mind you, I'm looking forward to seeing this team, play, you know, like it should. But at the same point, you have to wonder how much bad karma they're building up by acting like world-beaters after beating the Atlanta Hawks.