PA SPORTSTICKER NBA PLAYOFF PREVIEW
         (BOSTON-CLEVELAND)



*Celtics seek first road win of playoffs*
-----------------------------------------


Boston at Cleveland                                  8:00 pm EDT
Eastern Conference semifinals			Celtics lead, 2-0


CLEVELAND (Ticker) - The Boston Celtics have had no trouble
winning at home.  Now they need to prove that they can excel on
the road.


The top-seeded Celtics look to forge a three-games-to-none lead
against the fourth-seeded Cavaliers when the Eastern Conference
semifinal shifts to Cleveland on Saturday.


Boston held serve with their home-court advantage, winning the
first two games of the best-of-seven series at TD Banknorth
Garden, including an 89-73 victory in Game Two on Thursday.


Paul Pierce scored 19 points and Ray Allen broke out of his
slump by scoring all 16 of his points in the second half on
Thursday as the Celtics claimed a 2-0 lead in the series and
improved to 6-0 at home in the postseason.


"It was a total team effort," Pierce said.  "We kept the
turnovers down, we rebounded the ball, we made the extra pass
and then we got the job done defensively.  That's true Celtic
basketball right there."


However, Boston will need an even better effort on Saturday as
they are 0-3 on the road in the playoffs and haven't won in
Cleveland since 2004.


"We're focused on trying to get this first one in Cleveland,"
Garnett said. "Defense obviously has to be there.  We're going
into a hostile building and they play very well (at) home.  Some
way, somehow, we have to carry this energy over (to
Cleveland)."


But, if LeBron James continues to struggle, the Cavs may not
make it back to Boston again this season.


James scored 21 points during Game Two but needed 24 shots to do
it and turned the ball over seven times.


The five-time All-Star is 8-of-42 from the floor with 17
turnovers in the  series overall.  Just as in Game One when he
made only two baskets, James was forced to take a host of
jumpers on Thursday, missing on too many for Cleveland to have
any chance.


"They're very aggressive, they're very good," James said.  "The
shots that I normally make haven't fallen the last two games.
The layups that usually go down for me are just jumping out of
the rim and the jumpers that usually go down for me are just not
going down for me."