This was borderline ugly. And for about fifteen minutes, there was no borderline. For much of the first half, the Celtics looked like every dire prediction about them was going to come true: they were bound to let a home game slip away, nobody had the guts to take a shot, LeBron was eventually going to step up and start carving through them.

But late in the second quarter, Ubuntu kicked in. Rajon Rondo, who hadn't really gotten it going this series, got it going in a big way with two straight three-pointers on his way to a monster game: 20 points and 13 assists, and now the Cavs can't leave him alone anymore. James Posey and Paul Pierce found their defensive sea legs and started locking LeBron down, while nobody else on Cleveland stepped up. (Well, Delonte West, but every time he stepped up he got knocked to the floor. We think he took more free throws last night than he did his entire tenure with the Celtics.)

Other heroes: Garnett, of course, whose fallaway was falling and played much more aggressive than he has of late (26 points, 16 rebounds). PJ Brown, who made any Clevelander trying to establish an inside game pay for it (it may be a long time before Sideshow Anderson Varejao sees straight again). Big Baby, with some unexpected second-half sizzle. And Pierce, who carved his way to 26 welcome points, including five straight free throws to ice it. Game 6 in Cleveland (yes, on the road, we know, thanks Dan) on Friday.

Crowd review: Not good. Where was the "Where's Mommy?" chant every time James was at the line? Instead, we got the listless "Cleveland Sucks". Come on, people, show a little imagination.

Red Sox review: Not good. Sure, Jon Lester made a solid start, and Varitek and Lowell homered, and Manny flashed a little Gold Glove-quality leather, chasing down a Kevin Millar shot in left field. But the bullpen choked up the lead; Craig Hansen put a couple Orioles on base, and Hideki Okajima brought them all in, surrendering a grand slam to Jay Payton for tyhe 6-3 loss. Speaking of awful bullpen performances, the Brewers kick off interleague play this weekend, dragging Eric Gagne (who wasn't involved in last night's Brewer meltdown) into town. But we'll get to welcome back Gabe Kapler, so there's that. We'll learn as much as we can about the Brew Crew for tomorrow.

Image by Lorianne DiSabato, from Flickr photos tagged "Bostonist".