To say that you could hear a pin drop at Quicken Loans Arena during the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s latest playoff blowout loss is an understatement. The Cavs for the second consecutive game were shown what intensity and heart are all about, but the problem was it was shown to them by the aging team they were supposed to dispose of in the second round of the playoffs – the Boston Celtics.

Now, after a stunning and shameful 120-88 loss to the Celtics, the Cavs face the reality of a long summer full of questions and fear of a team that hasn’t been able to step up when they needed to the most. This despite lots of regular season wins the past two seasons that now seem to be as shallow as the kiddie pool at your local community park.

The stunning aspect of Tuesday night wasn’t that the Cavs lost, we’ve seen that before. What was stunning was the disappearing act LeBron James pulled in very well what could be his final home game as a Cavalier. He was awful all night, going 0-for-4 in the first half with just 8 points, all from the free throw line as the Cavs trailed 50-44 at half.

Then in the second half he as well as with the rest of the team played rather uninspired, James ending with 15 points on the night, and the crowd, not waiting to stick around and watch the blowout of a team they felt was going to finally end the streak, headed for the exits early.

The game turned on the Cavs in the second quarter, as they lead by as many as 8, but the Celtics made a loud and strong statement with a 16-0 run that put them up 8, and they would never trail again. It was as if the Cavs were watching their season go quickly down the drain, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

The rest of the box score was just as ugly for the Cavs, with Shaq O’Neal leading the team with 21 points, Anthony Parker putting in 14, and the bench adding 20 points with Anderson Varejao and Zydrunas Ilgauskas each with five points.

Boston was led by Ray Allen with 25, hitting 6 three pointers. Paul Pierce put in 21, and Kevin Garnett had 18. With all the focus on stopping Rajon Rando, he was held in check, which is even more disturbing with him scoring just 16 points that the Cavs looked like a tired team ready to make summer vacation plans.

Game 6, possibly the last of the season, will be in Boston Thursday night at 8pm.