Allen

CLEVELAND –– For starters, the Celtics need to take care of business right out of the gate tonight.

Slow starts have dragged the Celtics down in the last two games of this series and in three of the four games they’ve played on the road in the playoffs. Ragged starts in the Atlanta series were eventually overcome and led to exciting finishes with the Hawks on top. That was not the case at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday as the Cavaliers raced to a 14-4 lead and led by 32-13 after a grisly opening quarter.

“Of the four playoff games we’ve had on the road, we’ve done it in three of them,” said coach Doc Rivers. “Good shots or bad shots aren’t going in and that carries over to the defensive end and that can never be. The residual of missed shots led to bad energy on the defensive end.”

Asked if the Celts can somehow trump a slow start, Rivers said he’d like to see “either a good start or not getting off to an awful start. (Saturday) had nothing to do with a good start. It was just an awful start so we can’t get off to that, for sure. I was concerned coming in because they got off to a good start in Game Two.”

The difference in the Celtics’ play at home versus on the road is startling. That’s been the case from the opening tip. At Atlanta, the Celts fell behind by nine points in the first quarter of Game Three and blew a 13-point lead to trail by five after a quarter in Game Four. In Game Six, the Celtics led by 12 after one but watched that lead melt to a single point at halftime.

The Cavs’ hot start Saturday night wasn’t unexpected. They needed to put a fresh spin on the series and rode the excitement of being at home for all it was worth. That the Celtics didn’t offer much resistance was shocking.

“I recall saying back in Boston that they were going to hit us in the first quarter and their crowd was going to be crazy but we had to sustain that and once everybody calmed down, we’d go back on the attack,” Ray Allen said. “Then they attacked us and that was it. You have to bring your own intensity and you have to be ready to stave off any run that they have and be ready to hit them back when they attack you.

kmcnamar@projo.com