J-Speaks: 2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals Preview

A true rivalry is what makes pro sports special, especially rivalries that take place in the postseason. That will be at the forefront of the Eastern Conference Semifinals as the team whose mantra is “We the North,” will try take down the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions. The other Semifinals tilt will feature the 20^th postseason meeting between two of the historic franchises in “The Association.” Here is the 2018 J-Speaks Eastern Conference Semifinals preview.

(1)   Toronto Raptors versus (4) Cleveland Cavaliers

Season Series: Cavs won 2-1

For the last two seasons, the Toronto Raptors have had their season end at the hands of four-time league MVP LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. A six-game setback in the Conference Finals to the eventual NBA champions and a four-game sweep in the Semis last season. A change in offensive philosophy; a serious emphasis by the All-Star backcourt of Atlantic Division champions and consistent play by the bench will be the difference in the third straight postseason tilt. 

For the Cavs, reaching the Semis has been a journey in of itself. They got passed the No. 5 Seeded Indiana Pacers by the skin of their teeth in seven games, thanks to continued astonishing greatness of one LeBron James, who authored three 40-plus point performances in the opening-round against the Pacers. He saved the best for last with 45 points, nine boards, seven assists and four steals in the 105-101 win in Game 7 on Sunday afternoon. Those 45 points tied him for the fourth most in a Game 7 in NBA postseason history and represented the second most in a victory. James also became the first player to record 45-plus points in multiple Game 7s. 

To further bring into context what James did to get the Cavs past the Pacers in seven games, he authored his 22^nd career postseason game of 40-plus points, the second most in NBA history to the 38 of the great Michael Jordan. He has had 102 career playoff games scoring 30-plus points, which is also second in NBA postseason history. He also stands as the all-time postseason leader in steals with 399 and counting. To put a cherry on this sundae, James is the only player in NBA postseason history with 200 career playoff games scoring 20 points or more. 

It is no wonder that he said in his postgame presser after the Game 7 victory in referring to the Cavs’ opponent in the Semis the Raptors, “I’m burned right now. I’m not thinking about Toronto right now, until tomorrow. I’m ready to go home. I’m tired. I’m ready to go home, so.”

For the Cavs though, they are not in the Semis if it were not for the James’ supporting cast, who has been much maligned going back to the regular season. 

Center Tristan Thompson, who got the start in Game 7 had a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. All-Star forward Kevin Love, who has been up-and-down during the First-Round series against the Pacers had 14 points on Sunday, hitting 4 for 8 from three-point range. George Hill, who was shelved for Game 4, 5 and 6 with back spasms had 11 points, six boards off bench in 19 second half minutes, going 9 for 11 from the free throw line. 

“I’ve always been a guy when my number is called just got to be ready,” Thompson who had a total of three points and six boards in the first six games of the series said to NBA on TNT/NBATV’s Allie LaForce at his locker after the win.

Thompson, who was told by head coach Tyronn Lue that he was starting Game 7 on Saturday added by saying, “Obviously it’s tough not being out there with the fellas, but while I was not playing on the court, I’m trying to be the best vocal leader on the bench and the sideline. Getting other guys up, keeping the energy going. So, I got my opportunities just got to come in and be myself.” 

While that effort the supporting cast by the Cavs to start this week got them by the opening round, which was the first time James’ career a team of his went the distance in the Quarterfinals, it will not due against a deep, talented, and hungry Raptors team. 

The roster makeover at the Feb. 8 trade deadline has put risen the Cavs back to championship level status. 

If they have any hopes of continuing their quest to represent the East in The Finals for a fourth straight season, the newcomers from that trade, which includes Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance, Jr., along with JR Smith, Kyle Korver and Thompson must play at a consistent high level for head coach Tyronn Lue to get past the Raptors. 

Speaking of those Raptors, head coach Dwane Casey’s squad put together it’s best regular season in franchise history with 59 wins. The dynamic All-Star backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan had stellar seasons again, but unlike the past two seasons where they lost as mentioned in the postseason to the Cavs became lest reliant on those two and as a result became better team offensively, defensively, statistically, and stylistically. 

DeRozan said to ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump” host Rachel Nichols this third postseason tilt against the Cavs, with homecourt advantage a “great challenge.” 

“A great opportunity to play against a great team. To be able to you know, have a rematch of years where we went down to them and as a competitor you want that next opportunity to be able to redeem yourself.

Lowry added by saying, “To be the best you got to beat the best and that’s what you got to do, and that’s what were prepared for.”

Stellar seasons by reserves of CJ Miles, Delon Wright, Jacob Poeltl, Fred VanVleet, and Pascal Siakam, along with starters Serge Ibaka, Jonas Valanciunas and rookie OG Anunoby have made a huge difference for the Raptors, as well as the fact that they became a much better three-point shooting team, ranking third during the regular season in attempts and fourth in makes, and one that has emphasized more ball movement and less isolation plays. 

To bring the value of the Raptors supporting cast into context, Lowry’s understudy in VanVleet has registered 23 of his 35 games scoring 10 points or more in the second half of this season. 

Along with becoming a better three-point shooting team, the Raptors also were solid at defending the three. During the regular season, the opposition managed to take 29 percent of their shots from distance, ranking second in the NBA. In the Raptors six-game First-Round victory over the No. 8 Seeded Washington Wizards, the boys from DC managed to get just 26 percent of their field goal attempts from the three-point arc. 

That will be very key for the Raptors against the Cavs, who in Semis a season ago outscored them by 25.5 points per game from distance, attempting 41 percent of their shots from long range and making 47 percent of those tries. 

The other key for Raptors is can Anunoby, whose been a solid wing defender all season do against James? Prior challengers in DeMarre Carroll and current Houston Rocket PJ Tucker failed miserably. 

In the three regular season matchups, James again torched the Raptors with averages of 29.3 points on 57 percent from the floor, 40 percent from three-point range and 80 percent from the free throw line, his best marks against any opponent individually this season. 

Lowry and DeRozan on the other hand averaged 17.7 and 14.5 points per game respectably in the three regular season tilts against the Cavs this season. 

If the Raptors are going to have any chance of vanquishing their arch rivals, they will need the star duo to be more productive scoring wise and they will need to find a way to win in Northeast, Ohio, where they have lost all six times to the Cavs at Quicken Loans Arena in their postseason history. 

In two late regular season matchups at “The Q,” the Raptors had double-digit leads on the Cavs, but lost both games. They had a 79-64 lead at intermission in their Mar. 21 tilt at the Cavs, but were outscored 68-50 in the second half, to fall 132-129. James led the way with 35 points, and 17 assists. 

In their second matchup in Cleveland 14 days later, the Cavs surpassed the Raptors again 112-106, behind the 27 points of James, with nine boards and six assists. 

To emphasis the issues the Raptors have had against the Cavs and “King James,” he pounded his chest in that April matchup after making a shot saying, “I’m still a problem!” 

Lowry said to Nichols about those two setbacks that the Raptors learned that, “They can compete with anybody.” 

“We had chances to win both games and we just didn’t play well. We just didn’t finish them.” 

DeRozan also said of those setbacks, “For 40, 44 minutes out the game we played how we wanted to play, but them last few minutes we just got to be able and understand tightening up, especially going against a great player like LeBron.” 

Unlike the previous two postseason tilts the Raptors had against the Cavs, they come into this one the deeper, talented, and more rested team. That said, James is playing at level never seen by a guy in his 15^th season. At some point, you the Raptors have to look the defending three-time champs and James in the eye and have confidence they can beat them. If not now, when? 

Series Prediction: Cavaliers in 7 games.

(2)   Boston Celtics versus (3) Philadelphia 76ers

Regular Season Series: Celtics won 3-1

The best NBA rivalry today is Warriors versus Cavs, with both teams meeting in The Finals three straight Junes. Prior to that, we had heated postseason rivalries of the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons of the late 1980s, and early 1990s. The New York Knicks versus the Indiana Pacers in the 1990s, early and late 2000s. Then the legendary battles of the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers of the 1960s and 1980s. Those rivalries pale in comparison to the legendary tilts between then Syracuse Nationals, now Philadelphia 76ers versus the Celtics, who will be meeting for the 20^th time in the postseason, the most between any two teams in NBA history. 

To put how legendary this rivalry is, 41 future Hall of Famers have matched up in the 19 prior meetings in the playoffs. On 13 occasions, they fought for a birth in The Finals. 

One of those occasions came when Celtics Hall of Famer John Havlicek stool an inbounds pass from the late Hal Greer of the Sixers. 

Another moment came when the late great Wilt Chamberlin and the Sixers took down 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell and C’s in five games, putting an end to the Celtics hot streak of eight straight titles. 

The year after that, the Celtics and Russell paid back the Sixers as they became the first team to overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win on route to Russell winning his first title as player/coach. 

The rivalry continued into the 1980s as the Celtics and Sixers met in the postseason from 1980-82 as the three-part chapter of Hall of Famers Larry Bird and Julius “Dr. J” Erving took centerstage with the Eastern Conference crown at stake. 

Two of the three Conference Finals tilts went to the Sixers, winning in five and seven games respectably. They lost however to the Lakers and Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson in The Finals. 

The Celtics beat the Sixers in the 1981 Conference Finals in seven games, in what many considered the greatest postseason series in NBA history. Games 4, 5 and 6 were decided by two points. Games 1 and 7 were decided by a single point and the Celtics rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the series. 

In the third tilt that the Sixers won one year later, winning the deciding Game 7 120-106 on May 23, 1982 at the historic Boston Garden, the unthinkable took place as the Celtic fans chanted the instructions for the Sixers in The Finals. “Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!” That did not happen as the Sixers and “Dr. J,” fell in six games to the “Purple and Gold.” 

The Sixers and Erving met the Lakers again one year later, and they finally got their hands on the Larry O’Brien trophy, taking down “Magic” Johnson and his mates in a four-game sweep. 

The Celtics and Sixers met one more time in the Conference Finals in 1985, with the Celtics winning in five games and just like years ago when the C’s clinched the series thanks to a steal by Havlicek, it was Bird make the theft on Sixers guard Andrew Toney in the finals seconds to send the Celtics back to The Finals. They lost to the Lakers in six games.  

The rivalry was renewed again in Quarterfinals in 2002 with Hall of Famer Allen Iverson of the Sixers and future Hall of Famer Paul Pierce and All-Star Antoine Walker staring for the C’s. 

The series went five games, with the Celtics being on the winning end thanks to nine three-point connections in the fourth period, an NBA record and Pierce scored 46 points in the 120-87 win on May 3, 2012. 

A decade later, the teams would meet again in the Semis with star power on the side of the Celtics with Pierce, All-Star lead guard Rajon Rondo and future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett. 

The Celtics needed seven games to hold off the then No. 8 Seeded Sixers, who were led by current Warriors swingman, and 2015 Finals MVP Andre Iguodala and current New Orleans Pelicans All-Star guard Jrue Holiday in a tilt where neither team won two games in succession. 

The latest postseason matchup between the C’s and Sixers will features both teams consisting of a top rookie, a great second-year player and even more talent players that has both teams set up to not only be serious contenders in the East over the next few years, but even more clashes in the postseason. 

The Sixers closed the season with a franchise record 16 straight wins and made their first appearance in the postseason after a four-year absence. Head coach Brett Brown’s squad ousting the No. 6 Seeded Miami Heat in five games in the First-Round. 

Leading the Sixers to 20 wins in their last 21 games dating back to the regular season is the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year in Ben Simmons, who averaged 18.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, nine assists and 2.4 steals versus the Heat. 

Also assisting in the Sixers first postseason series win since 2012 was first time All-Star Joel Embiid, who missed the last eight games of the regular season and the first two games of the opening round because of a broken orbital bone on Mar. 28 was a force the final three games of the series garnering double-doubles the last two games versus the Heat. 

While Embiid had an impact the final three games of the series, he only shot 41.7 percent from the field and committed a total of 15 turnovers while adjusting to wearing a protective mask. If he can knock off that rust and be the force he has shown during the regular season, the Sixers could make their first Conference Finals appearance since 2001. 

What has put the Sixers over the top to close the regular season and in the postseason to this point has been the play of veteran sharp shooter JJ Redick, Dario Saric, Robert Covington, Ersan Ilyasova, T.J. McConnell, Marco Bellinelli, Amir Johnson, and rookie Markelle Fultz. 

They especially have been great in terms of their marksmanship from three-point range. In two of their first three victories against the Heat, they made a playoff franchise record 18 three-point field goals and five different Sixers attempted at least 17 triples in the series. 

Those open triples were the result of consistent ball and body movement that has been a staple of the Sixers, especially during their previously mentioned winning streak to close the regular season. 

That ball and player movement will be key in the Semis against the Celtics who in their four-game regular season series held the Sixers to 95.3 points on 39 percent from three-point range and were ranked No. 1 in the NBA during the regular season in defending the three-point line, holding the opposition to 33.9 percent from distance.

The best word to describe the C’s during the regular season has been resilient. They lost free agent acquisition in All-Star Gordon Hayward minutes into the season with a broken ankle. They lost All-Star lead guard Kyrie Irving in March due to a second knee surgery. 

All head coach Brad Stevens team did was just play harder on both ends of the court. The likes of Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, rookie Jayson Tatum, Marcus Morris, and Aron Baynes have risen their games and the steadiness of All-Star Al Horford has been very valuable. 

In the Celtics Game 7 clinching win, Horford led the way with 26 points, tying a playoff career-high with eight rebounds on 13 for 17 shooting on Saturday night.

“He’s been a stabilizing force since he’s walked into our locker room,” Stevens said in his postgame presser on Saturday night about Horford. “He provides stability for all of us. You know, whenever you’ve lost other guyss to injury and people aren’t available. When things aren’t going your way, he’s likely been through it, and he provides a calming influence to the other players.”

One player that has displayed complete calmness in the playoffs for the C’s has been Irving’s understudy in Rozier who authored three 20-plus point games against the Bucks, with the last being a playoff career-high of 26 points with nine assists and six boards. Tatum had 20 points with six rebounds himself and five assists. 

“He’s just always bringing us together, tonight he did a great job of just every timeout just keeping us poised,” Rozier who had 47 assists and just 11 turnovers in the series against the Bucks said about the leadership Horford showed throughout the series. 

Rozier, who had zero games of 20 or more points in the first 22 postseason games added by saying Horford made sure that even when the Celtics were pulling away from the Bucks in Game 7 that they did not get, “too happy.” 

“Not too high. Not too low. So, he’s just been a big help the whole series and making sure us young guys stay in the moment.”

The Celtics needed all of that and then sum to get passed the No. 7 Seeded Milwaukee Bucks in seven games in the opening round, and the return of Marcus Smart the last three games of that series gave them a big lift. 

That focus, grit and determination will have to continue if they plan to slow down the Sixers. That will be even tougher with Brown being out for the start of the series with a sore hamstring that he injured in the 112-96 win in Game 7 on Saturday night. 

What gives the Celtics some hope to win this series is that they have homecourt advantage, which they took advantage of winning all four of their games at TD Garden. 

The Sixers however won both games in the Heat’s house were 80 percent of their starting quintet are in their first playoff run ever. 

This series will provide long time fans a glance back to the glory days of this great rivalry, while also providing a glimpse of the possibilities of what could be for both teams the next several years. 

The winner will be one step closer to representing the East in The Finals and gain bragging rights in this great rivalry. The team that comes out on the losing end when these two matchup ends up being changed. 

In the Sixers final matchup back in the day against the Celtics in The Finals before they as it is referred to now “blew up” the team by trading Wilt Chamberlin to the Lakers, they lost to the Celtics in the Conference Finals in 1968.  

The last game the Celtics played before Russell came to town, they lost to the then Nationals 1956 in five games in the Conference Finals in five games. 

The last time the Sixers were in the postseason before they began “The Process” that netted them Simmons and Embiid was in 2012, where as mentioned earlier they lost to the Celtics in seven games. 

History of this great rivalry will be revisited. Stories from back then will be told over the next two weeks of this series. New memories will be made. The new players will be authoring the start of what will be many of hopefully their own stories and above all, the fans as well as the players and coaches will take center stage in both “Beantown” and the city of “Brotherly Love.” 

Series prediction: Sixers in 7 games.

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 4/29/18 1 a.m. edition of TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal, with report from Ros Gold-Onwude; 4/29/18 11 p.m. edition of ESPN’s “Sportscenter,” with Neil Everett and Stan Verett; 4/29/18 6 a.m. edition of NBATV’s “Gametime,” with Casey Stern, Vinny Del Negro and Brendan Haywood, with report from Allie LaForce; 4/30/18 3 p.m. edition of “NBA: The Jump” on ESPN with Rachel Nichols, Kevin Arnovitz and Paul Pierce, with story by Keith Olbermann; The Team-by-team and Year-by-Year Review sections of the “2006-07 Official NBA Guide,” by the Sporting News; www.nba.com story, “Series Preview: Toronto Raptors Get Another Shot at LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers,” by Steve Aschburner; www.nba.com story, “Series Preview: New-School Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers Re-Start Playoff Rivalry,” by John Schuhmann; www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/statistics/_/name/cle/cleveland-cavaliers; www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/statistics/_/name/tor/toronto-raptors; www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/statistics/_/name/phi/philadelphia-76ers; www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/statistics/_/name/bos/boston-celtics; www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/statistics/_/name/no/new-orleans-pelicans; www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/statistics/_/name/gs/golden-state-warriors; www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/statistics/_/name/utah/utah-jazz; www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/statistics/_/name/hou/houston-rockets; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Boston_Celtics_seasons.