(1)
Boston
Celtics versus (4) Cleveland Cavaliers
(64-18) (48-34)
Season
Series: Celtics Won 2-1
Playoff History: BOS def CLE 4-2 1976 Eastern Conference Finals
BOS def CLE
3-1 1985 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
CLE def BOS
4-3 1992 Eastern Conference Semifinals
BOS def CLE
4-3 2008 Eastern Conference Semifinals
BOS def CLE
4-2 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals
CLE def BOS
4-0 2015 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals
CLE def BOS
4-1 2017 Eastern Conference Finals
CLE def BOS 4-3 2018
Eastern Conference Finals
In
order to reach the mountain top of any sport, which is winning that respective
sport’s championship, you more often than not have to go through a certain
opponent in order to get there. That has certainly been the case when the boys
from “Beantown,” who have 17 NBA titles to their credit, tied with the
arch-rivals from “Hollywood” for the most in NBA history and the boys from “The
Land,” whose lone NBA title came in spring of 2016. The two squads face off
again with the boys from “Beantown,” trying to get one step closer to competing
for championship banner No. 18, while the boys from “The Land” are trying to
build on winning their first postseason series without a certain four-time Kia
MVP on the roster in nearly three decades.
For
the Boston Celtics, they entered the 2024 NBA Playoffs as the prohibitive
favorite to win it all based on their league-leading 64 wins and how they
dominated not just the Eastern Conference but the entire National Basketball
Association (NBA).
While
they got a scare in Game 2 of their opening-round series against the No. 8
Seeded Miami Heat, falling 111-101 Apr. 24, 2024 (TNT) after winning Game 1 in
114-94 (ABC) three days earlier, the Celtics dominated the Heat the next three
games, winning by 20 (104-84) Apr. 27, 2024 (TNT) and by 14 (102-88) Apr. 29,
2024 (TNT) in Games 3 and 4 on the Heat’s home turf. They closed the door on
the Heat’s season with a 118-84 triumph to start May (TNT).
Headlining head coach Joe Mazzulla’s squad is the perennial All-Star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who were magnificent in the opening-round versus the Heat, who crushed their championship dreams in the 2023 East Finals in seven games, where they dropped the first three games of the series, including the first two at home.
Tatum
in the First-Round versus the Heat, registered a double-double in four of the
five games, averaging 21.8 points and 10.4 rebounds with 5.4 assists,
overcoming a rough shooting series, connecting on 41.6 percent from the field
and just 29 percent from three-point range.
Brown
was solid leading the Celtics in scoring versus the Heat with 22.8 points and
seven boards on 52.2 percent from the floor but just 32.2 percent from three.
One
Celtic that really emerged in the First-Round versus the Heat was six-year pro
Derrick White, who went from averaging career-highs of 15.2 points on 46.1
percent from the field and 39.6 percent from three in the regular season to
averaging 22.4 points on 57.7 percent from the floor and 47.7 percent from
three.
White
was especially remarkable the final two games of the opening-round where he
scored an overall career-high of 38 points with three block shots on 15/26 from
the field and 8/15 from three. White’s eight threes made in Game 4 not only
tied a career-best in any game, it tied the second most in a Playoff game in
Celtics history.
The
former San Antonio Spur scored 16 points on 6/8 from the field, including 4/5
from three in the opening period and had 22 points on 8/13 shooting and 6/9
from three in the opening half.
Most Points Without A Free Throw Attempt In
Single-Game NBA Postseason History
Chuck
Person (1991) 39 Points W/Pacers
Derrick White (2024) 38 Points W/Celtics
Russell Westbrook (2023) 37 Points W/Clippers
Lou Hudson (1970) 36 Points W/St. Louis Hawks
White
followed up that performance scoring 25 points with five boards on 8/13
shooting, including 5/10 from three. His 13 total triples made in Games 4 and 5,
the most in a two-game span in the storied franchise postseason history of the
Celtics.
The
Celtics took two of the three regular season tilts between them and the
Cavaliers, winning both contests of a two-game set in Boston Dec. 12, 2023
(120-113) and Dec. 14, 2023 (116-107) respectively.
In
the first tilt, the Celtics overcame a 15-point deficit for the victory, going
26/26 at the charity stripe.
The
second win of the two-game set came behind the solid performance by Tatum who
scored 25 points with 11 rebounds and a season-high three blocks. Brown chipped
in with 22 points, five boards and two steals on 10/20 shooting.
Tatum
versus the Cavs during the regular season averaged 26 points and 11.3 rebounds
despite shooting just 38.7 percent from the field but 35.7 percent from three.
The
Celtics will enter this series short-handed as starting center Kristaps
Porzingis, who injured his right calf in the Game 4 victory and likely is out
for this series.
That
takes away not only the Celtics best low-post threat who can also stretch the
floor with his three-point shooting. He averaged 12.3 points, five rebounds,
and 1.5 blocks in four games played in the First-Round against the Heat on 40
percent from three.
“It’s
something, not nothing, so it will take a little bit of time, for sure,”
Porzingis said of is calf injury. “But I’m doing everything I can to speed it
up because I want to be back out there as soon as possible. But understanding,
like, the worst thing would be probably to reaggravate that. So being smart.”
“You
would have to ask the medical people about the specifics of it. I’m kind of
just following the plan. But I’m hoping for a return as soon as I start to get
better.”
Not
having Porzingis though is something the Celtics had to navigate during the
regular season.
Celtics
In
W/Porzingis W/O Porzingis
2023-24 43-14 Record 21-4
120.1 PPG 121.6
109.1 Opp PPG 109.4
49% FG% 48%
38% 3-Pt.% 40%
Overall,
the Celtics counting the Game 5 win versus the Heat are 22-4 without Porzingis
on the season, including 10-3 against teams that made the 2024 Playoffs.
Patrolling
the paint for the Celtics in the absence of Porzingis will be veteran big man
Al Horford, Luke Kornet, and Xavier Tillman, who have proven more than capable
of manning the paint, especially Horford.
Dating
back to the regular season, the Celtics went 27-7 when Horford has started
(26-7 mark in the regular season), which
includes a 15-1 mark in the last 16 times Horford has started.
While
protecting the paint will be important for the Celtics, what will be even more
important will be mixing up their offensive attack from shooting from three and
attacking the basket.
During the regular season, the Celtics outscored their opponents by a league-high 10.7 points from three-point range. In the opening-round against the Heat, the Celtics outscored the boys from “South Beach” by a plus-11.4.
In
Game 1 versus the Heat, the Celtics made a single-game franchise Playoff record
22 threes, going 22/49 on their triple tries. In the Game 2 loss when they
scored just 40 points in the second half, the Celtics shot just 12/32 on their
triples, while the Heat made a franchise single-game Playoff record 23 triples,
going 23/43 from three.
That
means Tatum and Brown along with White, Jrue Holiday, Sam Hauser, and Payton
Pritchard will have to make sure they mix it up offensively from shooting from
three and getting to the foul line through post ups or attacking the basket.
For
the Cavaliers, this postseason has already been a success by earning their
first postseason series win since 2018, the last of the second stint of now
four-time Kia MVP LeBron James when they took down the No. 5 Seeded Orlando
Magic in seven games.
That
First-Round series victory also represented the first without James on the
roster since 1993, where they took down the then New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets
in five games. It was also their first in a best-of-seven series without James on the roster since they defeated ironically enough the Celtics in the 1992 East Semis. The Cavs led by then All-Stars Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Larry Nance, Sr. and then reserve in the late John "Hot Rod" Williams in seven games, ending the Hall of Fame career of three-time NBA champion Larry Bird.
Head
Coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s team last season, after winning 51 games in 2022-23,
lost in embarrassing fashion in the opening-round versus the New York Knicks
4-1.
It
took the Cavs as mentioned seven games to defeat the Magic in the First-Round,
where all four of their victories in the best-of-seven series came in the comfy
confides of Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
“I
mean, this is always, you know, definitely a special moment, you know for this
group in particular whose been through so much this year,” Coach Bickerstaff
said of his team’s series win over the Magic, which also was their fourth
straight Game 7 victory dating back to 2018.
“A
group whose been, you know, left for dead multiple times by a lot of people this
year. You know for them to come together in this moment and figure it out. It’s
more about the group than it is, you know, me. And I think we’re most proud of
that. But you know we’re not done. We’ve got a ways to go.”
Leading
the Cavs into the Second-Round for the first time in six seasons was their
perennial All-Star headliner Donovan Mitchell, who in the Game 7 series
clinching victory (106-94) on Sunday afternoon scored 39 points with nine
rebounds and five assists on 11/27 from the field and 15/17 at the foul line.
He
overcame a rough shooting first half going 3/13 from the floor, including 0/5
from three scoring 15 points on 9/10 at the foul line.
That
performance was on the heels of 50 points on 22/36 from the field in the Game 6
loss at the Magic (103-96) on Friday night (ESPN). Mitchell was the only Cavs
player to score in the final 14 minutes of Game 6 scoring the final 22 points,
including all 18 of the team’s points in the fourth quarter.
To
put this into clearer context, Mitchell was 7/13 from the field in the final
period. The rest of the team was 0/6 from the field with six turnovers.
Things
did not look good for the Cavs in Game 7 as they trailed by as many as 18 in
the first half of Game 7. The Cavs used a 12-4 run to close within 53-43 at the
half and outscored the Magic 63-41 in the second half, where they led by as
many as 14.
Mitchell
starting backcourt teammate Darius Garland, who had 21 points with seven
assists on 10/17 shooting in Game 6 overcame a two-point effort on 1/9 shooting
the first three quarters on Sunday scored 10 points on 5/6 from the foul line
in the fourth quarter.
Caris
LeVert, who struggled for much of the opening-round against the Magic scored 15
with five boards off the bench. Max Strus scored 13, hitting 3/6 from three.
“We
showed a lot of fight,” LeVert after the Game 7 victory. “We showed what we’ve
been showing all year long. We just kept fighting.”
“We’ve
been there several times this year, not just games, but just as a unit. We’ve
been banged up. We’ve been injured. But we got a next-man-up mentality and we
just never quit.”
Evan
Mobley had a strong double-double in the Game 7 win with 11 points and 16
rebounds with five block shots.
In
the Cavs loan victory over the Celtics during the regular season (105-104) Mar.
5, 2024 (TNT), they overcame a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter,
outscoring the Celtics 34-17 in the final period.
Mitchell,
who was on the shelf that night because of a knee injury, and Mobley was lost
in the third quarter because of an ankle sprain, reserve Dean Wade led the way
with 23 points off the bench with eight boards on 8/11 shooting, including 6/9
from three. He scored 20 of those 23 points in the fourth quarter.
Garland,
despite going 6/20 from the floor in that victory, had a double-double with 16
points and 11 assists, including going 3/8 from three. LeVert added 10 points
with five assists and three steals off the bench in the victory.
For
the Cavs to have a chance of pulling off the upset over the mighty Celtics,
they will need Mitchell, who has scored at least 30 points in 23 out of his 51
career Playoff games to not only score at an efficient level but facilitate for
his teammates.
Mitchell’s
23 games scoring at least 30 in his postseason career is one shy of Tatum (24
out of 99 career Playoff games) for No. 9 amongst active players.
In
the two-game set in “Beantown,” where the Cavs went 0-2 as previously
mentioned, Mitchell averaged 30 points with 7.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists on 50
percent from the floor, but just 33.3 percent from three.
While
Mitchell averaged 28.7 points with five rebounds and 4.4 assists in the
First-Round versus the Magic on 45.5 percent shooting, he only shot 25 percent
on his triple tries. He made up for that by getting to the foul line 7.3 times
and shot 82.4 percent on those attempts.
“You
know, we can be better,” Mitchell said after the Game 7 victory over the Magic.
“I hate to be that guy. But like, you know, this was great. This was phenomenal.
A great win. Great series. Great test for us mentally, physically but, you
know, we can and we will have to be better to beat Boston. No disrespect to
Orlando because they’re a phenomenal team with a lot of great guys. But you
know, I feel like this was just big for us as a group. But we really don’t have
time to celebrate.”
He
did close the series in style totaling 89 points, the second most in Game 6 and
7 of a best-of-seven series in NBA Playoff History. Mitchell in last two games
of the series versus the Magic shot 33/63 from the field but was just 5/17 from
three-point range.
Being
efficient with his offense and facilitating for his teammates will be important
for Mitchell and the Cavs because the Celtics will be throwing a plethora of
defenders from perennial All-Defensive selection in Holiday, White, Brown, and
even Tatum at times.
“This
is why I’m here. It’s my job,” Mitchell said following the Game 7 win versus
the Magic on Sunday. “I don’t mean this as disrespectful, but it doesn't really
mean much. We didn’t come in just to win the First-Round. We accomplished one
goal, now we have to do it again. That’s the mindset.”
That
means Garland, LeVert, Strus, Isaac Okoro, Sam Merrill, and Georges Niang will
have to be efficient from the perimeter if they will have any offensive success
against an elite defensive team in the Celtics.
Garland,
who averaged just 14.9 points and 5.4 assists in the opening-round versus the
Magic on 44.9 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three-point range will
need to play with the same offensive aggression that he did in the fourth
period on Sunday.
Like
the Celtics, the Cavs will be without their starting center to start this
series I Jarrett Allen, who has been on the shelf the final three games of the
opening-round with a rib injury that was reaggravated in Game 4 after taking an
elbow from the Magic’s Franz Wagner in the third quarter.
Allen
is coming off a career-year in the regular season behind averages of 16.5
points and 10.5 rebounds on 63.4 percent shooting (4th NBA) and
followed that up with averages of 17 points and 13.8 boards on 67.6 percent
shooting in four games in the First-Round against the Magic.
That
puts the spotlight on Mobley, who had his ups-and-downs during the regular
season. He has shown over his first three NBA seasons the ability to control
the paint on both ends. But he will have to do it at a high level in the Semis
against the Celtics. In the opening-round against the Magic, Mobley averaged
12.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and three blocks on 47.9 percent from the field.
Those stats will have to rise if the Cavs will have a chance to compete against
the Celtics.
He
especially will have to be the Cavs anchor at the defensive end, where they
ranked in the Top 10 in points allowed during the regular season and were No. 2
in opponent’s field goal percentage at 42 percent during the regular season.
“We
know who we are-a team that’s a contender,” Mitchell said. "We did what
we’re supposed to do. In the grand scheme of it all, we just took seven games.
So, for us coming into Boston, I’m pretty sure everybody thinks they’re going
to com in and kick our ass. We just need to be who we are.”
Yes,
they are facing a much healthier team than their opening-round opponent. Yes,
they are without their starting man in the middle. But the Celtics still have
their star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. A strong supporting cast in
Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Sam Hauser, and Payton Pritchard.
The
Celtics also have the most important thing going for them, motivation of
finally breaking through and winning a title, which they have yet to do only
making it to the Finals once (2022) and reaching the East Finals in five of the
previous seven seasons.
They
have proven to be the best team in the league this season. They have the team
to win title No. 18 and it is their time to get the job done. They also have the motivation to play better at home having gone just 14-14 in the postseason at TD Garden over the past two-plus springs. They did go a remarkable 37-4 during the regular season on the home floor.
The
Cavaliers are a good team that has a star player in Donovan Mitchell who has
proven on any given night he can light up the scoreboard. The Cavs have proven
they can slow down some of the best offenses in the league over the past three
seasons.
They
have yet to prove they can score at an efficient rate to keep up with the likes
of the Celtics. Also, their supporting cast outside of Mitchell, Niang, and
Strus, and little used Tristan Thompson has gone this deep into the NBA season.
The
Cavs, after flaming out in the opening-round against the Knicks got over the
hump of winning a Playoff round for the first time in half-a-dozen springs. But
the Celtics have the more balanced squad who as mentioned are on a mission to
win their first title since 2008.
Prediction:
Celtics in five games.
Information,
statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 4/30/2024 1 a.m. ESPN’s
“Sportscenter With Scott Van Pelt” from Washington, D.C. With Tim Legler;
4/30/2024 & 5/2/2024 12:30 a.m. “Inside the NBA,” TNT, presented by Kia
With Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal; 5/1/2024 7
p.m. “TNT NBA Tip-Off,” presented by Carmax With Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith,
Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal; 5/2/2024 1 a.m. ESPN’s “Sportscenter” from
Los Angeles, CA with Linda Cohn and Stan Verrett; 5/5/2024 9:30 p.m. NBATV’s “Playoff
Central Live,” With Lauren Jbara, Steve Smith, and Dennis Scott; 5/5/2024 www.nba.com story, “NBA Playoffs: What To
Expect In Celtics-Cavaliers Series,” By John Schuhmann; 5/7/2024 6:30 p.m. "TNT NBA Tip-Off," presented by Carmax With Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Stephanie Ready; http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameid/401588514; https://www.landofbasketball.com/head_to_head_gl/cavaliers_vs_celtics_game_log_pl.htm; https://www.espn.com/nba/player/splits/_/id/4065648; https://www.espn.com/nba/player/splits/_/3908809/donovan-mitchell; https://www.nba.com/game/cle-vs-bos-0042300201;
https://www.espn.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/cle/cleveland-cavaliers;
and https://www.espn.com/nba/team/stats/_/bos/boston-celtics.
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