Boston (63-31) vs Cleveland (58-35)
The Boston Celtics have surprised alot of fans and media this postseason, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals without two of their best players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. Boston will face their toughest competition to this point of the NBA playoffs starting Sunday, in the three time defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
LeBron James will be looking to make his eighth straight trip to the Finals, while Boston will be trying to make their first appearance since they won the title in 2008. Cleveland had to go seven games to knock off Indiana in the first round, but have had almost a week off since finishing off the top seeded Toronto Raptors by 35 points last Monday to finish off a four game sweep.
Boston also went seven games in first round to beat Milwaukee, before beating the Philadelphia 76ers in five games that ended at TD Garden on Wednesday night. Rookie Jayson Tatum is leading the way at 18.8 points per game. Terry Rozier is averaging 18.2 ppg, while Al Horford is at 17, and Jaylen Brown at 16.9. The big key for the Celtics has also been the return of Marcus Smart and his defensive intensity. Another key in this series will be protecting the home court, as the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland has been a house of horrors the last few years for the Celtics, so it needs to win on their home court where they are 7-0 this season in the playoffs.
James is leading the Cavs averaging almost a triple double at 34.3 points per game, 9.4 rebounds, and 9.0 assists. Kevin Love and Kyle Korver are only other Cavs averaging double digit scoring, at 14.7 and 10.7 ppg respectively. Cleveland won the head to head in regular season over Boston 2-1, including a 121-99 win last time the two teams met back on February 11th in Boston.
Below is the schedule for the series, as well as the predictions from the Eastern Maine Sports staff.
Schedule:
Game 1- Sun 5/13 at Boston 330 pm
Game 2- Tues 5/15 at Boston 830 pm
Game 3- Sat 5/19 at Cleveland 830 pm
Game 4- Mon 5/21 at Cleveland 830 pm
Game 5- Wed 5/23 at Boston 830 pm (if necessary)
Game 6- Fri 5/25 at Cleveland 830 pm (if necessary)
Game 7- Sun 5/27 at Boston 830 pm (if necessary)
Predictions:
Cassidy Lessner, Jeff Hoak- Celtics in 7 games
Marc Calnan, Chris Lessner, Anthony Delmonaco- Cavaliers in 6 games
