Eastern Conference Finals, PREVIEW

The Celtics have done it. They held off the Wizards last night, in a fantastic atmosphere and playoff intensity game at the TD Garden, and have faith in their team, their fans and the organization, that they can also pull off an upset and beat the defending champs in a seven game series. It took them seven long games to defeat the Wizards which was not easy because they were lucky Wall was having a really bad game, and could not help Beal score points and orchestrate the offense, especially when needed in the fourth quarter. The Wizards bench was also non-existing in yesterday's game scoring only 5 points, while by himself Olynyk had 26 points. To not take anything away from the Celtics, Kelly Olynyk was incredible last night, in the fourth quarter and together with the struggles of Wall, the great decision-making and shot-making ability of Isaiah Thomas and the passion they had as a team to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals was what got them there. Now LeBron James and the Cavaliers are a different story, a story that will be analyzed furthermore.

The Celtics were the last team to beat LeBron James before the Finals back in 2010; the question is can they do it again? Home court advantage can be a lethal weapon for the Celtics if they handle it right, but for LeBron that will not be a problem, as he has stated that he prefers to play in a different arena away from home. The Cavaliers have been rested for ten days and will be ready to advance to their third consecutive NBA Finals. The question for the Celtics is the matchups. Bradley will have to guard Irving, while Crowder gets LeBron, and Isaiah Thomas will guard JR Smith. This could be tricky for the Celtics, and the Cavaliers could take advantage of the matchups. Love will get a lot of touches down low against Johnson/Olynyk who will have to play a lot better defensively to guard him efficiently and make him miss shots. Fast break points are a weakness of the Celtics which they have to fix in these two days before Game 1, in particular against a team like the Cavaliers who like to run on the open court and make threes. Love is known for his outlet passes to LeBron. This is something that has to be limited, or not done at all if the Celtics want to hold on to the Cavaliers and actually challenge them for a place in the NBA Finals.


Offensively the Celtics don't have problems. Bradley had to step up and make big shots, Isaiah Thomas must get help from his teammates when doubled teamed in order to avoid careless and silly turnovers. The Cavaliers are not a great defensive team, ranked 18th in the regular season. Their defensive inconsistency is what the Celtics have to find and attack with possibly big runs (especially at the end of quarters). LeBron James has been in these situations before, he knows the environment will be hostile, pumped up, and ready to go, so he knows better than anyone else how important Game 1 is, especially when playing on the road. The Celtics have to realize that as well, and play like they did yesterday in order for them to win Game 1 and have the upper hand in the series. Defensive rebounding and overall rebounding has been a problem for the Celtics all year long, but also in the playoffs and during the seven-game series with the Wizards. They have to sacrifice their bodies if they want, again to challenge the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers will shoot a lot of shots, get some easy baskets off turnovers, off fast break points but also get second shot opportunities with offesnive rebounding. Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson are known for their rebounding skills and will try to get that second chance. The Celtics cannot allow that!

Finally, the series tips off on Wednesday at 8.30 PM - ET, in a sold-out TD Garden, LeBron wanting to go to his 7th straight NBA Finals, while the Celtics want to pull off the upset and advance to their first in six years NBA Finals. Nevertheless, it will be an exciting series as the first two games are in Boston, and they have to get at least one if they want a chance. If they want to actually have the upper hand in the series and have a legit chance of making the NBA Finals, the Celtics have to get both games in Boston, on Wednesday and Friday.

My Prediction:
Cavs in six