After dispatching the Miami Heat in 5 games, the Celtics have been waiting for the Cavs and Magic to settle their series, which finished with a Game 7 on Sunday. The Celtics have been off for 5 days healing and resting up while the Cavs have had just 1 day off since closing out their first round series. The Celtics had a week off before Round 1 as they waited for the Heat to finish up in the play-in tournament.
The Celtics won the series 2-1 between these two teams in the regular season. The Celtics won 120-113 on December 12 in Boston and they won 116-107 once again in Boston on December 14. The Cavaliers won 105-104 on March 5 in Cleveland, after coming back from a 22 point 4th quarter deficit. Dean Wade scored 20 points in the 4th quarter to lead the Cavaliers to a win that would break an 11 game win streak for the Celtics.
This is the first meeting between these two teams in the post season since 2018 when the 4th seeded Cavaliers beat the 2nd seeded Celtics in 7 games. In 2017, the 2nd seeded Cavaliers beat the 1st seeded Boston in 5 games. In 2015, Cleveland beat the Celtics in the 1st round in a sweep. In 2010, Boston won in 6 games in LeBron James last year in Cleveland before moving to Miami. In 2008, when the Celtics won the title, Boston won in 7 games in the 2nd round. Previously, they met 3 times with Boston winning in 1976 and 1985 and Cleveland winning in 1992.
The Celtics will be without Kristaps Porzingis at least to begin this series, and possibly for the entire series as he deals with a calf injury that he suffered in Game 4 of Boston’s first-round series against the Heat. They went on to easily beat the Heat in Game 5 without Porzingis with Al Horford getting the start in his place and Luke Kornet picking up the back up minutes. I expect Horford to start in this game as well. The Celtics are 22-4 without Porzingis, including the playoffs.
The Cavaliers have already ruled out 3 players and have a 4th listed as questionable. Dean Wade, who was the hero of the Cavaliers lone win in the regular season, has been out since March 8 with a knee sprain and will remain out for this game. Ty Jerome is out as he recovers from ankle surgery. Craig Porter, Jr has missed 7 games with an ankle sprain and is out for this game.
Jarrett Allen played very well in Cleveland’s first 4 games against the Magic averaging 17.0 points, 13.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks. He took a hit from Franz Wagner in Game 4 and sustained a rib injury that kept him out of the last 3 games of that series. He is listed as questionable for this game and will be a game time decision. His presence at center would make the Cavs a much tougher team should he be cleared to play.
Probable Celtics Starters
Celtics Reserves
Oshae Brissett
Sam Hauser
Svi Mykhailiuk
Payton Pritchard
Jordan Walsh
Jaden Springer
Xavier Tillman
Neemias Queta
Luke Kornet
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Injuries/Out
Kristaps Porzingis (calf) out
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
Probable Cavaliers Starters
Cavaliers Reserves
Damian Jones
Caris LeVert
Sam Merrill
Georges Niang
Marcus Morris, Sr
Tristan Thompson
Two Way Players
Emoni Bates
Isaiah Mobley
Craig Porter, Jr
Injuries/Out
Ty Jerome (ankle) out
Dean Wade (knee) out
Craig Porter, Jr (ankle) out
Jarrett Allen (ribs) questionable
Head Coach
JB Bickerstaff
Key Matchups
Derrick White vs Donovan Mitchell
Mitchell is averaging 28.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game in the playoffs. He is shooting 45.9% from the field and 25.0% from beyond the arc. Against the Celtics this season, he averaged 30 points, 7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1 steal while shooting 50% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc. Slowing Mitchell down will be key to getting a win for the Celtics and it is likely that White, Holiday and Brown may all get a chance to try to defend him.
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Jrue Holiday
Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images
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Darius Garland
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Jrue Holiday vs Darius Garland
Garland and Donovan have formed a very good backcourt for the Cavs. In the playoffs, Garland is averaging 14.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. He is shooting 44.9% from the field and 40%from beyond the arc. Against the Celtics this season, he averaged 20.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, 7 assists and 1.7 steals while shooting 40.3% from the field and 43.5% from beyond the arc. As with Mitchell, slowing him down will be key to winning this game.
Honorable Mention
Al Horford vs Evan Mobley
Of course, if Jarrett Allen can play, he would be the matchup here. Mobley is averaging 12.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 3 blocks in the playoffs. He is shooting 47.9% from the field and 27.3% from beyond the arc. He played in only 1 game against the Celtics in the regular season and finished with 4 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. He shot just 25% from the field but didn’t hit a 3. The Celtics need to try to keep him out of the paint and off the boards.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense is always a key to winning games and especially in the playoffs when defense becomes even more important. The Cavaliers are a good defensive team with a 104.9 defensive rating, which is 4th in the playoffs. The Celtics have a defensive rating of 100.7, which is 3rd in the playoffs. The Celtics must continue to make defense a priority in this game and they have to play that tough defense for 48 minutes and not let up. The Cavs are going to play tough defense and so the Celtics will need to match or exceed their defensive intensity.
Rebound – Next to defense, rebounding is the next biggest key to winning. Much of rebounding is effort and desire and when the Celtics put out the extra effort on the boards, it usually carries through to the rest of their game. The Celtics are averaging 45.6 rebounds per game in the playoffs (1st) while the Cavs are averaging 40.0 rebounds per game (14th). In the first round, the Celtics won every game they out-rebounded the Heat and lost the only game the Heat had more rebounds than them. The Celtics must work harder to grab rebounds than the Cavaliers do.
Bench Play – In the regular season, the Celtics had the top ranked bench play with a net rating of 6.2. They have done even better in the playoffs with a net rating of 9.6 for their bench in the first round. The Cavs bench was 15th in the regular season and improved to 11th in the playhoffs with a net rating of 3.2. The Celtics bench loses a lot with Al Horford moving into the starting lineup. They will need Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet to play well when they come into the game.
Effort and Focus for 48 Minutes – The Celtics need to stay focused for 48 minutes. They have to play with effort. The Cavs play hard and so the Celtics need to match that effort and play even harder. The team that plays harder and is more aggressive is usually the team that comes out on top and that also gets the better whistle. The Celtics also have to stay focused. They have to focus on taking good shots and making them and on playing as a team and making the right play every time. They also have to keep that effort and focus up for 48 minutes with no let up and no collapse.
Three Point Shooting – The Celtics led the league in 3’s taken in the regular season, taking 42.5 per game. In Round 1 of the playoffs, they took 39 per game (2nd). The Cavaliers were 8th in the regular season, taking 36.8 threes per game. Against the Heat, the Celtics took 38.5 threes per game (2nd) while the Cavs took 30.8 threes per game (14th). The Celtics were 1st with 14 made 3’s per game while the Cavs were last with just 8.6 made 3’s per game. The Celtics are 58-7 this season when making the same number or more 3’s than their opponents. They are just 10-12 when they make fewer 3’s than their opponents. The Celtics need to make their 3 pointers and at the same time, defend the perimeter well to limit the 3 point shooting of the Cavs.
X-Factors
Home vs Road – The Celtics worked hard in the regular season to get home court for the playoffs. They lost only 4 games at home in the regular season. However, they have struggled at home for some reason in the playoffs, They are just 14-14 at home in the last 4 post seasons. The only game they have lost in these playoffs was at home. The Celtics need to protect home court and use the crowd support for motivation. The Cavs had to travel after closing out their series on Sunday. They also have to deal with staying in hotels and playing on an unfamiliar court and in front of hostile fans. They are also 0-9 on the road in the playoffs under JB Bickerstaff. The Celtics need to make their home court a tough place for other teams to play on.
Experience – Will the Celtics experience in the previous playoffs give them an edge in these playoffs. They have been to the Eastern Conference Finals 3 times and the the Finals once since Jayson Tatum was drafted. The Celtics starters have a total of 512 playoff games under their belts while the Cavs starters have 143 games of playoff experience. As a team, the Celtics have 585 games of playoff experience while the Cavs have 293. Will that experience give the Celtics the edge against a much less experienced Cavs team?
Officiating – Officiating is always an x-factor. Every crew calls the game a little differently with some calling it tight and others letting them play. They seem to be letting them play more in these playoffs so far, but that could change with any given crew and any given game. The Celtics have to adjust to how the game is being called and focus on the game and not on the officials.
Official Report
Crew Chief – Scott Foster – Foster has a home win/loss record of 45-24 In these playoffs he has called 48% of fouls on the road team and 52% on the home team. Boston is 9-1 in their last 10 games with Foster as an official and Cleveland is 5-5 in their last 10. Foster is known as the Fixer and is known for trying to keep games competitive. He was voted the worst ref in the league in a poll taken of league referees. Just the name Scott Foster tends to cause fear and gnashing of teeth by every fan base in the league. He can be very good but he can also be very bad.
Referee – Curtis Blair – Blair has a home win/loss record of 36-32. He calls 51% of fouls on the road team and 49 against the home team. The Celtics are 7-3 in their last 10 games with Blair, while the Cavs are 3-7 in their last 10, He has mostly flown under the radar and there is no recent controversy concerning him.
Umpire – Mitchell Ervin – Ervin has a home win/loss record of 31-37. He calls 52% of fouls on the road team and 48% on the home team. Boston is 6-4 in their last 10 games with Ervin while the Cavs are 4-6 in their last 10. Again, Ervin doesn’t have much controversy attached to him other than an ejection of Draymond Green that drew some questions.
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