Cavaliers vs Celtics Eastern Conference Finals Preview

The Cleveland Cavaliers are back in the Eastern Conference Finals for a third straight year. The Cavs made their first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals since 2007 back in 2015 and have continued to make it back.

In 2015, the Cavaliers defeated the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals 4-0.
In 2016, the Cavs defeated the Toronto Raptors 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Boston Celtics, on the other hand, are making their first appearance in the ECF since 2012 when they were defeated by LeBron James and the Miami Heat 4-3.

During that 2012 appearance, the Celtics still had their original Big 3 of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce. After the 2012 season, Allen chose to sign with the Heat.

During the 2016-17 Regular Season, the Cavaliers won the season series winning 3 out of 4 games.

Remember in 2010 that the Celtics defeated the Cavaliers to go on to the NBA Finals after winning the series 4-2. Shortly after the Cavaliers lost the ECF matchup, news started to stir that LeBron James was heading elsewhere. Cavs fans were in denial and did not want to believe the news that was circulating.

On July 8, 2010, James said the following on his special “The Decision”:

“In this fall… this is very tough… in this fall I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat. I feel like it’s going to give me the best opportunity to win and to win for multiple years, and not only just to win in the regular season or just to win five games in a row or three games in a row, I want to be able to win championships. And I feel like I can compete down there.”

James joined forces with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh and went on to win 2 NBA Championships.

LeBron announced his come back to the Cleveland Cavaliers on July 11, 2014, in a first-person essay in Sports Illustrated. James and the Cavaliers went to the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2010.

In the first round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs, the Cavs and Celtics faced off once again. The Cavs swept the Celtics 4-0 but don’t forget that Celtics forward Kelly Olynyk dislocated Kevin Love‘s left shoulder in Game 4 of the first-round while both were battling for a loose ball.

With Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals beginning tonight at 8:30 PM EST on TNT, who knows what can possibly happen when these two teams meet once again and this time the stakes are even higher…with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line.

Folks buckle up for a very interesting series.

“One more step towards our goal."#DefendTheLand

? #KeyInsider Hype Video – #CavsCeltics Game 1. pic.twitter.com/tzbAKkxMY4

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) May 17, 2017