National Basketball Association

Cleveland Cavaliers Vs. Boston Celtics Season Preview

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Feb 5, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) and Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder (99) during the second quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Celtics are improved, but not enough to stop LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers run at a third straight conference championship.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will look to win the Eastern Conference for the third straight season, but to do so they will have to go through the Boston Celtics.

The Celtics have been a thorn in the Cavaliers’ side for years. Boston holds a 123-75 lifetime record over the Cavs. They have also won four of their six playoff series against Cleveland. While the Cavs were NBA champions last season, they still lost one of their three games to the Celtics.

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The first meeting between the Cavs and Celtics proved to be a physical, defensive game. The Cavaliers pulled out an 89-77 victory in the mid-December contest.

This game had a lot of emotion going into it. It was the first time that Kevin Love played against Boston after Kelly Olynyk ended his playoff run in 2015. Boston was out to prove that they belonged in the same class as Cleveland by being physical, unfortunately for them it did not work.

LeBron James led the way with a game high 24 points. Love chipped in by adding 20 points of his own. The Celtics had a tough time shooting and finished the game shooting just 32.2 percent from the field.

The second contest did not go the Cavaliers way. The fourth quarter was completely crazy. The Cavaliers rallied back from a seven-point deficit with three minutes left in the fourth, just to blow a five-point lead with just over 18 seconds left. Missed free throws and poor rebounding cost the Cavaliers this one. Avery Bradley hit a game-winning three as time expired to give Boston a 104-103 win.

The Cavaliers were able to avenge this loss with a 120-103 win in March. LeBron proved to be too much for the Celtics as he tallied 28 points while on his way to passing Tim Duncan on the all-time scoring list. Kyrie Irving had a solid outing as well as he added 20 points. The Cavs were able to blow the Celtics out by getting scoring from a variety of different places. Eight Cavaliers finished with double digit points.

While the Cavs won two of their three contests against Boston last season, the Celtics showed that they are a tough opponent. Could this be the year they jump into the same class as the Cavs?

Apr 11, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford (15) works against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) during the third quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs won 109-94. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Boston Celtics Roster Turnover

Key Additions: Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, and Gerald Green
Key Losses: Jared Sullinger and Evan Turner

The Celtics lost two former Ohio State Buckeyes, but what they added this offseason should more than make up for their loss.

Jared Sullinger was a productive starter for the Celtics the past couple seasons. He averaged 10.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game last year. He seemed to save his best games for when he played his home state team.

Evan Turner will also be missed. He did an admirable job of giving solid production off the bench. Turner put up 10.5 points per game for Boston last season.

Sullinger and Turner were both productive players, however adding Al Horford, Jaylen Brown and Gerald Green will more than make up for it.

The Celtics did everything they could to land Kevin Durant this offseason. They were in the running for signing him, until they brought Tom Brady to the meeting with Durant. That version of the story isn’t entirely true, that’s how I’d like to think it happened.

While Boston didn’t land Durant, they did pull in a big name free agent in Al Horford. The Celtics finally got a big named free agent to go along with their tremendous young core.

Horford should help the Celtics offense which needs improvements. He is a tremendous scorer who showed last year that he can shoot the three-point shot. He shot 34.4 percent from deep last year which is respectable from a center. His low-post presence is what is going to help them out most. Sullinger is an undersized center. They never really had a true post scorer that could also control the paint on both ends of the floor. Horford is exactly what the Celtics needed.

Picking up Gerald Green is a good move that hasn’t gotten much publicity. Boston signed him to a one-year deal. While he isn’t projected to play a ton of minutes, he has the ability to thrive in the role he is given. The Celtics were the third worst three point shooting team last season. Green is a solid three point shooter that should help them in that area.

It is hard to predict what Jaylen Brown’s role on the Celtics will be. The No. 3 overall pick from California has the potential to be a great player. However, there is a chance that he won’t meet that great potential.

Brown is an aggressive scorer that has the chance of really helping the Celtics’ offense. He has shown that he can get to the basket in college, time will tell if that ability will transfer to the NBA.

Brown also sees potential in Cavs’ point guard Kay Felder, who Brown said was the best player he played against in this year’s Summer League.

Mar 5, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the game against the Boston Celtics at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Season Series

Game One: Cavs Vs. Celtics – Thursday, Nov. 3, 8:00 p.m. (TNT)
Game Two: Cavs Vs. Celtics – Thursday, Dec. 19, 8:00 p.m. (TNT)
Game Three: Cavs @ Celtics – Wednesday, Mar. 1, 8:00 p.m. (ESPN)
Game Four: Cavs @ Celtics – Wednesday, April 5, 8:00 p.m. (ESPN)

The Celtics are undoubtedly one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. They are in the class of the Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks when it comes to the top teams in the East. That being said, they still are not close to being in the same class as the Cavaliers.

Brad Stevens has done a fantastic job of getting the most out of his players. He has quickly turned the Celtics from being a rebuilding team into a perennial playoff team. The future is also very bright in Boston considering they still have the rights to many Brooklyn Nets picks in the upcoming draft.

While the future may be bright, the Celtics are still miles away from being a threat to the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. They lack the scoring ability to keep up with the Cavs’ high octane offense. Horford will help them become a better offensive team, but there is still plenty of room for improvement, though the Celtics may pose the best threat at dethroning the Cavs.