Cavaliers @ Celtics Series Thread..

3 vs. 1

Boston in Six.

As a lifelong Celtics fan living in the Cleveland area, I am ready for the ride!   This one should be a great series indeed.   I doubt seriously the Celtics road woes continue to the extent they did against Atlanta... the Cavs do have LeBron and Z, but really, can they hope to compete against the Big 3, and the rapidly improving bench.

People say the Celts will be tired... did it even look like they broke a sweat in Game 7 against the Hawks?   The starters all got to rest for the majority of the 4th quarter.   I  believe they will be up to the challenge in Games 1 and 2.    Good chance the Cavs hold serve in games 3 and 4.

When you get down to the last 3 games, it's all about who wants it more.   I just don't see anyone wanting it more than KG, PP and Ray Allen.

Celtics in 7.

Cavs in 6, for 2 very big reasons:

1: LeBron James

2: Doc Rivers

(and someone please tell ESPN that the 2-2 season record means absolutely nothing. The first time they played was with a supporting cast featuring Gooden and Hughes. LeBron sat out the second game, Cavs won the 3rd with (I think) the old team, and LeBron hurt his ankle and was awful in the 4th game.)

Definately not in 5 but not much will be told until the 1st game.

If it is close either way especially if Cavs win.... Cavs will win the series in 6

If Boston blows out Cleveland I say we have a coin toss 7th game

It should be very interesting. Look for someone OTHER than LeBron to step it up.

This is ridiculous.  Cavs fans are morons.  Good luck, Cleveland.  I only wish I were so disillusioned about the greatness of my team as you people(bc if I were, I would be picking a sweep OVER the Cavs).  Cavs in 5 seems to be the average pick here. 

I just find it really hard to believe that some of the people who post that garbage have watched a single game involving the Celtics in it's entirety.  Gonna be a LOT of sad faces in Northeast Ohio.  I dont feel sorry for you people, you couldve paid closer attention and then you would have seen this coming.  "Cavs in 5"- how uninformed can you be?

BOSTON IN 6 good, fun to watch games.

Celtics fan here, but not a delusional one. In fact, any Cavs or Celts fan who thinks their team can win this series in under 6 games really doesn't know the other team very well. 

I respect the Cavs, but not too much to think the Celtics can't win. The truth is the Celts don't have anyone who can cover LeBron well enough to slow him down. He's too good. However, he can't make every basket, every rebound, and every assist all game, every game. The Celtics have more talent overall and their bench is a lot deeper. They can spread the court, play at a faster pace, use a lot more screens and passes, and afford to give a lot more fouls. 

Offensively, LeBron will be the high scorer every game, no doubt. He'll have double-doubles every game and maybe even a triple-double or two.  But it just won't be enough. He has to rest some time and the Celts simply have too many offensive weapons who can keep pouring the points on all game long.  We all know these teams split the season series, but the Cavs never had to play the Celtics every day or two for a week straight during the regular season. It's gonna wear them down. (And don't point to the Hawks as evidence of any kind of Celtics weakness, because the Cavs simply don't have the youth and athleticism the Hawks do. The Cavs aren't slow, but they play at a slower pace than the Hawks, which works heavily in the Celtics favor.)

On D, the Celtics' best bet isn't to double-team LeBron, because it'll just leave a man open and he'll just rack up the assists. Instead, the Celtics need to play tight man-to-man, forcing bad passes and grabbing steals whenever possible. They should apply full-court pressure occasionally to throw off the Cavs' offensive rhythm and force them to take late shots. Pierce will have to draw a couple of early charging fouls on LeBron to get him to limit his game to more assists than layups and dunks. That will be hard to do without drawing a couple of blocking fouls along the way, but if Pierce fouls out but manages to get LeBron into heavy foul trouble, I'll take it. We have enough offense to keep the fight going, whereas the Cavs ABSOLUTELY cannot afford to lose LeBron. If they do, it'll be a blowout of epic proportion.

The Celtics should be able to care of business at home as usual, but they really need to split the first 2 games in Cleveland to take control of this series. Prediction: Celtics in 7.

No way this is going any shorter than 6 games.  Also no way the Celtics hold LeBron James to under 30ppg for the series.  I would like to see agressive play towards LeBron on the offensive side as well to hopefully get him in early foul trouble.

I'm taking the big 3 over the number 1

Celtics in 6