NBA Playoffs: Cavs Vs Celtics Round-table Preview
Apr 15, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; The Cleveland Cavaliers celebrate a 113-108 win over the Washington Wizards at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
The NBA Playoffs open for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. The Cavs Vs Celtics is a match-up that has some intrigue to it as Cleveland looks to start their run to the NBA Finals. Our ever growing and awesome staff here at King James Gospel got together to give you a Round-table Preview of the series as we see it.
We are excited to cover the NBA Playoffs for our Cleveland Cavaliers and have a great plan in place to keep you up to date with news, reports and analysis. Hopefully we get to do so all the way through to an NBA Championship.
First we have to start with Cavs Vs Celtics:
The Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Boston Celtics in the 1st Round Series. Are the Celtics the best (realistic) possible match-up for the Cavs in the opening round?
Jared – Of all the options, Heat, Pacers, Nets and Celtics, the C’s seems to be the best match-up. The Cavs have players who haven’t played in the Playoffs and some veterans that don’t need to go through a tough 6 or 7 game series early. The Celtics don’t have much that will worry the Cavs and they should enter the 2nd round with a bunch of confidence and time to rest a little.
Josh – It’s probably the easiest and most desirable matchup the Cavaliers could have hoped for. Kyrie Irving on Marcus Smart might be a good matchup for the future, but the future is not now for Boston and this is Kyrie’s time to shine. That goes for the whole team, it might be a bit of a growing experience and there’s no way the Cavs sweep, but Boston is the best matchup they could have hoped for.
Spencer – As Jared said, it probably is technically the best matchup for Cleveland. I find it kind of ironic that the last time the Cavs were in the playoffs, they were bounced by the Celtics and sent into a deep, dark abyss of mediocrity for four consecutive seasons. Boston is by no means a pushover though. They have recently found their stride and have a 20-11 record since the All-Star break.
Noah – Yes, the players in this league that give LeBron the most trouble, except for the Spurs, all belong to the Pacers and Nets. Although the Heat are banged up, the Heat gave the Cavs trouble all season and LeBron wouldn’t want to play his former team. The Celtics are the least experienced team of the bunch and because of that the Cavs should have no problem with this round.
Luke – Yes. When you take a look at the possible options the Cavs could have faced in the first round, Boston is the best match-up for Cleveland and that is not a sign of disrespect to the Celtics. When you have to decide to play a young and inexperienced team or a playoff tested unit in either Miami, Indiana or Brooklyn, Boston is the best opponent. Plus, like Spencer pointed out, it’s only right that the Cavs begin their latest playoff run where the last one ended and that’s against the Celtics.
Reece – The Boston Celtics might be the easiest match-up, but they will not be able to challenge the Cavaliers. If Cleveland wants to be tested in the first round of the NBA playoffs, a series with Milwaukee (2 games ahead of Boston) or Indiana (1 game behind Boston) would be more of a challenge.
Mike – I’d probably say so. If Miami had limped in, they would have been easier. Brooklyn has a bunch of veterans, which is typically a plus, but they don’t seem to have much fight. Boston will play hard and with their collective inexperience they won’t just lay down (sort of an ignorance is bliss thing). But they have no rim protection and Brandon Bass is their only battle-tested veteran. This is the one playoff team with even less playoff experience in their rotation than the Cavs and it will likely show.
Omar – The Heat would have been an easier opponent, the Celtics will be tougher. Despite the Celtics’ 6-game winning streak, however, the Cavs weren’t as interested in winning those last two games against them. But they’ve got confidence so they’ll at least challenge the Cavs even if they won’t win eventually. Sorry, Celts fans.
Next: Boston's Best