After defeating the Houston Rockets 108-91 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (RMFH) on March 26, the Cleveland Cavaliers are headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2018. The Boston Celtics are on a mission to get back to the NBA Finals and finish the job. Cleveland and Boston have a lot of recent history in the playoffs to the point where it could be considered a rivalry. Based on how the regular season series between the Celtics and Cavaliers played out, they NEED to collide in the playoffs!
A Cavaliers-Celtics matchup in the upcoming playoffs would be must see TV.
Since 2008, the Cavaliers and Celtics have met five times in the playoffs. Thanks to wins in the first round in 2015 and the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017 and 2018, the Cavaliers are ahead 3-2 in those series. Two of those five series went the distance to a Game 7, 10 years apart from each other, in 2008 and 2018. Both Game 7s were in Boston with the Celtics winning in ‘08 and the Cavaliers returning the favor in ‘18.
Game 7 back in 2008 was epic. The winner advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Detroit Pistons, while the loser would have to watch the remainder of the playoffs or Michael Phelps win eight gold medals on their couch in their Man Cave with a bowl of potato chips and a bottle of soda. Through six games, only the Cavaliers broke through the 100-point barrier in Game 3 with a 108-84 victory. That trend continued in Game 7 as Boston narrowly escaped with a 97-92 win. LeBron James and Paul Pierce combined for 86 points with James going off for 45 and Pierce four points behind him with 41.
In 2018, the two teams met for the right to face the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. The first six games of the series had been relative blowouts, with Game 5 in Boston being the closest with the Celtics winning 96-83. Just like Game 7 back in 2008, it was a nip and tuck defensive battle with neither team breaking the 90-point barrier, but ultimately the Cavaliers grinded out an 87-79 win. LeBron was once again the leading scorer for the Cavs a decade later as he poured in 35 points, and Jayson Tatum trailed him by 11 points as he scored 24 points.
When the two teams have met in the playoffs in the past, they’ve created moments that NBA fans remember. James and Pierce had their duel in ‘08. LeBron took off his Cavs jersey for the final time before linking up with D-Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach in ‘10. Kelly Olynyk ripped out Kevin Love’s shoulder in ‘15. The Celtics pushed the Cavs to a Game 7 in ‘18, where Tatum had a monster dunk over “The King.” If they meet in 2023, will another chapter be written in the history books?