The Eastern Conference Championship is Set!
The Boston Celtics punched their ticket to an Eastern Conference beat down compliments of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Boston (53-29), the one seed out of the East, will be playing the Cleveland Cavaliers (51-31), the two seed out of the East, in the Eastern Conference Finals. These two teams battled four times this year. What can we expect in the postseason?
How Do They Compare?
Cleveland leads the regular season series 3-1. This series should be another high scoring duel similar to what we have grown accustomed to this postseason. During the regular season these two teams averaged 224.8 points per game. Cleveland wining the series by an average of 7.8 points per game. Betting the over seem obvious, but who will win the series?
Like I just said, Cleveland leads the series 3-1 but this is the postseason. Will that matter to Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers? Nope! Cleveland will win this series in 5. They are on an NBA record setting pace this postseason by winning their first 8 games. They have been resting since 5/7/17. The Celtics just finished another long series and will be playing the Cavs on only one-day rest. Why would anyone think that the Celtics have a chance?
Isaiah Thomas is Hot!
The Celtics are coming out of the East at the 1 seed. They have Isaiah Thomas on their team. Is their more to say? This guy is averaging 25.1 points per game and 6 assists per game this postseason. He has stepped it up when the team needed him most. Thomas has performed even better against the Cavs this year. Thomas averaged 29.5 points per game and 6.5 assists per game. I believe he must put up better numbers to compete with Lebron and the Cavs this year. Thomas will need to put up 35 points per game and 7 assists just for Boston to be competitive.
In closing, I think the Cavs will be back in the NBA Finals trying to claim that title once again. I don’t think that the break was too much time off between games. I do think that Lebron, Love and Irving get it done quick. Surgical! This series goes, at most, 5 games. I see 2 double digit wins coming from the Cleveland Cavaliers. They will be hoisting that Eastern Conference Championship banner at the start of next season. Will they have what it takes to win it all this year? I guess we will have to wait and see.