Celtics Continue Their March, Cavs Now Standing in The Way

After losing in last year’s conference finals, the Celtics have been on a mission to not only win

the East but win the whole darn thing. Boston finished with 64 victories, 7 games better than

Oklahoma City in the overall standings and easily dispatched of the Heat in 5 games, with an

average margin of victory of 22 points. But the playoffs are a whole different beast compared to

the regular season. While the Cavaliers may not have the same name cachet as they once did

when LeBron was rocking their threads, they could make this one interesting.

Mitchell is a Marked Man

Donovan Mitchell truly shines in the postseason. He’s scored at least 30 points in nearly half of

his 52 career playoff games. He’s coming off a Game 7 victory that saw him post 39 points and

that’s after he put up 50 in the game before. Then there’s his career versus the Celtics. For

some reason, Mitchell really turns things on against Boston, averaging 29.6 points per game

which are the most he’s scored against any NBA opponent (with a minimum of five games

played).

Who Steps Up?

You can bet that the Celtics are well aware of Mitchell’s exploits and will have a plan based on

shutting the Cleveland Guard down. That means we’ll need to see a heck of a lot more out of

Darius Garland who is averaging just 14.9 points through the first round. It’s a huge dropoff from

Mitchell’s first round average of 28.7 and with Center Jarrett Allen missing Game 7 against the

Magic, someone will have to step up. There is potential with Garland who averaged 20.3 points

against the Celtics this season. The question remains whether or not Garland can take the reins

in place of Mitchell.

Big Business in Boston

The Celtics entered the seasons with expectations of nothing less than an NBA championship at

the end of the playoffs. So far, they are living up to that billing. They took care of the Heat quite

handedly in five games. They have a solid plus/minus at 15.6, especially when compared to the

Cavaliers’ -4.4 through the first round. Boston may not be fully healthy though as it looks like

they’ll be without Kristaps Porzingis for the entirety of the second round. That being said, they’re

22-4 without the Latvian and are 10-3 against playoff teams where they outscored their

opponents by 8.6 points per 100 possessions during those 13 outings.

SERIES ODDS

Cavaliers +850

Celtics -1450

SEASON SERIES

The Celtics took the season series 2-1 but did allow the Cavs to hit the 100 point mark in each

of those games, something they failed to do five times in the first round.

Dec. 12, 2023 Celtics 120 Cavaliers 113

Dec. 14, 2023 Celtics 116 Cavaliers 107

Mar. 5, 2024 Celtics 104 Cavaliers 105

SERIES SCHEDULE

Game 1: Cavaliers vs. Celtics, Tuesday, May 7

Game 2: Cavaliers vs. Celtics, Thursday, May 9

Game 3: Celtics vs. Cavaliers, Saturday, May 11

Game 4: Celtics vs. Cavaliers, Monday, May 13

Game 5: Cavaliers vs. Celtics, Wednesday, May 15 *

Game 6: Celtics vs. Cavaliers, Friday, May 17 *

Game 7: Cavaliers vs. Celtics, Sunday, May 19 *