The Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers are two of the hottest teams in the NBA, right now. Boston has won seven of their last eight games and Cleveland has won seven of their previous nine games. The Cavaliers lead the season series 1-0 after defeating Boston 89-77 in TD Garden a couple of months back. These two will meet up again for one last meeting in March, however, this is arguably their biggest matchup.
Boston comes in playing their best basketball of the season. As a result, they’re now tied with the Atlanta Hawks for third in the Eastern Conference with a record of 29-22. While Boston has been one of the most surprising teams in the NBA this season, Cleveland has been right where everyone expected them to be. The Cavaliers sit in first place in the Eastern Conference at 35-13 and are clearly the best team in the East.
Their only surprise came a couple of weeks back when they fired David Blatt and immediately signed assistant Tyronn Lue to a multi-year deal. Lue has gone 5-2 in his short head coaching career but will now take on one of the best coaches in the league, Brad Stevens.
Expect this to be a very defensive-minded game as both teams are near the top in points allowed per game. Cleveland is fourth in the NBA, allowing only 96.7 points per game. Boston is also top-10 in that category, eighth, allowing 100.3 points to their opponents. Both teams pride themselves on defense, which isn’t a surprise considering who they have on their teams.
LeBron James is arguably the best player in the world and while his offense is nothing shy of spectacular, his defense is what sets him apart. Boston has a LeBron James type player as well in Jae Crowder. Despite hurting shin earlier in the week he has looked fine and moved painlessly. Crowder has developed his game on both sides a lot this season and is coming off a four steal game against the Detroit Pistons.
Cleveland doesn’t force many turnovers but their defensive intensity is what sets them apart. The Cavaliers only average 6.8 steals per game as a team, that is very low compared to Boston who is second in the league with 9.6 steals a matchup.
The Celtics are one of the quickest teams in the league and use that to their advantage by playing the passing lanes. Jae Crowder will have his hands full with James and Avery Bradley will most likely be on star guard Kyrie Irving the entire game. The matchup of the game, however, is between Amir Johnson and Kevin Love, although we can’t forget about Love’s history with Kelly Olynyk.
There have been trade rumors swirling around Kevin Love to about every team, especially to the Boston Celtics. A good game by him could increase the interest that Danny Ainge already has in him. Amir Johnson will be trying to make sure that doesn’t happen.
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Johnson is a defensive-minded player, but he will have to change his game up a little as Kevin Love likes to hang around the three-point line to spread the floor out for the Cavaliers. This allows them to drive and cut to the basket to get easier shots near the rim. Johnson will need to be quicker on his feet since he’ll be out near the perimeter.
Another big aspect of Love’s game is rebounding. Despite his numbers drastically going down the past two seasons, Love still leads Cleveland with 10.6 rebounds per game and Johnson will have to limit that. Over the past two games, Johnson has only recorded eight total rebounds. He has been inconsistent as of late but needs to step up Friday night or Love will create a lot more possessions for Cleveland.
The X-Factor in this game is Jared Sullinger, defensively. Sullinger is the team’s leading rebounder at 8.4 per game and has an offensive game to go along with it. However, Cleveland likes to cut to the basket because of their spacing to try to get easier shots. Sullinger, who isn’t known for his defense, will need to step up down low and be a force. Timofey Mozgov is irrelevant in the Cavalier’s offense, meaning that gives Sullinger more freedom down low on defense.
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This is arguably the game of the night in the NBA. Boston and Cleveland are both top three teams in the East and could potentially be a playoff matchup this season. LeBron James is as exciting as they come and Jae Crowder will be doing his best to show everyone the defensive player he has become.
Both teams are very good defensive teams but Boston’s offense has been on fire lately, which makes me think the Celtics have a very good shot in this game. These teams are both going to be on a day of rest which should make this game even more entertaining. Nonetheless, this is a great measuring stick game for Boston to see where they stack up among the NBA’s elite.