Game Preview: Cavaliers v Celtics

The Cleveland Cavaliers play host to the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern
Conference Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on Friday. The Celtics (3-2) put
themselves in position to reach the Finals by finishing second in the east, as
that gave them homecourt advantage throughout the postseason once Toronto was
eliminated. The beauty of that is the fact that you can go undefeated at home in
the playoffs and reach the Finals in that scenario, which is exactly what Boston
is doing right now. In fact, the Celtics are a perfect 10-0 at TD Garden in
these playoffs, as they’re winning by nearly 12 points per game. Much of that
has to be attributed to defense, as Boston is allowing the fewest points of any
of the four remaining teams. They also finished first in the regular season in
total defense, as the “defense wins championships” monicker is proving to be
truer than ever. Making it to this point is quite the accomplishment in itself,
as the Celtics are still without their two best players. That’s a scary thought
for opponents in the future, as Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward will make this
team even more dangerous in years to come. Combining those two with the
emergence of players like Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier and Jayson Tatum is an
incredible core going forward and this is surely the first of many deep playoff
runs. The Cavaliers (2-3) are just happy to be back at home, as they’re a
different team at Quicken Loans Arena. In fact, Cleveland has won their two home
games in this series by a combined 39 points, as their three road losses have
come by a combined 51 points. The one huge key between the wins and losses is
the form of the role players, as LeBron James is the only player playing
consistently. To further that point, at least six players scored nine or more
points in both of the wins while there were never more than four players
reaching double figures in scoring in the three losses. That really paints the
picture of this series, as James just needs a little help to reach yet another
Finals in his already storied career. The home teams have absolutely dominated
this series, as they’ve won all five games by an average of 18 points per game.
In addition, neither club has come within a nine-point margin, as most games
have been decided well before the final whistle.