Cleveland fans know a thing or two about ugly games with the Boston Celtics. When the original Big Three of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett were assembled in 2007, it essentially put a roadblock to Cleveland’s success in the same way that Michael Jordan’s Bulls foreclosed our postseason runs in the 90’s.
The 2015 Celtics were not going to stand in the way of Cleveland this time. In fact, they probably owe their postseason debut to the Cavaliers. Had Cleveland not essentially thrown their final two games–back-to-backs at the end of April with most of their starters out–it’s reasonable to assume that the more talented Indiana or Miami teams would have advanced.