On Sunday afternoon, the Cavaliers dispatched a Playoff opponent that they didn’t have a ton of history with – dropping a stubborn Magic squad in seven games. But aside from Orlando ousting Cleveland from the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals in six games, the two franchises had never met in the postseason.
The Cavaliers do, however, have a history of bad Playoff blood against several squads.
Over the years, the Wine & Gold have faced the Bulls 34 times in the postseason. They’ve squared off against Washington 26 times, played 21 games against the Pistons, 15 against the Pacers, and 14 apiece against the Knicks and Raptors. They’ve never faced the Hawks, Heat, Hornets or Bucks in a Playoff series.
And then there’s the Celtics – who the Cavaliers open another chapter against on Tuesday night, and who Cleveland has faced more than any other postseason opponent.
Game 1 will mark the 47th game in their historic head-to-head matchup – and the series couldn’t be much closer. Through the first 46 games, the Cavaliers have gone 24-22 against their Beantown foes. They’ve faced each other in eight different series – with each franchise winning four.
As the current Cavs gear up for the rubber match that tips off this week – with a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals on the line, here’s a look back on the five different chapters that mark this contentious postseason rivalry …
FOUR STRAIGHT FINALS
The Celtics frustrated LeBron James in his first go-round in Cleveland, but when he returned, Boston was merely an Eastern Conference speedbump as The King led Cleveland to the NBA Finals in four straight seasons.
In 2015, James’ first year back, the Cavs made short work of a scrappy Celtics squad in the First Round– sweeping Brad Stevens’ squad in four straight, three of which were decided by single-digits. Cleveland’s “Big Three” of LeBron, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were rolling before Love injured his shoulder tangling with Kelly Olynyk in Game 4 in Boston. Love was ruled out for the Playoffs, but Cleveland still reached the NBA Finals, falling to the Warriors in six games.
Two seasons later, the Cavs met Boston in the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals – and the defending World Champs won their first 10 Playoffs games, including the first two meetings against the Celtics. Behind a big effort by Marcus Smart, the Celtics won a tight contest, taking Game 3 in Cleveland, but the Wine & Gold bounced right back – winning Game 6 by 13 points and sealing the series in a 33-point blowout in Boston.
In 2018, the Celtics took their best shot over that four-year span – and after beating the Cavaliers by double-figures in the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals in Boston, got blasted by 30 points when the series returned to Cleveland for Game 3. Boston held the Cavs to 83 points in Game 5 to take a 3-2 edge in the series, but Cleveland won the next two – sealing the deal on a 35-point, 15-rebound effort from James in Game 7, holding the Celtics to just 79 points to advance to their fourth straight NBA Finals appearance.
LeBRON’S FIRST GO-ROUND
During his first go-round in Clevland, LeBron’s early Playoff nemeses were the Wizards and Pistons. But after he vanquished those two foes, leading the franchise to its first Finals appearance in 2007, the Celtics were the squad that kept him from returning.
In 2008, after sending Gilbert Arenas and the Wizards home for the third straight season, the Cavs looked overmatched to start the Conference Semis – with a Boston squad led by the Big Three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen holding Cleveland to 72 points in Game 1 and 73 in Game 2. The Cavs won the next two games back in Cleveland and both teams won on their home floor in Games 5 and 6. But Cleveland would fall in their quest to repeat as Conference Champs, falling in an epic Game 7 that saw LeBron score 45 points in an iconic duel with Paul Pierce, who finished with 41.
Boston went on to win the NBA Championship later that spring.
Two years later, a reconfigured Cavaliers club again faced off against Boston in the Conference Semis, with LeBron teamed up with future Hall of Famer, Shaquille O’Neal and fellow All-Star, Mo Williams. After winning 60-plus games for the second straight season and rolling over the Bulls in five games, Cleveland won two of the first three games of the series. But things fell apart from there. The Cavs didn’t score 90 points in any of the next three games, as Boston took the series in six.
In the offseason, LeBron James departed for Miami as a free agent.
LENNY’S SQUAD BREAKS BOSTON
Speaking of unhappy endings, the Cavaliers series win over Boston in the 1992 Eastern Conference Semifinals marked the end of Larry Bird’s Hall of Fame career.
After besting Derrick Coleman and the New Jersey Nets in four games to open the postseason, Lenny Wilkens’ 57-win Cavaliers – led by All-Stars Mark Price and Brad Daugherty – dropped two of the first three games in the series against Boston. Cleveland won the next two, but the Celtics blew the Cavs out by 31 points in Game 6.
Game 7 back at the Richfield Coliseum was a different story, however, and Brad Daugherty’s 27-point performance led Cleveland to the 18-point win, setting up a rematch with the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals.
KARL’S COMEBACK CAVALIERS
George Karl’s Cavaliers started the 1984-85 season with a 2-19 mark before rallying over the season’s second half to make a mad dash for the postseason. The World B. Free-led Cavaliers finished the year with a 36-46 record, and their reward was a First Round date with a Celtics squad coming off two straight trips to the Finals.
The Cavaliers only got one win in the five-game series – a seven-point victory in Game 3 behind a 32-point effort from Free and a 21-point, nine-rebound performance by Roy Hinson.
That seven-point decision was the largest margin of victory in the hard-fought series. Boston didn’t win any of its three games by more than three points, and when the series was over, both teams had scored exactly 449 points.
MIRACLE MEN
In just their sixth year of existence, Bill Fitch’s Cavaliers finally reached the postseason – and their first ever Playoff matchup proved to be the stuff of legends, with the Wine & Gold sinking the Eastern Conference Champion Washington Bullets to seven games in an epic First Round matchup forever known as the “Miracle of Richfield.”
But after overcoming Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld and the Bullets – and losing starting center Jim Chones to a broken foot – the Cavaliers didn’t have enough in the tank to top JoJo White, Dave Cowens and the Celtics, falling in six games to a Boston squad that would go on to top Phoenix for the 1976 NBA Championship.