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KeyBank Five Keys: Cavaliers at Celtics, Game 1

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Key: Go for the Green

After what seems like an eternity in “NBA years” – a nine-day layoff – the Wine and Gold will finally have the opportunity to defend their Eastern Conference crown, taking on Boston for the seventh time in franchise postseason history.

The last time the Cavaliers came to the TD Garden, they left with a 114-91 win. But these teams have been through a lot since then – including Boston closing out the regular season with three straight wins to lock up the East’s top seed and homecourt advantage.

It hasn’t been an easy climb to this point for the Celtics – fresh off winning Tuesday night’s NBA Lottery. Boston needed six games to vanquish the Bulls – after dropping the first two games of that First Round series – and are coming off a tough seven-game battle with the Wizards to reach the Conference Finals.

The Cavaliers have been a machine through the first two rounds of the postseason, becoming the first team in NBA history to win its first eight Playoff games in consecutive seasons – cruising past the Pacers and Raptors despite still not playing their best basketball.

The Cavaliers have topped the Celtics in three of their four meetings this season – winning the first two at The Q, falling by four on March 1 in Boston and thumping the Celtics at the TD Garden on the final Thursday of the regular season.

Key: Heavy Reign

LeBron James has often talked about how much he loves playing on the road in the postseason – hunkering down with his squad and feeding off the crowd’s negativity. Well, they don’t bring "negativity” any better than Boston, where they’ve tangled with the King for a decade-and-a-half.

LeBron comes to town well-rested and on a roll – steamrolling Cleveland’s two previous foes in historic fashion. Through the first eight games, James has scored at least 30 points in seven of them, including a 41-point outing in Game 3 against Indy. He leads the Cavaliers at 34.4 points per, shooting .557 from the floor, .468 from deep, to go with 9.0 boards, 7.1 assists and 2.1 steals.

Against Toronto, the four-time MVP became the first player in NBA history to score at least 35 points in every game of a four-game sweep.

Of course, LeBron has always found a way to torment the Celtics, both in the regular season and playoffs – although Boston is the last team to prevent James from reaching the NBA Finals way back in 2010. LeBron was right on schedule against the C’s this season, averaging 29.3 points on 54 percent shooting, adding 9.5 boards and 9.8 assists per – doubling up in each contest and tallying a triple-double in Cleveland’s March 1 loss in Boston.

When he suits up for his 20th career postseason contest against Boston on Wednesday night, the Celtics will hope Jae Crowder – who had a solid series against Washington – can slow him down just enough.

Key: Scoring Points

Unlike the Cavaliers – who count on their Big Three – the Celtics have a singular star who makes their team go.

Isaiah Thomas has had a trying postseason so far – both on and off the floor. But he’s been Boston’s guiding force through the first two rounds, including a 29-point, 12-assist performance in the Celtics’ Game 7 win over Washington on Monday night.

During Boston’s 13-game Playoff run, the two-time All-Star has rarely been kept in check, posting four games of at least 30 points – including his 53-point outburst in Game 2 against the Wizards, going 18-for-33 from the floor and 12-for-13 from the line.

The Cavaliers held him to 17.5 ppg in their four-game sweep over Boston in 2015, but Thomas wasn’t even in the starting lineup back then. In four games against Cleveland this season, the former Washington Huskie notched at least 30 in three of them, although he’s shooting just 22 percent from deep over that span.

Thomas was the last man taken in the 2011 Draft, and on Wednesday he’ll take on the player taken first overall – Kyrie Irving. The four-time All-Star hasn’t shot the ball particularly well through the postseason at just a shade under 40 percent. But he’s still averaging 23.8 points per through the first eight Playoff games and handed out at least nine assists in three out of his four outings against Toronto.

Key: Bench Trial

The Cavaliers have relied on their depth through the first two rounds of the postseason, and they’ll need their strong second unit the rest of the way.

Channing Frye has been the squad’s fourth-leading scorer in the Playoffs, scoring in double-figures in half of Cleveland’s eight wins – shooting 60 percent from the floor, including .552 from long-range. Deron Williams has been even better from deep – shooting 60 percent (9-for-15) in the postseason while running the team with careful efficiency while Kyrie Irving gets a blow.

But neither player has been as hot as Kyle Korver over the last two games. In those two wins over Toronto, Korver averaged 16.0 points on .733 shooting from the field, including .667 (8-of-12) from beyond the arc.

Of course, all the big contributions have come on the offensive end – and Iman Shumpert has done some of his best work in the postseason, especially his fourth-quarter performance against DeMar DeRozan in Game 3 against Toronto. Shump will get plenty of work against Isaiah Thomas in the Eastern Conference Finals – trying to keep him out of the middle of Cleveland’s defense and off the line.

Boston also relies on their second unit – and their reserves, notably Kelly Olynyk, pushed them past the Wizards in the previous round. Olynyk – no stranger to the Cavaliers – finished with 26 points on 10-for-14 shooting in Game 7 as the Celtics bench outscored Washington’s, 45-5, in the closeout contest. Boston will also lean on Marcus Smart, with impressive rookie Jaylen Brown doing some solid work on both ends.

Key: Chairmen of the Boards

One distinct advantage the Cavaliers have in the series – at least on paper – is in the rebounding department. In four regular season meetings, the Wine and Gold outrebounded Boston by almost seven boards per.

Tristan Thompson missed his first game in five years when he was forced to sit out Cleveland’s last regular season meeting in Beantown, but he’s been very good on the boards through the first part of the Playoffs – averaging a team-best 10.6 boards per, grabbing 39 of those off the offensive glass, good for 2nd-best in the NBA. In the Cavaliers’ eight postseason contests, Thompson has grabbed double-digit boards in six of them.

Kevin Love hasn’t been himself in the scoring column – averaging just 13.8 points in the Playoffs, failing to notch double-digits in three of his last five games – but he’s been good on the boards, averaging 9.1 rebounds per. In three games against the Celtics this season, Love averaged 13.0 rpg.

LeBron also grabbed double-digit boards in each of Cleveland’s last two wins over Boston – including 10 rebounds in their April 5 victory as the Cavaliers crushed the C’s on the glass – 51-38. The Cavs were even better in their December 29 victory at The Q – outrebounding Boston, 46-29, in the six-point win.