He had worn the sleeveless T-shirt before in practice, but the black cutoff with the picture of a gold-and-green leprechaun throwing a punch had deeper meaning this time: The Celtics are next.
James will renew his personal rivalry with the NBA’s most storied franchise on Wednesday as the Cavaliers, who have been waiting for an opponent since May 7, open the Eastern Conference finals in Boston. This will be the sixth time that James has faced the Celtics in the postseason, and his history with them has run from the great to the forgettable.
“They’re a worthy opponent,” said a rather gruff James, who didn’t have much to say about the Celtics or anything else after the Cavs concluded their final practice during a lengthy layoff. “We have to game plan every game. We have to game plan for what they bring to the table. And we have to mentally focus on our challenges that we have every game.”
No team in the East gets James’ attention more quickly than the Celtics, who survived an exhausting, seven-game series against Washington to make their first conference final since 2012.
James is aiming for his seventh trip to the Finals — a streak shared only by Bill Russell and other members of those famed Celtics teams in the ‘60s — and he’ll have to go through Boston again to get there. The last time he lost before the Finals was in 2010 to the Celtics, who eliminated James in six games in the conference semifinals.
On the way to the locker room following that Game 6 loss, he yanked off his Cavs jersey for what many thought was the last time. Two months later, James took his talents to South Beach.
Two years later, he returned with Miami to Boston, scored 45 points in Game 6 of the conference finals, forced a Game 7 and led the Heat to the first of two straight titles.
Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue, who was an assistant on Doc Rivers’ staff for the Celtics in 2012, agreed that James’ Game 6 masterpiece was the turning point in his career.
“We thought we had a chance to win that series,” Lue said. “LeBron came in and had 45 points, think he made six 3s and he was just determined that he wasn’t going to let his team lose.”
The Cavaliers won three of four against the Celtics during the regular season. And while Cleveland was beaten out by Boston for the conference’s top seed, James and his teammates served notice with a 114-91 dismantling of the Celtics on their parquet floor on April 5.
“It’s two different teams,” James said when asked if there was something to be gained from that victory. “We’re a totally different team. They’re a totally different team at this point. I don’t take nothing away.”
James has reverence for the Celtics’ history, their mystique and raucous fans. If anyone can appreciate Boston’s consistent excellence, it’s the three-time champion who has often glanced into the rafters in Boston to admire the retired jerseys and 17 championship banners overhead.
“I’ve looked up there and seen how cool it was, but I don’t think I actually paused,” he said. “I haven’t paused in my career yet — at all.”
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less