Can The Celtics Dethrone LeBron and the Cavaliers?

Courtesy of the Boston Celtics

The Cavs aren’t the only contenders in the Eastern Conference any more as a young Boston Celtics team has taken first place and are clinging to a half game lead over the reigning champ, Cleveland Cavaliers. Led by the play of 5’9” point guard Isaiah Thomas, who is averaging a team best 29 points per game and just under 6 assists per game, the Celtics have quickly made themselves a top contender in the Eastern Conference. Thomas, the final pick of the 2011 draft, has put together a season worthy of MVP consideration while leading the Celtics to a potential number one seed. Boston also picked up a big addition in the off-season by signing former Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford, who is averaging 14 points and 7 rebounds per game.

As for the Cleveland Cavaliers, they’re still playing relatively good basketball and picking up wins when they need them. They currently only sit a half game back of the number one seed and don’t have too tough of a remaining schedule LeBron James is still playing like one of the best players in the league, averaging 26 points, 8 rebounds, and almost 9 assists per game. Kyrie Irving is still continuing to ascend towards being one of the best players in the league with his career best in points with 25 per game, while Tristan Thompson is having one of his best seasons rebounding with a little more than 9 per game. With these three players playing in peak form, you’d expect the Cavs to have a huge lead in the East, but they are having to fight with a Celtics team that no one expected to have a chance at a title. While the Cavs, are probably still the favorite to win the East, this Boston team is proving that they aren’t a team that can be slept on.

While each team’s schedule doesn’t provide too much difficulty on the final few games before the playoffs, there is one game that everyone will be watching. The Celtics will host Cleveland on Wednesday night in a game that will most likely decide who wins the number one seed in the Eastern Conference going into the playoffs.if these two teams both make it to the conference finals, we should have a series to remember on our hands, but for now we’ll have to settle for a race for the number one seed that will culminate in a what should be a battle for the ages. I don’t think Boston will be able to top the Cavs, but don’t let that take away from the season the Celtics have had or the fact that they have pushed Cleveland all the way until the final games of the season to be able to clinch.

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