NBA insider predicts Cavaliers can exploit key Celtics weakness in playoff matchup

Unless they collapse completely, the Cleveland Cavaliers will finish the regular season with the best record in the East. With their record of 62-15, they are five games ahead of the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, who are 57-20 with five games left in the season.

Still, the Celtics remain the favorites to win the title with their core from last year still intact. However, Zach Kram and Kevin Pelton believe that the Cavs are one of the few teams that could pose a challenge to them in a potential postseason matchup.

According to the two ESPN analysts, Boston's only weakness is "insufficient pace", which can sometimes hinder their offense. This is a weakness that the Cavs and even the Orlando Magic could exploit in the playoffs, according to Kram and Pelton.

Boston's offense is "methodical", which means they prefer a slower pace that relies on setting up their halfcourt offense.

"[Boston] ranks near the bottom of the league in a host of statistics related to offensive speed: 27th in pace, 30th in fast break points, 30th in transition frequency...27th in average time to shoot after a defensive rebound...," the ESPN report noted

"The Celtics' deliberate play hasn't harmed their overall offensive efforts over the past two seasons -- but for small stretches, especially when their 3s aren't falling, Boston can get stuck in the mud. And it might not have the fast-break gear to free themselves and generate easy buckets."

Kram thought that the Thunder, the Magic, and the Cavaliers were the best suited to exploit this flaw.

"The Magic - who could face the Celtics in the first round - and Cavaliers have the best half-court defenses in the East," Kram pointed out.

By the numbers, the Boston Celtics have the lowest amount of fast break points in the league at 11.8 per game. They're also 27th in the league in pace at 96.86.

Aside from the Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic are the two best-rated defensive teams in their conference. Orlando's defensive rating is at 109.2 (third overall, first in the East) while Cleveland's is at 111.8 (eighth overall, third in the East).

The second-best defense in the East? Boston with 110.6.

With the Cavs and Celtics being the one and two seed, there's only one place for them to battle in the postseason — the Conference finals. There's no guarantee that they'll face each other there, but there is a high likelihood that they do.

---

The Cleveland Cavaliers split their season series with the Boston Celtics this year

It's only fair to expect the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers to meet in the Eastern Conference finals. When they do, there's no telling what might happen based on their regular season record. These two squads faced each other four times this year and both teams won two games apiece.

The first game they played on Nov. 19 went to the Celtics 120-117. The Celtics led for most of that game, quashing a comeback effort in the second half.

Then, the Cavs won 115-111 on Dec. 1. The Cavaliers led for most of the first half, but the Celtics came out swinging in the second. Midway through the third quarter, Boston took the lead and at one point, were ahead by as much as 14. However, the Cavs managed to wrestle that lead away in the closing moments of the game.

Their third game, which took place on Feb. 4, allowed Boston to take a 2-1 season series lead.

Finally, the two teams concluded their season series on Feb. 28 with a victory for the Cavs.

Should these two squads face off in the NBA's postseason, fans can expect an exciting back-and-forth battle.