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LeBron James

Playoff rivalry with Celtics still burns for LeBron James

Jeff Zillgitt
USA TODAY Sports
Some of the most memorable playoff performances of LeBron James' career have come against the Celtics.

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — This time, there's no Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett or Rajon Rondo, the antagonists who badgered, bothered and battered LeBron James in memorable series between the Boston Celtics and James' teams.

Even though those key participants are scattered throughout the league — Rivers with the Clippers, Pierce with the Wizards, Rondo with the Mavericks and Garnett with the Timberwolves — James still sees a rivalry with a team that has been a James nemesis and drawn the best out of the four-time MVP.

"There will be no overlooking Boston," James said, despite Boston's 40-42 record and Cleveland's 53-29 mark.

Game 1 between the second-seeded Cavaliers and seventh-seeded Celtics is Sunday (3 ET, ABC).

Asked if he views a Celtics team coached by Brad Stevens any differently, James said, "I've got the same feelings."

In 25 career playoff games against the Celtics, James has averaged 28.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists and shot 45% from the field and 29.4% on three-pointers.

When James played for the Miami Heat, he had success against the Celtics, never losing to them in two playoff series, including a memorable seven-game set in the Eastern Conference finals in 2012.

But in James' first go-around with Cleveland, he was 0-for-2 against the Celtics in playoff series, losing in 2008 and 2010.

Part of his intense focus on this series is making amends for his last series in a Cavs uniform against the Celtics. The loss in 2010 was notable for Cleveland's collapse — losing the final three games of the series — and the end of James' first era with the Cavaliers.

In Game 5, James had just 15 points on 3-of-14 shooting and was a non-factor in Boston's 120-88 victory. It was the last playoff game he played for the Cavs at Quicken Loans Arena, and Game 6 turned out to be his last game for Cleveland until he decided to return four years later.

"I thought that Boston team was prepared for us, was ready for us," James said. "They beat us that series, and it stuck with me a lot, and I'm looking forward to this series coming up."

So much has changed since 2010. James won two NBA championships and two more MVP awards while the Cavaliers floundered with four losing seasons. The Celtics are rebuilding and the Cavaliers have championship aspirations, now.

James is intent on delivering the Cavs a different outcome. He's had great playoff games against the Celtics: 14 30-plus-point games; nine double-doubles and one triple-double; plus 45 points and 15 rebounds in 2012, 35 points and 14 rebounds in 2011, and 38 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in 2010.

Pierce and James delivered entertaining one-on-one match-ups during the four previous series James played against the Celtics, and James will miss that.

"A playoff series is never the same without Paul and competing against him. ... But he's not there and whoever I'm matched up with on Sunday, I'll take that match-up with their team very seriously," James said.

Notice that James has been more focused on scoring and rebounding and less concerned about facilitating (based on assists per game) against the Celtics.

James usually doesn't have a predetermined gameplan, preferring to see how the game is being played and finding holes in the defense. But it's clear scoring and rebounding is high on his agenda against Boston historically.

The Cavaliers are 2-2 against the Celtics this season, winning the first two and losing the final two. There's not much to glean from the two losses — they came in the last week of the season. Kyrie Irving sat out and some starters didn't play much in the first loss on April 10, and James, Irving, Kevin Love and J.R. Smith sat out the second loss on April 12.

In the two games the Cavs won earlier this season, James had 41 points and seven assists on Nov. 14 and 27 points in 25 minutes on March 3.

"They're going to challenge us, no question, and this is not an easy first-round match-up," Cavs coach David Blatt said.

"Really that's the only thing we're thinking about right now, and that's how to beat Boston. That's where our mind and hearts are, and they certainly are a quality team that's going to make our life difficult."

During availability with reporters the past two days, James has been all business. He takes his leadership role seriously and wants to set the tone in terms of preparation and approach.

"I'm 22-7 in the postseason," James said. "So I think about every loss I've ever had, every series loss I've ever had, and all those experiences helped me get to this point. So it's definitely a different challenge for me. I'm going in with a much younger team, much (more) inexperienced team than I've had the last four years. But I look forward to the challenge."

Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter@JeffZillgitt.

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