NBA News: Boston Celtics Clinch Seventh Seed, Set To Face LeBron's Cleveland
Jae Crowder's last second game winner against Toronto secures seventh seed for the C's.
The Boston Celtics clinched the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference on Tuesday night after beating the Toronto Raptors 95-93. They had already secured their spot in the playoffs Monday after the Brooklyn Nets lost to Chicago.
The C’s will now match up against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are led by Celtics' old foe LeBron James. LeBron and the Celtics share some history. He has faced them 25 times in the playoffs, and averages over 28 points and nine rebounds. He’s won 13 of them, winning two series in the process, and lost two series. His lowest point also came against the C’s in 2010, when he shot 8 for 21 and had nine turnovers in the sixth game of the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Cleveland not only lost the match but also lost LeBron in the offseason.
The Celtics and Cleveland faced each other four times this season, and split the series 2-2. However, the C’s won the last two games of the matchup with Cleveland stars out. LeBron sat out the last five quarters, and Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving were also given rest in order to prepare for the playoffs.
The Celtics faced off against the Toronto Raptors at full strength. They rallied from being 15 down and won the game on a superb jumper from Jae Crowder with 0.8 seconds left in the game. The win secured seventh seed for the C’s and left the Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers fighting for the last spot in the conference.
Boston could have easily rested against the Raptors and the Bucks, who they face on Wednesday. Losing the two games, coupled with two wins for the Indiana Pacers could have dropped the C’s to eighth.
"I would love to play [LeBron] in the playoffs somehow and I would love to beat him," Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck said in an interview on CLNS Radio. This weekend, they’ll be hoping to do exactly that.
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