BOSTON (AP) — The jerseys and venues will be the same, but so much has changed since the last time Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics met in the Eastern Conference finals.Kyrie Irving was dealt to Boston in a blockbuster offseason deal for Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder. But following a roster upheaval in February , the Cavs were left with only five players from last year's team that rolled past the Celtics 4-1 to earn a place in the NBA Finals.Irving will watch this year's rematch from the sideline after a pair of knee surgeries late in the regular season denied him an opportunity to play this postseason. It was the capstone of an injury-plagued year in Boston that also saw the seasons of Gordon Hayward and rookie Daniel Theis truncated.The one constant has been Cleveland's LeBron James, who at age 33 has again found another gear in the playoffs despite the different pieces surrounding him. His 34.3 scoring average in these playoffs is his highest since the 2009 postseason.James can... [More]

Capsules for NBA's conference finals that start Sunday in the East, Monday in the West:___EASTERN CONFERENCENo. 2 BOSTON CELTICS (55-27, 8-4) vs. No. 4 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (50-32, 8-3)Season series: Cavaliers, 2-1.Story line: Cleveland's LeBron James is one round away from his eighth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, and it's an East finals rematch between two franchises that look incredibly different than they did 12 months ago. Kyrie Irving went from Cleveland to Boston last summer; his season is over because of a knee injury. Isaiah Thomas went from Boston to Cleveland in that deal; his season is over because he's long moved on from the Cavs. It's two teams that were written off plenty of times this season, yet here they are again.How They Got Here: Boston beat No. 7 Milwaukee 4-3 and No. 3 Philadelphia 4-1. Cleveland beat No. 5 Indiana 4-3 and No. 1 Toronto 4-0.Key Matchup: Boston's Al Horford vs. Cleveland's Kevin Love. James is going to be great; that's a given. The Cavs will need... [More]

WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — When Brad Stevens accepted the Celtics head coaching job five years ago, he didn't allow himself to get caught up in thinking about how he could add his name to the franchise's rich history.He was too busy trying to figure out how to avoid being buried under it."You realize that if you're going to break records here, you're probably going to break bad ones," he recently said. "Because none of the good ones are reachable."While achieving Red Auerbach status may not be on Stevens' radar, in just his fifth season there's no question the 41-year-old is also beyond being the wide-eyed former Butler University coach who arrived in Boston.In a timeframe that has often already swallowed up most first-time NBA coaches, he's managed to endear himself to a championship-driven city by helping Boston make an improbable run back to the Eastern Conference finals.The Celtics seemingly had their championship hopes derailed following the season-ending injuries to both of their offseason... [More]

WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — When Brad Stevens accepted the Celtics head coaching job five years ago, he didn't allow himself to get caught up in thinking about how he could add his name to the franchise's rich history.He was too busy trying to figure out how to avoid being buried under it."You realize that if you're going to break records here, you're probably going to break bad ones," he recently said. "Because none of the good ones are reachable."While achieving Red Auerbach status may not be on Stevens' radar, in just his fifth season there's no question the 41-year-old is also beyond being the wide-eyed former Butler University coach who arrived in Boston.In a timeframe that has often already swallowed up most first-time NBA coaches, he's managed to endear himself to a championship-driven city by helping Boston make an improbable run back to the Eastern Conference finals.The Celtics seemingly had their championship hopes derailed following the season-ending injuries to both of their offseason... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics have been mining possibility out of improbable odds throughout the 2017-2018 season.A season filled with so much promise was jolted just five minutes into their season opener back in October when Gordon Hayward was lost for the year to a fractured ankle.It looked to be derailed for sure when Marcus Smart suffered a torn ligament in his thumb in March, followed by Kyrie Irving being sidelined for the season a month later following a pair of knee surgeries.Yet, after completing a 4-1 series win with their 114-112 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night, the Celtics are somehow back where no one — except maybe only them — believed they could be: headed to a second straight Eastern Conference final.A rematch with Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James awaits them, but for a Celtics team that has had to trudge uphill throughout the season, still playing at this point of the postseason feels like reason to celebrate.Coach Brad Stevens said this group... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — An improbable Eastern Conference finals rematch with the Cleveland Cavaliers is in reach for the Boston Celtics.The only thing delaying it is one more victory against a Philadelphia 76ers team intent on not becoming the latest to join a dubious NBA club.Toronto was swept by Cleveland on Monday to become the 130th consecutive team in NBA history to fail to overcome a 3-0 deficit. Philadelphia is one loss away from becoming No. 131.Philadelphia-born rapper Meek Mill, who has been courtside for several Sixers games this series following his release from prison last month, is one of many hometown fans still hoping they can pull off the comeback."I represent the underdog season," Mill told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "We're the underdogs right now. We're in a (bad) position at 3-1, but I definitely believe we can make a comeback."Philadelphia used its toughness, a little trash talk and 19 big points from T.J. McConnell in its 103-92 victory in Game 4 Monday to finally produce... [More]

Injuries are having a major impact on the NBA playoffs.A tweak, turn or strain to this or that has sidelined or limited players from All-Stars to reserves — and that has influenced the early outcomes of Round 2.After Jaylen Brown strained his right hamstring in Boston's Game 7 win over Milwaukee, he all but begged the Celtics doctors and trainers to let him suit up for the start of their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup with Philadelphia.Boston managed to win without him in its 117-101 victory over the sluggish 76ers in Game 1 Monday night, thanks to career nights by Al Horford, Terry Rozier and rookie Jayson Tatum.But despite two days or rest and treatment, coach Brad Stevens said Brown is "very doubtful" for Game 2 on Thursday night."The bottom line is with this hamstring injury is it's not terrible. Not a long-term thing. It shouldn't linger if he comes back at the right time," Stevens said.If Brown can't go for Game 2, it will again put stress on a Celtics rotation that just recently... [More]

WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are about to find out what the NBA playoffs are really about.After dispatching the Miami Heat in five games in the first round in their first career postseason appearance, the Philadelphia 76ers' youngsters will open the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night in Boston against the Celtics.All those banners hanging from the Garden rafters.All that history on the parquet floor.All that bad blood between the two cities.A civic rivalry that dates back to the Revolutionary War era came of age on the basketball court with Wilt Chamberlain leading the Philadelphia Warriors, and later the 76ers, against Bill Russell's Celtics in the 1960s. Larry Bird and Julius Erving picked it up in the 1980s.Celtics forward Marcus Morris, a Philadelphia native, grew up watching the Allen Iverson-led 76ers that went to the NBA Finals in 2001 but lost to Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker's Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals the following year.He's not... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — So much of the chatter before Boston's first-round matchup with Milwaukee focused on who wouldn't be on the court for the Celtics.Injuries forced Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart to join Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis as spectators by the end of the regular season. It seemingly left the East's second seed vulnerable against a Bucks team boasting one of the league's most versatile scorers in All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo.It took seven games, but the Celtics got just enough from the healthy players left on their roster to hold off Milwaukee with a 112-96 victory on Saturday night .Now they'll turn their attention to Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and another youth-led team in the Eastern Conference semifinals against Philadelphia."It's something we've had to go through all season," said rookie Jayson Tatum, who had 20 points on Saturday, becoming just the second rookie in Celtics' history to score 20 in a Game 7. "Some way, somehow, we figure it out. And I think that's what's unique... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — So much of the chatter before Boston's first-round matchup with Milwaukee focused on who wouldn't be on the court for the Celtics.Injuries forced Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart to join Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis as spectators by the end of the regular season. It seemingly left the East's second seed vulnerable against a Bucks team boasting one of the league's most versatile scorers in All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo.It took seven games, but the Celtics got just enough from the healthy players left on their roster to hold off Milwaukee with a 112-96 victory on Saturday night .Now they'll turn their attention to Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and another youth-led team in the Eastern Conference semifinals against Philadelphia."It's something we've had to go through all season," said rookie Jayson Tatum, who had 20 points on Saturday, becoming just the second rookie in Celtics' history to score 20 in a Game 7. "Some way, somehow, we figure it out. And I think that's what's unique... [More]

Al Horford has played in four Game 7s. Jason Terry has been in three, his teams winning them all.For them, this is old hat.For just about everyone else who's had any role in this Boston-Milwaukee series, however, this is new or relatively new territory. The ultimate game awaits the Bucks and Celtics on Saturday night, when their Eastern Conference first-round series ends on Boston's home floor — the winner moving into the second round to face the Philadelphia 76ers, the loser going home for the summer."We're going to be in a tough position," Milwaukee guard Eric Bledsoe said. "We've just got to come out and fight. ... We've just got to find a way."The Celtics have been in more Game 7s than any franchise in NBA history. This will be the 32nd such game for Boston, which has gone 22-9 in its previous ones. Milwaukee is going to Game 7 for the 10th time; the Bucks' franchise is 2-7 so far in those."Super exciting," said Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon, when asked about how he feels about making... [More]

LeBron James is keeping his thoughts to himself.Whatever concerns — or confidence — he might harbor about his Cleveland Cavaliers facing a 2-1 first-round Eastern Conference series hole heading into Game 4 at the Indiana Pacers on Sunday were not going to be made available for public consumption.James decided not to speak to reporters on Saturday.And he did not have a whole lot to say in the immediate aftermath of Game 3, either, when Indiana erased a 17-point deficit and then held on for a 92-90 victory over the Cavs.Not only has the four-time MVP and three-time NBA champ never lost an opening NBA postseason series, going 12-0 in the past, he had never even trailed in the first round until this one, when Cleveland dropped Game 1 at home.Now he is behind again."We've had some good quarters," James said Friday, "and we didn't have some good quarters."Well, that explains a lot.Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue's synopsis?"They won a game we should have won," Lue said. "That's what's disappointing.... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A billboard down the street from the Milwaukee Bucks' nearly completed new arena makes a proclamation in big, bold letters: "The Future is Here."The rebuilding process is over. Winning a playoff series could make that message resonate as loudly as a Giannis Antetokounmpo rim-rattling dunk ."I think it's crucial," Bucks President Peter Feigin said about the confluence of the playoffs and new arena. "We're at a point ... we want to go into the new arena for lots of reasons in a sold-out capacity. That would be the way to usher in a new arena and really have demand and a peak."Part of that is performance and how successful we are on the court," Feigin said.The seventh-seeded Bucks have work to do to climb out of a 2-0 deficit to the second-seeded Boston Celtics. Game 3 is Friday night in Milwaukee."We have to protect home court," guard Jason Terry said after the 14-point loss in Boston on Tuesday.The Bucks haven't won a playoff series since a team coached by George Karl reached... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers look loose and sound confident.They were laughing, smiling and joking around at practice Thursday as turned to a new task — protecting their home court this weekend against LeBron James.Sure, his sensational 46-point, 12-rebound effort in Game 2 exposed flaws in Indiana's defense and allowed Cleveland to even the series, but it sure didn't shake the faith of the fearless Pacers."It's a good sign when you lose by three and the best player in the world has a game like that," Indiana point guard Darren Collison said.The Pacers shouldn't be rattled.They are 4-2 against the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs this season, fought back from an early 18-point deficit Wednesday with Victor Oladipo in foul trouble and still had a chance to tie the score on Oladipo's wide-open 3-pointer with 27 seconds left.They still can seize control of the series by winning the next two in Indianapolis.To avoid such a plight, the Cavs could give their star player... [More]

The Portland Trail Blazers fought their way through a pressure-packed playoff race to earn home-court advantage in a series, then lost it in one game.The Toronto Raptors know that problem all too well, so they want to take advantage of playing from ahead for a change.They try for their first 2-0 playoff series lead ever Tuesday night against Washington, while the Trail Blazers try to even things up in against the New Orleans Pelicans.Boston and Milwaukee play the other Game 2 on Tuesday after the Celtics pulled out a 113-107 overtime victory on Sunday.The No. 3 Trail Blazers were the highest-seeded team to lose so far, falling 97-95 on Saturday. Anthony Davis was dominant, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum were slow-starting, and the Pelicans got a couple big defensive plays down the stretch from Jrue Holiday to hold on after the Blazers nearly came back from a 19-point deficit."I think it puts some pressure on us," Lillard said. "You know, you come in with home court, the first two games... [More]

The Portland Trail Blazers fought their way through a pressure-packed playoff race to earn home-court advantage in a series, then lost it in one game.The Toronto Raptors know that problem all too well, so they want to take advantage of playing from ahead for a change.They try for their first 2-0 playoff series lead ever Tuesday night against Washington, while the Trail Blazers try to even things up in against the New Orleans Pelicans.Boston and Milwaukee play the other Game 2 on Tuesday after the Celtics pulled out a 113-107 overtime victory on Sunday.The No. 3 Trail Blazers were the highest-seeded team to lose so far, falling 97-95 on Saturday. Anthony Davis was dominant, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum were slow-starting, and the Pelicans got a couple big defensive plays down the stretch from Jrue Holiday to hold on after the Blazers nearly came back from a 19-point deficit."I think it puts some pressure on us," Lillard said. "You know, you come in with home court, the first two games... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — By now, the Boston Celtics have come to expect adversity.They were barely five minutes into the season when Gordon Hayward's gruesome ankle injury offered the first collective gasp in what would be an 82-game schedule replete with more head-shaking moments.The most recent setback, season-ending knee surgery for Kyrie Irving, left teams in the East almost hoping for a chance to face the wounded Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.Boston enters as the No. 2 seed. But it is certainly vulnerable opposite a seventh-seeded Bucks team with which it split four games this season. Milwaukee is led by one of the league's budding young talents in 23-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo.If there is a silver lining for the Celtics it's that they went 14-8 without Irving for the last 22 games."It's forcing our group to grow up quicker than maybe some of our guys were supposed to," forward Al Horford said. "I think that this is a great opportunity that we have in front of us. We've really... [More]

Maybe this is the year.Maybe the Golden State Warriors, opening the postseason without Stephen Curry or any momentum, won't be the best of the West, where there's a Houston team that can run and gun as well as they do.Maybe the Cleveland Cavaliers, starting from the middle of the pack in the East, just have too big a hill to climb, even with LeBron James carrying them.Or perhaps none of that matters, and the NBA is headed toward Round 4 of its reigning rivalry.The postseason opens Saturday and it's far from a guarantee it ends with a record fourth straight NBA Finals matchup between the Warriors and Cavaliers. Neither was the best team in its conference during the regular season — the Cavaliers were only No. 4 in the East — and it's not hard to envision a Houston to Toronto trip replacing what's become an annual Oakland, California, to Cleveland itinerary.Then again, the Warriors could be as dangerous as ever once Curry returns from a knee injury that could have him back for the second... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward exchanged the kind of toothy giggles normally only found between kids on a playground when they were introduced as the new faces of the Celtics."It's about to be crazy, G," Irving said in the ear of Hayward to a soundtrack of clicking camera lenses as they sat on a dais back in September two days after Boston's blockbuster trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers.Seven months later, Irving has proven to be prophetic — albeit not how he had in mind.It has been crazy unlucky for the Celtics. Stunning too. Al Horford said even shocking.And though things haven't gone as scripted in Boston, the Celtics will open the playoffs at the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference believing they can win it all without their injured offseason acquisitions."Finals. I'm very confident," guard Terry Rozier when asked how far Boston can go. "Everybody has to be on the same page. And we just gotta play. And play hard."That's been Boston's calling card throughout the season.... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics have spent most of the season adjusting on the fly. Now they will have to go through the playoffs without Kyrie Irving.The star point guard will need surgery on his left knee and is done for season. On Thursday, the team put his recovery time at four to five months.Irving hasn't played since March 11 and says he won't dwell on what might have been."The hardest thing to do sometimes is accept the uncontrollable things life throws at you," he wrote in an Instagram post. "It's simply a test of your perseverance and will, to be present, even in the wake of what's going on."In the upcoming surgery, two screws will be removed. They were implanted after Irving's patellar fracture during the 2015 NBA Finals. Irving recently developed an infection at the site of the screws, and now they must be taken out.Following his original procedure last month, the team had said the knee was structurally sound and the kneecap healed, but the wire had been putting pressure on... [More]