Celtics Can’t Join Eastern Elite Without Making a Statement Against Cavs

The Boston Celtics are starting to look like the pseudo-contender most projected they’d be, and a victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night—their seventh in eight games—could go a long way in shaping how they’re perceived around the league. And maybe even how they would perceive themselves.

Not that any of that would matter to the Cavs. But it at least would do the Celtics some good.

Boston is finally healthy, with the sixth-best net rating and a top-10 defense over its last seven games. Isaiah Thomas is the reigning Eastern Conference player of the week, Marcus Smart is getting to the free-throw line and knocking down threes, Al Horford is more aggressive with the ball, and it’s safe to say this group has never looked better.

In other words, the timing could not be more ideal for a road test against the defending champions.

Cleveland won’t have J.R. Smith for Thursday night’s showdown, and are a comfortable 23-7 (23-4 when LeBron James suits up),. But one game in late December doesn’t come close to defining a season—or a week’s slate, for that matter. The Celtics won’t buy into the hype either, but know any shot at a Finals appearance over the next couple years still goes through Cleveland.

It’s a significant 48 minutes, even if they won’t (publicly) admit it.

“Last time we played them I don’t think we was healthy, fully healthy, so now we’re fully healthy and I guess they’re not, but it doesn’t matter because nobody asked questions when we was hurt either,” Celtics wing Gerald Green said.

“They’re a really good team. Obviously defending champions, have the best player in the world on their team. We’re gonna be ready for it. I think that’s one of those games that you don’t have to get guys up for that game. That’s one of those games where people are gonna be ready to play for that one.”

In their first meeting back on November 3rd, Boston entered Cleveland without Horford and Jae Crowder, two of their top four defenders. Rookie Jaylen Brown scored 19 points and defended LeBron James during the first start of his career (he was +12 in 35 minutes) and Tyler Zeller had a double-double.

From Boston’s perspective, so much has changed for the better since then. Matching up against a high-powered offense like Cleveland’s is much easier when your normal starting lineup is intact and your bench provides depth instead of insurance.

“We don’t really care about what they’re doing and I know they don’t care about what we’re doing,” Thomas said. “We’re just trying to focus on us, and getting better each and every day. And we’ve done that the past, what, seven games or whatever. With a healthy squad we’re a pretty good team.”

Despite their recent success, the Celtics still rank dead last in defensive rebound rate over their last seven games. It’s a problem that should rear its head against a Cavaliers team that crushes teams on the offensive glass when they choose to do so.

Cleveland’s starting five with DeAndre Liggins in Smith’s place is grabbing an outrageous 38.6 percent of their missed shots. Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love are a beefy handful down low, and they rebound at a rate that’d rank fourth in the league when they share the floor with James.

Boston kept …

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