LeBron seeks eighth straight NBA Finals
washington — LeBron James is on the verge of reaching the NBA Finals for an eighth consecutive season, but his Cleveland Cavaliers face a familiar and formidable obstacle in the Boston Celtics.
The Cavaliers visit Boston on Sunday for the opening game in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals, with the winner to face either regular-season pace-setter Houston or defending champion Golden State in the NBA Finals.
Four-time NBA Most Valuable Player James has carried the Cavs on his back at times, averaging 34.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists in 11 playoff games for the Cavaliers, who edged Indiana in a seven-game first round before sweeping Eastern conference top seed Toronto in the second round.
“LeBron is on just a ridiculous run,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. “We know it will be quite a challenge.”
James has averaged 24.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists against the Celtics this season as Cleveland won two of three meetings.
“At the end of the day, you have to do whatever it takes to win,” James said. “It doesn’t matter how it happens.”
“King James” would share fourth on the all-time list by reaching his eighth consecutive NBA Finals, two shy of Bill Russell’s record run from the 1960s Celtics dynasty team and trailing nine in a row by Russell teammates Sam Jones and Tommy Heinsohn.
James went 2-2 in the finals with Miami from 2011-2014 and 1-2 with Cleveland the past three years, all against Golden State. He’s 3-5 in the finals overall, having also lost with the Cavs in 2007. “Every time we come to the playoffs he has that edge,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said of James. “He’s a special player, and we all know that. What he does for us is big.” —