James undaunted by C’s mystique
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — There haven’t been any championship banners hoisted into the Garden’s hallowed rafters since 2008.
LeBron James won’t let go of the rope.
Cleveland’s star has bounced the Celtics from the playoffs four times in the past seven years, and James carries a six-game postseason winning streak at the Garden into this year’s Eastern Conference finals, which open tomorrow.
As a member of both the Miami Heat and Cavaliers, James — whose success against the C’s did a 180-degree turn with a mesmerizing Game 6 performance in 2012 — has made the Celtics green(er) with envy.
But while the 33-year-old has the utmost respect for the NBA’s most decorated franchise, James’ admiration hasn’t stopped him from standing in the way of the Celts stuffing more Larry O’Brien trophies into their crowded case.
And if he beats the C’s again and advances to his eighth straight NBA Finals, James would join a club currently exclusive to legendary Celtics.
Only Bill Russell (10), Sam Jones (9), Tommy Heinsohn (9) and Frank Ramsey (8) have played in more consecutive Finals than James, who said he hasn’t reflected on the possibility of admission to their group.
“I do know that this is my eighth straight conference finals and I have an opportunity to play for a championship if I’m able to be successful in this conference finals, so I don’t take that for granted,” James said yesterday. “You dream about being able to play in big games in the NBA. Even when I got to the NBA that was one of my only goals — to be as great as I can be, to play in big games in the NBA and be remembered — and I think I’ve done that in my career.
“Just trying to add onto it while I can.”
Since 2012, he’s 8-1 against the Celtics with a four-game sweep in 2015 and a fivegame dusting last year in the conference finals.
James has scored 979 points in 34 playoff games against the Celtics, the most by one player against a single team.