5 Reasons why the Cleveland Cavaliers will stomp the Boston Celtics in the East Conf. Finals

The Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers face off in the Eastern Conference Finals in a repeat of last year's showdown at the same stage. Both teams sport a very different look, as fresh faces have come into both teams. Surprisingly enough, none of the players involved in the offseason trade last August are slated to play in this series - Crowder is now in Utah, Isaiah Thomas spent the last part of the season with the Lakers while Kyrie Irving is out injured.

The Cavaliers are making a concerted bid to reach their fourth Finals series in 4 years, and one would be hard-pressed to find a single basketball fan who would put money on the Celtics to advance past them.

Not only did they sweep the top-seeded Toronto Raptors, they plainly demoralized them and sucked the wind out of their sails in the series. Looking at their play over the past month, it is plainly obvious to anyone that they are favorites to succeed in their Finals bid even this time around.

The following are the top 5 reasons why that is so:

#5 The Celtics lack unguardable players

The Cavaliers' lone Achilles heel as far as advancing from the Eastern Conference playoffs is the fact that they no longer have a specialist defensive stopper. Fortunately for them, however, the Celtics do not have any player who will make them regret the decision to trade Iman Shumpert instead of nursing him back to full health and fitness.

With their current roster, and given the fact that Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward will only be watching on from the sidelines instead of playing a part on court, the Celtics do not have a consistently efficient volume scorer. They have gotten by so far based mainly on a combination of tough-as-nails defense and by moving the ball around on offense, but the Cavaliers are much superior to them at putting the ball through the hoop.

The Cavs got into top offensive gear against the Raptors, scoring 105 twice and 128 twice in 4 quarters. When their offense gets going, few teams in the league can stop them from romping to victory.

#4 The Cavaliers have championship experience

The Philadelphia 76ers were tipped to be a dark horse candidate to enter the NBA Finals representing the Eastern Conference before the start of the postseason - any other team with the 3rd seed in their Conference would probably fancy themselves as something more than 'dark horses'. The reason they were pegged as such instead of genuine contenders is the fact that they lacked playoff experience.

This Celtics team is young, and it has had a good run in the playoffs. But they have yet to cross a team half as experienced in the business end of the season as the Cavaliers. Playoff experience is a real factor in how series play out and how players respond to adversity, and the Cavaliers' core of James, Love, JR Smith and Tristan Thompson have played in three Finals runs together.

This gives them a clear advantage over the Celtics since its players are more likely to pull off tough asks and maintain their composure and level of play through adversity.

#3 Kevin Love is back to his best

The 10th-year frontcourt player out of UCLA emerged as a viable second option alongside LeBron James during the regular season campaign, averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds before going down with the injury in February. The benefit of playing with more touches had the desired effect on Love, who can score in a variety of ways.

During the first round series against the Indiana Pacers, and in the first game of the Raptors series, however, Love was way below par. People were questioning whether his production in the regular season was the result of playing against inferior competition.

He came back in rousing fashion, scoring 31, 21 and 23 points in games 2,3 and 4. He got his mojo back from behind the 3-point line, while fully exploiting the matchup he got after getting switched on to CJ Miles in the low post.

If he continues to play in the same vein, Brad Stevens will have nightmares on how to defend him.

#2 Role players have been clicking at the right time

Korver has been his reliable self in the playoffs this year

The Cavaliers might well have been eliminated in the first round itself against the Pacers if it weren't for the resurgence their role players showed. While their defensive effort and performance in the series was always up to the mark barring Game 6, their offensive production was of little consequence to the series.

That has changed in their last 5 playoff games, however. Tristan Thompson looks quite like his old self, hustling for offensive rebounds and giving the Cavaliers a legitimate rim protector during the Raptors series.

In fact, through all 4 games of the Raptors series, Jeff Green, Kyle Korver, JR Smith and George Hill all averaged double digits in scoring. All 4 of them had field goal percentages north of 50%, and their hot shooting from 3-point territory resulted in blowout wins in Games 2 and 4.

The Celtics will have their hands full guarding even the Cavs' role players.

#1 LeBron James

LeBron is Dwane Casey's worst nightmare

Is there anything that needs to be said about the best player of the 20th century?

LeBron James has made the Eastern Conference playoffs seem like his personal warm-up routine for the Finals in the last 7 years, and he looks like he's better than ever in his 15th season in the league.

The King is playing Jordanesque basketball in the playoffs this year. The stats bear this out: LeBron led the Cavaliers in all 5 major statistical categories in the first round against the Pacers while averaging 42 points per game in their 4 wins. His averages in the playoffs this year stand at a frankly outrageous 34.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.

He has seen obstacles much worse than this hobbled Celtics team in the past and dealt with them with minimum fuss. There is no one on the Cavaliers roster capable of even slowing him down at the offensive end, and in the off-chance that he does get bogged down for a quarter or so in scoring, he will still be the best passer in the league setting his teammates up with delectable scoring opportunities.

The Celtics have made it this far on the back of collective effort, but LeBron's superhuman play can make the best competition the Eastern Conference has to offer to his dominance look like chumps. There really is no argument to be made for a player who has been to 7 straight Finals series and is well and truly on his way to an 8th.

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