CLEVELAND, Ohio -- After completing the greatest comeback in Game 7 history, the fourth-seeded Cle💃veland Cavs finally finished off the fifth-seeded Orlando Magic and punched their ticket into the 2024 NBA Eastern Conference semifinals, securꦕing a matchup with the top-seeded Boston Celtics. .
Games 1, 2 and -- if necessary -- 5 and 7 will be played in Boston. Games 3, 4 and -- if necessary -- 6𝐆 will be played in Cleveland.
Tickets are available online from many large third-party websites. As of the morning of May 6, I found the lowest overa⛎ll price of for Game 4 in Cleveland. There is also a . The lowest price for Game 1 in Boston is .
Here’s the Cavs-Celtics Eastern Conference semifinal schedule and how to get tickets to each game.
Game 1: Tuesday, May 7, 7 p.m., TNT | Boston, Mass.
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Game 2: Thursday, May 9, 7 p.m., ESPN | Boston, Mass.
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Game 3: Saturday, May 11, 8:30 p.m., ABC | Cleveland, Ohi▨o
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Game 4: Monday, May 13, 7 p.m., ESPN | Cleveland, Ohio
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Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, May 15, TBD 🐼time and TV | Boston, Mass.
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Game 6 (if neccesary): Friday, May 17, TBD time and TV | Cleveland, Ohio
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Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, May 19, TBD time and TV | Boston, Mass.
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Who won the Cavs-Celtics regular season series?
The Celtics won two of the three meetings this season against the Cavs by a combined 16 points. In the third meeting on March 5, Boston relinquished a 22-point fourth quarter lead, setting up a historic comeback for the Cavs.
A snapshot of the Cavs-Celtics matchup
The top-seeded Celtics had the best record in the NBA regular season at 64-1ඣ8 and posted a 37-4 record at home. They tꦗout superstar Jayson Tatum and All-Star Jaylen Brown. Boston won all but one of their playoff games by an average of 22 points thus far, disposing of the Jimmy Butler-less Miami Heat in five games.
The Celtics will likely🧸 be without power forward Kristaps Porzingis, who suffered a calf injury in t🐎he first-round series with Heat.
The Cavs will have their hands full i🔯n all aspects in this matchup, but they will also have their chances. All three meetings this season were within five points in the closing minutes. Cleveland led Boston by as many as 15 in the first meeting before the Celtics came storming back. The Cavs’ 3-point shooting, w💙hich was kept in chains against Orlando, will be an X-factor to prolonging their next series.
In three games against the Celtics, the Cavs were 50 of 120 (41.6%) from beyond the arc. The Celtics were 46 of 118 (38.9%) in the season series. Boston was the second-highest scoring team in the regular 🃏season at 120.6 points per game.
The Cavs averaged just over a point per possession in the Orlando series, the second worst efficiency in the playoffs. Boston’s defense is even more of a mucky challenge with mu๊ltܫiple lockdown defenders and veterans that live for the depths of the postseason.
Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland’s precision -- as well as Jarrett Allen’s health -- will also be underlying factors in the juicy semifinal. 🍌A whirlwind of emotion was released in Game 7. How will Garland fair under even brighter lights?
Unlike the Orlando series, this one will likely be in the 105-115 range. Cleveland’s chances start with stealing one of t𒊎he first two at TD Garden.
A look back at Cavs’ historic Game 7
A rally for the ages on one of the grandest stages in the sport ♍this past Sunday.
The Cavs overcame an 18-poওint deficit in the second quarter of Game🤪 7 to stun the Orlando Magic and silence the mouthy foe for good. It’s the largest Game 7 deficit to be reversed since the ⛦initiation of the play-by-play era (1997-98).
Mitchell again gutted out a sore left knee to pour in 39 points, nine rebounds and five assists, including 15 of 17 from the fr෴ee throw line. He totaled 201 points in the series, joining LeBron James as the only Cavs players to score 200 or more points in a playoff series.
Caris LeVert added 15 points, five rebounds and four assists off the 𒊎bench, helping the Cavs (23) outscore the Magic reserves (21) for the first time in the series. Garland and Max Strus gutted out a combined 25 points.
While his offens🍬e rem♏ains a sore subject, Evan Mobley’s defensive presence was again amplified in the moment, recording his second straight game with five blocks while hauling in 16 rebounds and 11 points. Cleveland was without Allen (bruised ribs) for the third straight game.
After an atrocious start buried them early, the Cavs served up a 47-21 avalanche in the second and third quarter as Orlando reverted back to their haunting shooting woes from earlier in the series. The Magic w♛ere a dreadful 4 of 24 (17%) from the field in the third quarter. Cleveland outscored them 33-15 in that frame.
The Cavs won the paint battle, 50ꦐ-28. They also sizzled in the fastbreak with a 17-11 advantage.
A star was born as Magic second-year power forward Paolo Banchero ag🀅ain flashed his brilliance, finishing with 38 points and 16 rebounds, including 15 of 18 from the free throw line. Key offensive scorer Franz Wagner was held to a series low six points, six assists and six rebounds on just 1 of 15 shooting.
After escaping the first round, a hierarchy switch has been flipped. The pressure that was be🅠aring down on the Cavs is lifted. They begin a series with new life and a renewed purpose of shocking the NBA world.
Below is part of a look at how Mitchell uplifted h𒁃is teammateꦛs in the pressure-packed Game 7 from Cavs beat writer Chris Fedor:
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Isaac Okoro pulled down an offensive rebound and took one dribble before passing to teammate Donovan Mitchell. The star of the game, Mitchell attacked Orlando’s interior as Darius Garland shuffled toward the corneꦺr, the same corner where he had just a missed a wide-open 3-pointer that would’ve given the Cavs a comfortable double-digit lead around the midway point of the fourth quarter.
Wi🃏th a trio of Magic defenders converging on Mitchell near the rim, he trampolined off the court, hung in the air and had an opening to spin in one of his patented acrobatic layups, the same variety that helped ignite his 50-point eruption in Game 6.
Only Mitchell didn’t whirl the ball of🌠 the glass this time. He𝐆 snapped it to Garland.
Swish.
The s𓆉ellout crowd frothed. Garland bounced and held his follow-through before an animated fist-pump that expelled nearly four quarters of rage and fru꧅stration. Orlando called timeout.
As players started to walk the other ♍way, Mitchell turned a🧸nd waited. He knew what that moment meant. For Garland. For the Cavs. For the next round. He wanted to share it with him.
It’s why Mitchell, who scored the team’s final 22 points in the Game 6 loss the other night, bypassed a layup attempt he easily could’ve made. There’s always a bigger picture in play. A basketball savant who prides himself on an unquantifiable ability to empower and uplift teammates, Mitchell knew how much Garland needed that moment. How much the franchise needed Garland to have that🐽 moment.
It wasn’t just worth three points. It wasn’t the 𒐪typical timeout-inducing bucket.
If the Cavs are going to make a deep postseas💞on run an𝕴d continue to evolve as a team, Mitchell can’t do it all by himself — something he spoke about at the start of the postseason, a reality that became more evident Friday night in Orlando, when his third career 50-point playoff masterpiece wasn’t enough.
Every superhero needs a sidekick.
.