MATT- who would you rather play in the conference finals - Orlando or Boston? Why?
With all due respect to both Orlando and Boston, I think the Cavs can beat either of these teams, so believe it or not, I don't have a particular team I want to face more so than the other.
Let me break down each of the Pro's & Con's of playing each the Celtics or the Magic anyways. Each team poses a different challenge to the Cavs...
The Magic have Dwight Howard. The Cavs single weakest link is our lack of a physical center. The times we've lost this year, we lost to teams committing to attacking the post the entire game. While Howard is capable of posing as such a mis-match, the Magic have yet to prove that they can commit to this style of play for an entire game. Instead of running their offense through Howard, they tend to settle for many outside shots. Jump shooting teams don't have too much success in the NBA Playoffs.
The Celtics are a veteran team. They are still the defending NBA Champions, despite being happered by injuries. They have a Champions heart. This is not to be underestimated. In the last 18 games the Celtics and Cavs have played, the home team has won. For this reason alone, I feel a lot more at ease knowing the Cavs will be playing 4 of the 7 games in Cleveland. There's no particular position that the Celtics have a clear advantage over the Cavs, however these teams will present some pretty intriguing matchups: LeBron vs. Pierce, Deonte vs. Ray Allen, Mo vs. Rondo, Perkins vs. Illgauskas, Varajao vs. Big Baby. IMO, this series would be much more attractive to a National audience.
With that said, I do have one selfish reason to root for one team over the other. I want to face the Boston Celtics in the ECF so the Cavs will have to go through the defending Champions to get to the Title game. It's only right that in order to BE the man, you must BEAT the man. Plus, I think a C's vs. C's series would be the higher profile series.
