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Cavaliers-Celtics Preview

Apr 3, 2010 - 7:59 PM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Cleveland (60-16) at Boston (47-28), 1:00 p.m. EDT

After winning 60 games again, the Cleveland Cavaliers can't afford to be overconfident. The Boston Celtics failed to capitalize after reaching the milestone last season, and have only regressed since.

The Cavaliers, the ninth franchise in league history to post consecutive 60-win seasons, can clinch home-court advantage throughout the playoffs with a win over the foundering Celtics on Sunday afternoon.

Cleveland earned its 60th victory Friday night, beating Atlanta 93-88. It's the 18th time that a team has won at least 60 games in back-to-back seasons.

The Cavaliers are 60-16 after going 66-16 in 2008-09. Boston was the last team to do it, going 62-20 last season and 66-16 in 2007-08.

The Celtics, though, lost to Orlando in the second round of the '09 playoffs. Boston (47-28) has not been able to maintain its level of play this season, sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference and failing to live up to its preseason billing as one of the Cavs' top competitors for a spot in the NBA finals.

Anything less than a title would be considered a failure for Cleveland, which can secure home-court advantage throughout the playoffs with a win or a Lakers loss to San Antonio later in the day. The Cavs would be the first team to have the league's best record in consecutive years since Chicago in 1995-96 and 1996-97.

Home-court advantage, though, didn't help Cleveland avoid losing to Orlando in the conference finals last year.

"Our goals are much bigger than winning 60 games or clinching home court or anything like that," forward LeBron James said. "But you can't take something like that for granted. When those goals happen, you embrace it."

James has averaged 34.7 points in three games against the Celtics this season, with the Cavs winning twice. Cleveland had lost nine straight at Boston - including four 2008 postseason games - before winning 108-88 on Feb. 25.

Anderson Varejao, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench in that contest, may be back for the Cavs after missing three straight games with a sore left hamstring. The veteran big man, one of the team's top defenders, is averaging 8.7 points and 7.8 rebounds.

J.J. Hickson has helped Cleveland overcome Varejao's absence. Hickson, in his second year, has been much more consistent of late, averaging 14.4 points and 8.8 rebounds in his last five games.

"I think I've been playing a lot more in the fourth quarter, so not just the coaches trust me but my teammates trust me as well," he said. "They trust me enough to pass me the ball in the fourth quarter."

Boston had little trouble scoring in the paint against Houston on Friday night, holding a 64-26 edge in that category. That wasn't enough to avoid a 119-114 loss in overtime - the Celtics' season high-tying third in a row.

The Celtics faltered again defensively. Boston, allowing 94.8 points per game, was coming off a 109-104 loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday.

"We're not going to win a lot if we're giving up 101 a night," coach Doc Rivers said.

A bright spot for Boston was Rajon Rondo, who had 10 assists to surpass Hall of Famer Bob Cousy for the single-season franchise record. Rondo has 724 assists, topping Cousy's 715 in 1959-60.