Eastern Conference Finals pits Brad vs. Bron in a battle of wits

After all the trades, all the signings and all the talk of “The Process,” history found a way to repeat itself. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics are clashing once again in the Eastern Conference Finals with a spot in the NBA Finals on the line. These fierce rivals have faced each other three times in the last four years with the Cavaliers getting the best of Boston in each showdown. On paper, it appears this year will yield the same result, but the Celtics have a trio of young players making a name for themselves early in their careers.

After losing Gordon Hayward early in the season and Kyrie Irving late in the year, Boston looked to Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier to pick up the slack. They have delivered.

None of the three players top 25 years old but have combined to average 53.9 of the team’s 104.1 points per game this postseason. Tatum and Brown have shown the ability to step up during the regular season, but Rozier has played like a man unchained since Irving went down. The Louisville product has poured in 18.2 points and 5.8 assists per game in the playoffs while shooting 39.6 percent from three-point range. With the full backing of head coach Brad Stevens, Rozier has blossomed.

Stevens’ magical touch isn’t only applied to the young core of the Celtics. He’s also proved to be a master tactician, especially against the Philadelphia 76ers. He pulled Joel Embiid away from the rim on defense to limit his impact as a shot blocker and took away Ben Simmons’ effectiveness in transition by having a secondary defender backing up whoever was checking the Australian wunderkind. The Celtics are going to need that kind of genius to stop one of the greatest players to ever grace an NBA court.

LeBron James wasn’t supposed to take Cleveland far. Aside from Kevin Love, the Cavaliers lacked a consistent third option he could lean on for production. As it turns out, James’ back had plenty of room to carry his team to the conference finals.

Not only does he lead the NBA with 34.3 points per game in the playoffs, but James is adding 9.4 rebounds and nine assists per contest as well — all while still trying to find his three-point shot. The 33-year-old legend has added to his legacy with two buzzer-beaters to move ahead of Michael Jordan for most game-winning, last-second shots in the playoffs. Try saying he’s not clutch now.

He has been the catalyst the Cavaliers need, driving the team to a 112.7 offensive rating that puts the Cavs second in the NBA playoffs. More impressively, the team has done it with the second slowest pace of all postseason teams. James has the Cavs executing at a high level in the halfcourt, showing they can grind out games with fewer possessions, fewer opportunities to score and more pressure.

The Cavaliers-Celtics rivalry was robbed of a matchup between James and Irving after Cleveland traded the prized guard this past summer. Still, this series has plenty of intrigue with the tactical genius of Brad Stevens against the on-court brilliance of LeBron James. It wouldn’t be surprising if this battle of basketball wits somehow reveals both to be extraterrestrials from a basketball planet that's sole purpose is to show lowly humans how far we have to go to truly understand the game. Even if that doesn’t transpire, the two best basketball minds sparring should provide one of the best series of the postseason. Sometimes, a little déjà vu isn’t too bad.

Series prediction: Cavs in 7